Strong women lead the debate at InsureTalk15

In honour of Women’s Month, InsureTalk15 featured an all-woman speaker line-up. The event was headline sponsored by Elite Risk Acceptances, with event partner Global Choices and media partner Cover magazine.

Elite MD Christelle Colman kicked off proceedings with a presentation on the importance and power of your personal professional brand. She shared her personal story, from a childhood in Philippi barely scraping through school, to a being chauffeured in a limo in Paris as CEO of Europ Assistance South Africa.

She ascribes her rise through the ranks to her strong personal brand, which she has consciously, purposefully and carefully built up over her years in the industry. If you have a strong enough network and personal brand, she says, you can tap into that network and monetise it.

Christelle encouraged delegates to leverage digital marketing, including social media, to enhance their personal and business brands.

Next up was Tarryn Tomlinson, life coach, inspirational speaker and writer. Her talk was entitled “I am Woman, Leaps of faith”. Her story started in Italy and took delegates on a fairy tale journey – to disenchantment and back to wonderment.

She shared her story of living the dream life of a millionaire in Italy while being confined to a wheelchair. She found escape from an unhappy life in books, and the idea that we can affect our own realities through our thoughts and ideas.

IISA CEO Thokozile Mahlangu then gave her traditional InsureTalk overview. She spoke on becoming a member of the IISA – the benefits of membership and the requirements and process for joining.

Rand Merchant Bank’s Carolynne Waterhouse spoke on “The Art of Fearless Creativity”. The anchor of her talk was a sculpture called Africa’s Fearless Girl, which represents “the woman’s place” in society. In this context, that place is relevant and strong.

“When did fun turn to fear?” she asked. Life is in a state of upheaval right now, as it has been before. Moving through fear takes you to freedom and possibility. Carolynne talked through a number of pieces of art and the messages that they espouse to those who observe them and highlighted how creativity can lead to fearlessness.

Throughout history, arts have been windows in the emotional fabric and soul of human society. Arts capture the spirit of the time – unedited. Arts ignite emotions, attract debate and contribute to social transformation. “Look at the arts through different eyes,” she encouraged. “It would be a tragedy if all that marvellous creativity was lost.”

Keep an eye on your inbox next week for details on how you could win an Africa’s Fearless Girl sculpture.

Carolynne’s talk was sponsored by Global Choices.

A quick punt followed from MC Nonnie Mhlungu…. The Insurance Directory is in print! If you’d like a free printed copy, click here.

Guests were then treated to some awesome laid-back music from Andy Klee.

Charlotte Kemp, Futures Alchemist, spoke on “The Future is Female and other disruptive drivers of change”. She unpacked the “compass model” on how to read the future –

Gather Intelligence (the P-E-S-T-L-E model)
Explore Change
Describe the Future
Test your Strategy

– with specific reference to gender inequality, identity, fashion, technology, the economy, the environment, entitlement, leadership, competition, patriarchy and a host of other issues.

The last speaker for the day was Shelley Walters, founder of The Sales Counsel. Her talk was entitled “The Connected Client”.

“Believe in yourself,” she said. “We need to be more resourceful, creative and resilient to be more successful.”

Shelley spoke about sales as a tool to grow and succeed – both for men and women – and how to successfully transfer our business relationships online.

In case you missed it, or if you’d like to experience InsureTalk15 again, you can watch a recording of the webinar below: