How I spent my birthday this year – I took a pyjama day.

Today, I celebrate Me.   I give gratitude for the million versions of myself I have grown into and out of. My brother — who never gives me a compliment — told me I made the smartest statement he’s heard all year: smart enough for the boardroom and still dumb in the bedroom.

That’s me – lover of love. Free‑spirited, uninhibited, adventurous, becoming, unafraid, honest, unselfish, unconditional. Giving without receiving. Pushing boundaries. Living in the future — out of books and fairytales. I have my shadows too – I love too hard, probably still naïve, trusting, principled. I feel a decision rather than think on it – one day I will be able to explain that one. Am always late, I overcommit trying to make everyone happy, and I love and forgive even when I am not being chosen — something I have to learn to stop doing. I demand authenticity from others. And my face gives it away. I follow my intuition and patiently wait for the path to unfold. lack ego or pride; I believe where they exist, love cannot. I hold up mirrors, and am way too hard on myself.

I treasure that on my birthday every year my dad sings Happy Birthday to me, my mum tells me the story of the day I was born – after 48 years it’s still my favourite story, and I feel like I am five years old listening to every word with a smile and a tear (this year especially); a special birthday candle with my son — before my silly happy‑birthday song and dance, filling me with all that belongs.

I am so blessed for the life I have, and I don’t take that for granted. I’ve been a Chief Financial Officer for over 15 years (and in Finance for 25). Ever since I read Wuthering Heights and Tess of D'Urbervilles as a little girl, I romanticized living in the moors of Yorkshire — and now I am. I lead a team that is different from me. I am learning new consumers, a whole new economy, and experiencing the ecosystem of a first‑world country. We help consumers with their first houses, their first cars, their university dreams, and their bigger dreams. I love connecting the markets, the economy, and the consumer — where credit will be next. Living between first‑world and developing economies, I see how much more we can and will do.

I love a good pie and now I actually enjoy a cold beer. I love watching people on the tube and imagining their stories and journeys. I take long walks letting my mind drift into random thoughts and memories. I live in an apartment — 65 square meters instead of my 450 square meter house. I have no domestic help. I live simply. I enjoy every season, appreciate when the sun is out, and settle into a book and blanket on a cold, rainy day.

Yes, moving countries has been hard – I miss my family and friends. I miss conversations around a braai. I miss randomly stopping at my best friend’s house for a bottle of wine and a good chat. I miss my boyz at the gym every morning and catching up with my second‑best friend on our choices in men — or lack thereof.

I spent two and a half years as a General Manager in Africa — everything between Algeria and South Africa. I walked markets at sunrise, watching distributors unpack trucks, wholesalers haggle, and eventually all the products — Unilever, Kellogg’s, P&G, Coke — find their way onto dusty boards. Then the consumers would arrive, bargaining and choosing. I went to markets in Madagascar where the entire market was secondhand clothes and shoes from all over the world. I watched the most incredible African sunsets and listened to Afrobeat while entertaining customers and discussing multi‑access distribution channels.

On a scouting trip for supply chain in Angola, we walked under an apartment block, and to this day we don’t know whether we were peed on or it was water — because the supply chain director insisted we find a local pub. We ordered by pointing at food because we didn’t speak Portuguese.

I spent three months working in a KFC restaurant before entering the organisation as CFO. I battered and fried chicken, washed and cleaned pans held down the burger station at peak time, and my favourite was the drive‑through because I could talk to everyone – actually great at upselling. I got fired from balancing the cash register at shift end by the restaurant manager because I could not figure out the process set by Finance — and it was the first thing I changed when I returned to my actual role. I sat in taverns and shebeens understanding the SABMiller consumer — what he drinks, why, and with whom — so we could profile, segment, and target the markets. Market and trade visits were always my favourite thing. Understanding consumers and building strategy is what I love about business — the brave and bold plays.

We played speed‑dating at KFC meeting new prospective franchisees, advising franchisees on preserving family legacies while marrying them with the best of Corporate. Sitting on the KFC advisory and innovation boards, we built value across the chain – consumers who are loyal and franchisees who need cash flow to expand the footprint. Pharmaceuticals were incredibly special – the lives we impacted addressing diseases like cardiovascular, neuroscience, oncology, respiratory, and endocrinology. I am humbled by the healthcare profession – understanding extensive research, patent protection, supply chain, sales, and negotiating off‑patent drugs with generic houses.

The best haircut I ever had was on a random late night in Lagos. The best food I ate was in Mozambique. The best sunset — every African sunset.

Amazing Race Turkey, where the other CFO and I decided it was too hot so we went for wine in a restaurant and photoshopped the race. Amazing Race Bangkok, which we won because we had a very thrifty accountant who hijacked people’s food and made us take the pictures. Chicago is home — because we have the most incredible team. When we get together annually, it’s like a Christmas table — debating, brainstorming, catching up.

I stand on stages and speak from my heart and head — never prepped ahead. I think it’s the most authentic. I sit with my peers, and we carve out what the future of Finance is — how universities need to adapt to what corporate requires, how our teams will look in the future, how AI gets integrated.

My biggest love is my baby boy. He keeps me grounded; always up for a mom‑and‑baby adventure.

I am grateful for parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephew, my closest friends. I am thankful that when my heart got broken, my best friends never got tired of talking to me, listening to me, and crying with me.

My mum reminded me (as this year was hard) I was born in two auspicious festivals — Navaratri and Purtassi. Navaratri is nine days dedicated to the divine feminine — tenderness, wisdom, courage, bravery, forgiveness, love, and the fight. Purtassi is dedicated to the divine masculine form of Lord Vishnu — creator, preserver, destroyer — restoring harmony, protection, balance, and compassion in Hindu philosophy. Maybe all this explains me – the balance, the fairness, the honesty.

This birthday was still — and for that I am grateful. A day of fasting, food, movement, and a horror‑movie marathon with my baby.

So, coming back to my brother — I am sorry you got two very different sisters: one the philosopher and the other the fighter. I don’t think you’re going to change either of us, so I guess maybe be harder on the guys I date.