When it comes to a career in marketing, every woman deserves a seat at the table. South Africa alone pays homage to a host of phenomenal female creatives looking to get their feet in the door. The only question is: Where to begin?
This Women’s Month, we spoke to Mala Suriah, CMO at Fundi, to find out what it takes to enter this space.
What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
It was sales funnily enough, and it actually happened by accident. I come from an entrepreneurial family—my dad was a businessman—and from the age of about 6, I worked in his shop.
Throughout my schooling career, I worked during the holidays and weekends. When I got older, I worked for our family doctor. I fell in love with the whole pharmaceutical world, and I was particularly fascinated with the dispensary.
When I finished school, I didn’t have the funds to go to university or college, so I studied chemical engineering part-time through INTEC.
From there, I applied to a pharmaceutical company in Durban, where I became a medical rep. My job was detailing new pharmaceutical drugs to doctors and pharmacists.
One day, the marketing lady went on maternity leave. My boss said to me, “Can you look after your customers on the sales side, but more importantly, can you help us out on the marketing side?” And it was like … the lights went on. I loved it!
What qualifications do you need to enter a career in marketing?
For those looking to enter a career in marketing, it’s important to first note that the industry has got such a broad spectrum.
You can be a generalist or a specialist. In the specialist environment, there’s digital marketing, communications, public relations, event, and campaign management. And then, you can be like me: I’m a generalist.
In terms of qualifications, there are lots out there. There’s your basic marketing certificate, which could be a one-year course. You could even do specialist courses. For example, if you think event management is your thing, you could do a one-year course or even a three-year degree.
Then, there’s obviously your mainstream four-year Bcomm marketing degree that you can do at a higher education institution. And that’s the beauty of marketing—there are so many options.
It’s easy to get in, and it really depends on whether you want to specialise or generalise as well as the timing and the budget. If you’ve only got money for the three-month course, do it. Then, look for something part-time and then continue studying online.
The starting point I think is really all about reflecting and assessing where you are. Understand all the different vocations of marketing and areas and pick one that you feel suits your talents and skills, and what you’re passionate about. You can always work your way through.
For example, some people may start in PR and end up being a generalist. With marketing, you can literally start anywhere.
"That's the beauty of marketing—there are so many options."
Women’s Month is often used to generate awareness about gender inequality. Do you think this is still an ongoing issue in SA’s marketing sector?
In the marketing sectors in the tech world, yes. However, if you look at all the companies where I worked—Neotel, which is now Liquid Telecoms; Telkom Business, which is now Business Connection; and Telkom itself—in marketing, it’s predominately female. But that’s only within the last 10-15 years.
When I just started my own career in marketing, it was predominantly male. The sector was male-dominated because marketing, sales, and product were always combined in some way. It ended up being a male engineer who looked after marketing.
I think I kind of broke the norm by being given the opportunity to look after the marketing and product portfolio— starting with Transtel, then Neotel, and finally, Telkom Business.
If I reflect on all my predecessors that were in the role, they were all men. But I think women today are given a lot of opportunities when entering a career in marketing. Many are given the chance to go into more senior roles, such as Chief Marketing Officers or even marketing executives. So I think it definitely has changed, irrespective of the industry.
I believe the real change is happening in the school environment. I look at my daughter who is 10 years old and in grade 5; she started doing robotics and technology in Grade 1.
So I think it’s a systemic change, meaning, if something is introduced to you as a kid, ten to one, you’ll be more comfortable with it. But if it’s introduced to you much later on, it’s more difficult to adapt.
What adversity did you face as a South African woman in the marketing sector, and how did you overcome it?
Back in the day, my work environment was predominately Afrikaans-speaking and it threw me off quite a bit. That was one of my most “uncomfortable moments”—when meetings were held in Afrikaans. I wasn’t great at the language, so I struggled to get a holistic picture of the conversation.
I had to work very hard behind the scenes to try and figure things out. I also always ended up being the only female at work, social events, and meetings.
Despite this, I looked inside for strength. I would say to myself, “I’m an expert in my field. I worked for this position and this title. I’ve got the academics and I’ve got what it takes to be here. I deserve a seat at the table.”
I motivated myself to have a voice. And the more people undermined me or told me I couldn’t do it, the harder I tried. It’s just my personality. If you tell me I can’t do something, I will work even harder to show you that I can. I think having that sort of attitude has really helped me win.
But I saw a dramatic change when I joined Neotel, for example. The start-up team was male-dominated, and yet, we were treated equally. We were equal executives making decisions as part of a team.
However, if you do find yourself in an environment or marketing career where every aspect of it is not easy, you have to dig very deep.
For example, working in a male-dominated environment made me realise that I had to work twice as hard to prove myself and earn their respect. I had one of two choices: Just give up and go back into the pharmaceutical world. Or, stick it out and be part of the change.
"I deserve a seat at the table.”
Is it important for young women to find a mentor in their marketing careers?
Yes, it is important. There was a woman named Nisha Jones who encouraged me to apply for an executive position at Transtel when I was only 27 years old. She was a consultant at the time and played a very big role in my career.
Additionally, the organisation itself was so amazing because they were really trying to encourage young black females to come into ICT and telecommunications. If you were there, they gave you the support that you needed.
If you don’t have a direct link or someone to guide you, just search and you’ll realise that mentors are all around you. Your sibling could be a mentor or even one of your friends that you look up to. Mentorship is not as linear and clinical as it used to be in the past. Your mentor could even be someone much younger than you.
Whoever it may be, it’s important that you have good chemistry. For example, in terms of my own mentoring, I always give my team members the option to look outside of marketing. I would tell them, “Maybe you have chemistry with another executive or another senior manager. Go have coffee with them once a month. It doesn’t always have to be me.”
We’re all very unique and special. You take what works for you and you give what you can give. I think everyone has the potential and the opportunity to coach, lead and mentor. It’s about lifelong learning. There’s no person that’s already arrived.
For example, working in a male-dominated environment made me realise that I had to work twice as hard to prove myself and earn their respect. I had one of two choices: Just give up and go back into the pharmaceutical world. Or, stick it out and be part of the change.
"Working in a male-dominated environment made me realise that I had to work twice as hard to prove myself and earn their respect."
Do you have any guidance to offer young women in South Africa about to enter a career in marketing?
With my own career in marketing, what worked for me was working during the day and studying at night. Don’t discard that. I feel my academics were easier because I was able to apply the theory of what I had learned at night and on weekends to my day-to-day work.
If you have an opportunity to work and study at the same time, that’s ideal. Let your academics become real to you. While you’re doing that, decide: Do I go the generalist route or the specialist route?
If you do decide to follow the three or four-year linear marketing degree, use the opportunity to get some part-time work at the same time. You can even work at a company for free during the holidays.
Acquire those skills and figure out where your love lies. As they say, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
On most days, I don’t feel that I work because I am absolutely passionate about what I do, and I love what I’m doing. I can’t see myself doing anything else.
If you get up in the morning and you’re dragging yourself to a function or something that you have to do, you’ve got to get out as quickly as possible. Or, if you have to do it, find a side hustle that will fulfill you. You have to go through that process.
And if you need some help, FundiConnect has some great online tools where you can quickly identify which direction you’d like to go in.
Let Us Fund Your Marketing Journey
Start your career in marketing today. Get a student loan with Fundi.
