By Charndré Emma Kippie
Born in Orlando East, Soweto, Carol Mazaka’s career has cut across various insurance companies and banks. At present, she is the Consumer Director at 1Life and works in Sales. She is also heading up the company’s Generational Wealth campaign at the moment.
She is currently reading for her Doctorate degree, an exploratory study with a key focus on Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and its impact on Call Centres and looks forward to contributing to the body of knowledge that exists currently. A mother to two children – her son Akwande and daughter Ayakhanya – she is passionate about setting others up for success. Carol is an avid reader who dedicates most of her time participating in events that uplift others, from mentoring young girls to assisting postgraduate scholars with their work.
Firstly, generational wealth can be defined as assets (land, business, education, housing, etc) passed down from one generation to the next, either as an inheritance or while the family member is still alive.
1Life has indicated that the six key pillars to building generational wealth are more than just land and businesses being passed down and, while a fundamental part, there are other areas that are key to such wealth including: investing in the stock market, investing in a child’s education, taking out life insurance and improving one’s own financial literacy.
There is no doubt that despite financial inequalities, today’s consumers are financially awakened – they represent the dawn of a new age of South Africans who want to do more, be more and give more and there is great opportunity to enable them to create and help build the financially savvy generations of the future. Most importantly it starts with educating consumers that they don’t have to have millions or even thousands to start creating generational wealth – one small step at a time is what it takes.
It truly is time we talked about generational wealth, how to generate it, protect it, maintain it and why so many of us still don’t have it! By taking ownership and enabling consumers to truly say ‘it starts with me’ and understand how to really build it through things like Truth About Money and financial education, we will create future generations that are further empowered, financially savvy and, simultaneously, drive down poverty and inequality over years to come.
Seeing others succeed with my support and contribution, as well as coaching people for success.
In South Africa, in general, being a woman leader is always a challenge. There are perceptions and narratives that seek to show women up as weak and incapable; hardly is there a time where the balancing act that women have to contend with is ever raised as a reality we face. We raise children, run businesses, deliver at the same rate (and in other instances way above our male counterparts), whilst having to deal with equal work for equal pay challenges. All of these are matters that I have been exposed to. It required me to remain focused on my goals, making my voice heard and learning not to settle for less than what I wanted.
There is a need for more women collaboration in addressing social ills that impact young girls and boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. For me, personally, the goal would be focusing on contributing to those initiatives, teaching them to identify their potential early in life, owning their space, changing their past and building the future they desire. Therefore, my main goal is creating a foundation that will support all forms of this kind of work.
There are immense growth opportunities in this space, particularly with the rise of the options presented by the 4IR, in catering for ever-changing customer behaviour. The development of new products, as well as absolute focus on ease of doing business, is where I anticipate the focus in the Insurance Industry should be
My mom is my ultimate inspiration. When she used to work, she ingrained in me the importance of honouring whatever one does, especially work as a sign of respect and care. She always said those that can be trusted with little can never be doubted with much, but it had to do with how one treats their work or craft and the quality they delivered.
The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo and Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
The beauty of this industry is that you contribute in building Generational Wealth for individuals who might not have imagined that concept to be possible for them. When you work in this field, it is not a job, but rather a calling for the higher good of society as a whole.
Check out the latest edition of the Standard Bank Top Women Leaders publication on Issuu – [here](https://issuu.com/topcomedia/docs/top_women_leaders_16th). Stay up to date with all the latest on Top Women in SA, by signing up to the Standard Bank Top Women newsletter – [here](https://www.topbusinesswomen.co.za/top-women-leaders-subscription/).
