Choosing your career and deciding where you will end up, should be a process where you expose yourself to as many options as possible. Long gone are the days of just having ‘traditional’ careers to think about and any high school learner or recent school leaver should spread the net far and wide.
“My line of work today could not possibly be any more different to what I initially thought I would become. I dreamed of becoming a vet but the first day of job shadowing showed me exactly how cruel humans can be and I knew I would not cope in this industry,” says Alexis Searle, brand manager for the API marketplace Chenosis, a member of the MTN group.
The music industry also beckoned, briefly.
“I play the piano and the clarinet and wondered if a life as a musician was my destiny. I was blessed to secure a bursary to study music at UCT but the reality that musicians in SA don’t really make enough money to earn a living burst another bubble for me,” she explains.
Searle now holds an Honours in Brand Leadership and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice. In addition, her diverse qualifications in project management, web development, and service design display a commitment to lifelong learning.
With a distinguished 17-year career already under her belt, Searle is now a formidable leader in marketing and brand strategy. Her professional journey includes roles such as her tenure at MMH Holdings, where she revamped partner strategies and customer journey models.
At Alexander Forbes Investments, as Head of Strategic Marketing and Investments, she headed a marketing team, discerned market insights, hones messaging and managed collateral.
During her time at Old Mutual as Senior Manager of Integrated Marketing Communications, she led a team of managers and consultants, with whom she was responsible for brand management, media relations, as well as both ATL and BTL campaigns.
“These organisations helped me learn how to tell the story of a brand and help secure engagement. It also better prepare me for the work I do now at Chenosis,” she adds.
But Searle believes her career path shows the value of a diverse set of experiences and skills that keep pace with how the world changes.
“I mean, when I started working a clothing store like Pep only sold pieces of clothing. Now, they sell a long list of other consumer items. As a marketer I need to keep pace with these rapid revolutions, and an old mindset that concentrates on traditional job descriptions and ways of working simply would not equip anyone who is entering this job market.
“Today, I work for a company that is truly changing the world. We sell a product that can protect mobile identity or even turn around the results of x-rays much faster than before. This kind of product was unheard of when I first joined the working world.”
She says she remains thankful to this day to the people who have mentored her in her career, people who have opened doors for her to become what she is today.
“I have met amazing people who helped me by being a soundboard. And I try to do the same for others,” believes Searle.
“You cannot make decisions in a vacuum. If you don’t pay it forward you are not doing it right. As someone who comes from a community that was underprivileged, I have to show up and give others the kind of breaks I received.”
This ‘giving back’ approach to life extends further, she explains. Searle has been hard at work in her spare time to set up an NGO called The I AM Collective, a group that works to support and empower survivors of gender-based violence.
In closing, her message for young students is to aim for the stars and to be brave. “My advice to them is to expose yourself to as many new ideas as possible. Be open to experience and trying something new, and don’t overthink it. Just do it.”
