Tooting your own horn can be a bit obnoxious, but this Women’s Month we can’t help but highlight the amazing women we have working at City Lodge Hotel Group.
Some companies view gender and racial empowerment as hoops to jump through in order to comply with the legislature. We want to do so much more – putting women with leadership potential into various programmes to help them achieve their career goals. We’re proud of the fact that our company as a whole comprises of 62% female employees, with 232 of 406 of the top jobs being held by women as well.
This month, our blog posts will feature women in our company, sharing their background, how they got to their position and pearls of wisdom for aspiring boss ladies. Firstly, we sat down with Sinazo Mazantsana, the General Manager of Road Lodge Pietermaritzburg. The youngest of 5 siblings, Sinazo admits that, though there was not much competition among her siblings, she created an internal sense of competition – a drive to be the best that she believes launched and drove her career to where she is now.
Starting at CLHG in August 2015 (happy four-year workiversary, Sinazo!), she began in the Accelerated Development and Deployment Programme. As part of the programme, she spent time in each department, which she says was very eye-opening before stepping into an Assistant General Manager role.
From a young age, Sinazo always knew she’d be a boss lady – though what she’d be a boss of wasn’t always clear. Her first job, waitressing at a Chinese restaurant in the Eastern Cape, was a small taste of the world of hospitality that was enough to change high school subjects to explore the possibilities of a career in it.
As we ended our time with Sinazo, we spoke about words of wisdom for up and coming women wanting to achieve their dreams. She pointed out that, in today’s day and age, women are not
Controlled or bound by gender stereotypes. She encouraged women to dream big and then work hard to achieve those dreams. “We are women and we have arrived!”, she said in signing off.
Keep an eye out for our next blog, where we’ll be talking to another General Manager who’s been with us for nearly 20 years!