CHARIS
On taking up space and using her voice, Charis says it is these limitations on women’s capabilities that push her. She believes in self- reinvention and encourages women to take up spaces. ‘I am not scared of taking up space in male- dominated rooms. I speak up for myself and lift the voices of others.’ On how the taking up of space and the upliftment of others looks like in reality, Charis speaks about the incubator programme that was undertaken by MultiChoice two years ago, with the purpose of supporting content creators who’re from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the two years that the programme has been running, ten people have been incorporated, and out of the ten, eight have been women. ‘It is important to give women the opportunity to come forward and be seen in media, and MultiChoice has done an incredible job in seeing that through.’
Within the teams she manages, she allows women to have their voice by encouraging them to present their own work ‘because that’s how their confidence develops and grows. I push them to lead campaigns even when they also head families. In an instance where a woman needs to leave work early because she has a family emergency, I allow her to attend to the emergency while securing whatever campaign she was initially meant to lead so that when she eventually returns to work, she finds that she’s still in charge. I do this to teach them that they deserve to be in leadership roles even as they are responsible for their families back home; it is possible for all of us.’ The hybrid model has allowed Charis enough time to attend to her parenting duties while strutting around the house in yoga pants. ‘I like to imagine myself as a fitness bunny even though I’m not really one.’ Her day in the office typically consists of her scanning her messages and emails from the previous day, she then does copy- proofing, signs off video work, motivates and brainstorms ideas with her team while also attending back- to-back meetings in between. Her Women’s Month wish list consists of women being given a full day of shopping at some of the most expensive retailers and women being allowed to have free daycare at work. ‘A day or a month where women do not have to worry about anything would be the best thing to ever happen for us.’
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LEWATLE
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