Women Unlocked: Meet East Coast Radio’s Managing Director

Boni has been with KZN’s number one hit music radio station since 2015.

Her strategic direction over the past five years has helped the station and its team stay on top of their game.

Not only is she committed to ensuring ECR achieves its mission and objectives, but she is also serious about ensuring its audience is kept educated and entertained.

Boni is also passionate about KwaZulu-Natal and loves everything from the warmth of its people to the majestic mountains and diverse culture.

She makes sure everything her team does reflects KZN’s pride and diversity.

How did you get into this industry?

I was blessed to be given the opportunity to lead one of the most powerful and influential media brands in SA by Nick Grubb (Chief Executive: Kagiso Media Radio), who spotted me, and he is my boss now. I am forever grateful. Along the journey I have learnt that I LOVE media, particularly radio. I love radio because it touches lives and informs and educates communities every single day - and it is real time.

What is your dream job and why?

I’m a hard worker and there is nothing I cannot do. There is no job too big or too little for me. My dream job is a job that will give me an opportunity to touch people’s lives in a meaningful and sustainable way - and ECR does that for me. The charity work that we do for KZN families is one of the many reasons that give me the sense of purpose to want to wake up and come here every single day.

How do you remain relevant and passionate about your job?

Generally, I’m a very passionate person, I’m passionate about life, work, and everything South African. I like to be in touch and to stay social with relevant people in order to keep up to date with latest business trends. At work I like to focus on the big picture and build positivity and a positive culture that will provide a favorable condition for the team to flourish.

Importantly, I love reading, I believe that leaders are readers and if you read more you will know more, by knowing more then you automatically add value to the business well-being.

What is your opinion on having other females to lean on in your team?

I believe in finding people to lean on, especially in a business environment. I believe that empowered women must empower others implicitly and I believe that when women work together, amazing things do happen.

In my personal capacity, I mentor young professionals, mainly women. But I admire mentoring boys, too. I have two sons myself, so I don’t like to discriminate boys.

As a professional, I am deliberate about ensuring that I have both male and female business colleagues whom I lean on every day.

What is your advice for budding female professionals?

My advice for upcoming female professionals:

- Work hard, be disciplined, and be smart.

- Be deliberate about what is it you want. Be self-sufficient.

- Be unapologetically authentic otherwise the universe will not find you.

- Have courage and do not despair if you encounter failures along the way. Failure is not fatal; it is part of the journey. What is important is the courage to get up and continue even after encountering challenges.