Every day, we meet new people through networking sessions. We are always excited to find out what people do and how they run their businesses. We ask: Tell me how you make your magic? In this series, you can eavesdrop on the conversations we have with various entrepreneurs from around the world. If you want to join us for a virtual coffee and be featured on this podcast, then book a conversation using the link provided.
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51 recent
October 30, 202631 min
Quitting Is Never Just About the Cigarettes
Wendy Gidlow owns Smokenders South Africa, and she is also its most dedicated customer. More than 30 years ago she was smoking 40 to 60 cigarettes a day when she decided she wanted children more than she wanted cigarettes. In this episode she explains why quitting is a process and not a single decision, why fear stops so many people, how a jar of cash became a lifetime of horse riding, and why vaping worries her more than smoking. https://smokenders.co.za Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
October 23, 202636 min
What a Fractional CFO Actually Does for a Growing Business
Fractional CFO Linda Rossouw spent 35 years in corporate finance before starting LaRoss Consulting — a business that gives growing companies senior financial strategy at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CFO. In this episode of Meet My Business she talks with Hendrik Baird about what “fractional” really means, why cash flow is the number one problem she sees in every business she touches, and how she reads a set of financial statements like a story. She’s honest about the leap: the loneliness of going solo after decades in corporate, the early months of doubt, and how networking changed everything. She walks through her process from first meeting to 13-week cash flow forecast, and shares the engagements that remind her why she left. A clear, grounded look at the financial help most businesses don’t know they need. Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
October 14, 202633 min
What Your Recruiter Won’t Tell You About Getting Hired
Executive search specialist Janice Wagner has spent 15 years headhunting at the top end of corporate South Africa — and she treats both the candidate and the company as her clients. In this episode of Meet My Business she talks with Hendrik Baird about leaving a decade in chartered accountancy, building a search firm from a loft with no staff and no sales training, and why it took nine months to land her first meeting. She’s candid about an industry she says has forgotten it’s about people, and generous with practical advice: why graduates shouldn’t wait for January, what not to say in an interview, how ATS systems and AI are changing the job hunt, and why she thinks South Africa is on a better trajectory than the headlines suggest. A warm, straight-talking listen. Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
October 9, 202632 min
His Desk Was Buried in Paper. Four Months Later: 700% Growth
A general manager's desk was buried under his branch managers' paperwork. He was running out of time, unable to reach the work that mattered, and heading towards burnout. Four months into working with Paul Tanton, the desk was clear, he was home in time for dinner, and his division's profitability had grown by 700%. In this episode of Meet My Business, Paul Tanton of U-Vita explains the approach behind that kind of change. A self-described leadership entrepreneur, Paul spent 26 years in corporate before leaving to combine two disciplines: using leadership principles to develop entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurial principles to develop leaders. His work begins not with strategy or systems but with self-knowledge, stripping back the layers that school, parents and corporate life paint onto a person until they can see who they actually are. Paul is candid about his own start. He talks about the false comfort of a six-month financial buffer, the loneliness of going from a team of twelve to working alone, and the tenacity that kept him facing an empty desk. Along the way he unpacks delegation, employee engagement, supporting retrenched teams through a career transition, and why a coach is celebrated in sport but still viewed with suspicion in business. Contact Paul: lead@u-vita.co.za Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
October 1, 202627 min
The Centurion Estate Agent Who Solves Problems, Not Just Sells Houses
Centurion real estate agent Elmarie Human has spent 16 years proving that her real job isn't selling houses — it's solving problems. In this episode of Meet My Business she talks with Hendrik Baird about an unusual road into property: a childhood in the Kruger National Park, training as an accountant and teacher, a stint as an internal auditor for the intelligence agency, and a beauty salon on the side, before she found work that let her put people first. She explains why she keeps only a handful of exclusive mandates, what building a name from the ground up actually takes, how she walks sellers through valuation and the whole process, and why working under eXp Realty lets agents build equity for the long term. A warm, grounded look at doing the job properly. Reach Elmarie Human at eXp Realty: Email: elmarie.human@expsouthafrica.co.za Phone: 082 774 7088 Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
September 25, 202626 min
She Walked to a Client’s House at 9pm After a Break-In
Johannique Reyneke was in her fourth year of a teaching degree when her brother told her to write the security officer exams. She now runs the installations side of KNN Security in Pretoria, and carries a pink toolbox her husband bought her after she turned up at a client’s gate with no tools. She talks to Hendrik Baird about being underestimated in a trade that did not expect her, why she trains on every system her technicians touch, the night she walked to a client’s house at 9pm after a break-in, and how often installers quote older people and women a price they would never quote anyone else. Contact KNN Security: https://knnsecurity.co.za | johannique@knnsecurity.co.za | 079 883 5649 knnsecurity.co.za · Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
September 18, 202630 min
The One-Stop Plumbing & Maintenance Shop Fixing SA’s Water Crises
Cornel Reyneke of JCR Plumbing and Maintenance (Centurion) joins Hendrik Baird to talk burst geysers, solar-gas hybrid systems, and why he merged plumbing with maintenance into one call-out. Three years in business, one bakkie turned into a team of four, and a near-quit moment that a business network group helped turn around. Practical tips included: why switching your geyser on and off doesn’t save power, and the early warning signs of a leak before it costs you a renovated kitchen. Reach Cornel: jcrplumbing7@gmail.com | 079 790 9693 Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
September 10, 202630 min
The Family Attorney Who Answers the Midnight Call
Family attorney Karlien Botma has spent nearly 15 years running her own practice, doing work that rarely fits office hours. In this episode of Meet My Business she talks with Hendrik Baird about protecting children and women at their most vulnerable — from divorce and children's court to protection orders and the night she drove out to a client caught in a domestic violence crisis. She traces her path from a schoolyard defender of the bullied to a family law specialist trained at North-West University, and speaks honestly about a strained court system, clients who can't always afford help, and the hard truth that leaving an abusive relationship often takes several attempts. It's a frank, compassionate look at what family law really involves. Reach Karlien Botma at Botma Attorneys — karlien@botmalaw.co.za / 072 899 3144 / karlienbotma.co.za If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, support is available. In South Africa, the GBV Command Centre operates 24/7 on 0800 428 428. karlienbotma.co.za · Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
September 4, 202620 min
Inside South Africa's Cannabis Licensing Maze
Wanda Bruce has built a career in one of South Africa's most misunderstood industries: cannabis regulatory compliance. In this episode of Meet My Business she maps the full terrain — from R15-million-plus commercial medical facilities to the legacy growers of the Eastern Cape, the corner-shop club model, and the Private Purposes Act that leaves hundreds of stores in legal limbo. She also shares how she got here: an alternative health practitioner and Rosebank spa owner who took on the government in court over the complementary health industry, then followed her intuition into a niche that now takes her from KwaZulu-Natal to Mauritius to Cape Town. Practical, candid and occasionally contrarian, Wanda offers a rare inside view of what compliance really means when the rules are still being written. Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
August 26, 202631 min
From Broke Nail Tech to R125K in 6 Weeks 💥📈
Category: Business Coaching Website: https://ubequity.co.za Location: South Africa When a former travel agent chasing her dream of a nail studio couldn't crack R25,000 a month, she asked business coach SJ Pretorius for help. Six weeks later she'd hit R125,000, moved into her own salon, and hired two staff. That story frames this episode of Meet My Business, where SJ shares what actually moves an entrepreneur from stuck to strategic motion. A self-described South African from the platteland who cut his teeth running international projects for the likes of Morgan Stanley and Delta Airlines, SJ returned home with a different view of business. He's spent 24 years coaching entrepreneurs — not by doing the work for them, but by teaching them the mechanics: the five profit drivers, the real difference between marketing and sales, and how to work on the business rather than being trapped inside it. In this conversation he unpacks his three-months-six-months-nine-months coaching rhythm, the business health assessment behind it, the books that shaped his thinking, and "flash coaching" — solving one pressing business issue in twenty focused minutes. It's a candid, practical listen for any owner who has hit a glass ceiling and wants a way through. Ubequity Coaching · Virtual Coffee Date with Hendrik Baird · Virtual Coffee Date with Ethan Baird · Baird Media - The Podcast People
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