Jostinah Tsele, Senior Safety Engineer has been part of HEINEKEN Beverages for almost 3 years. She grew up in the Vaal, south of Gauteng. As a Food Technology graduate, her career began in Quality Control and Assurance but she was soon introduced to Safety, Health and Environment (SHE), which ignited a spark of passion and led to her pursuing her studies in Safety Management. She equally enjoys the outdoors and quiet time with a glass of wine at home. All her free time is spent with her teenage son exploring new restaurants and taking on new adventures.
This week, Jostinah speaks to us about how she navigates her work life for lasting success and what inspires her to keep going in the midst of difficulties.
Q&A
This remains a challenging space for women – how have you successfully overcome barriers to succeed?
I take time to reflect on how I approached and handled past situations and actively work on improving myself for future situations. I believe in the notion of continuous learning, so I embrace that and always look for opportunities to learn, whether by advancing my studies, reading, networking with other professional women and by simply engaging people from different environments.
How would you describe your leadership purpose – what inspires you to keep going?
To create an environment where everyone can reach their highest potential and thrive. Achieving my goals, both at a personal and professional level. I love the feeling of achievement that I get when I have worked towards a goal, and I finally achieved it. This feeling reminds me of what I’m capable of and inspires me to keep going and keep striving for more.
What is your favourite HEINEKEN Beverages drink?
Fleur du Cap Pinotage
What are some of the practical ways we can each contribute to the women in our lives, especially younger women for their growth and development?
- I believe we can contribute to younger women in our lives by sharing valuable information that they can use and benefit from.
- We can create a space where they know that they can voice their opinions and they will be heard. This will teach them that their opinions matter.
- We can identify the good traits or practices that they are doing, tell them why it’s good and encourage them to continue doing it as this builds courage.
- And lastly, we can shut down negativity. There’s always a lot of noise and negativity around us and when we get the opportunity, we must encourage them to focus on what is positive and shut down the negativity around us.