My story
Growth begins where comfort ends.
Engineer, operations leader, coach, endurance athlete, husband, father. One story, told in six short chapters.
Engineering roots
A chemical engineer who wanted to understand everything.
I studied chemical engineering at the University of Pretoria, played first-team tennis, and refereed rugby to a level that put me on the field for a Test match and the Dubai Sevens. I have always had a great desire to understand any piece of equipment I am exposed to. That habit taught me engineering principles, and later it taught me how teams actually work.
Then
- BEng and BEng Honours, Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria
- University of Pretoria first-team tennis
- SA Rugby referee, including a Test match and the Dubai Sevens
Leading at scale
More than a decade at Sasol, Secunda.
I started as a process engineer on the ethane cracking and ethylene purification plant, then on the SAS reactors in the gas-synthesis plant. I identified a fuel-gas conversion, won the buy-in of every surrounding plant, ran a no-capital test, and made the change permanent. It still saves the company R36.6 million a year.
Today I lead a production area: large-scale, multi-unit, shift-based operations with diverse teams across disciplines. The work that matters most is not the equipment. It is how a group of people thinks, decides, and behaves when the plant is under pressure.
The coaching turn
My hunger to understand teams grew into a second calling.
Somewhere in the second half of those years, my interest in team dynamics and performance grew to the point where I followed it into life and business coaching. I became accredited in 2021. The technical and operational background, combined with a real desire to see people reach their potential, turned out to be exactly the combination business leaders, schools, and athletes were looking for.
I have worked with the leadership students of a local high school for years, and I chair the Young Engineers Forum. The two threads, operations and people, are not separate careers. They are the same work in different rooms.
Lived under pressure
The principles are not theoretical. I have lived them.
In 2021 I competed on Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island. As a lifelong fan of the game it was a dream come true, and as a student of strategy it was a masterclass in alliances, timing, and staying useful. My game ended with a twist beyond my control. I left proud of how I played.
Outside the game, I have finished the Cape Epic, competed at the Adventure Race World Championship, run the Drakensberg Grand Traverse in a Fastest Known Time attempt, and completed the 100 km Ultra Trail. Each one has a chapter of triumph and a chapter of setback. That is where I learned what perseverance and teamwork actually cost.
Survivor SA
Immunity Island, 2021
Cape Epic
Finisher
Adventure Race Worlds
Competitor
Drakensberg Grand Traverse
FKT attempt, plus the 100 km Ultra Trail
Beyond39
A season of giving back.
After Survivor, the experience of real hunger drove me to start Beyond39, a small non-profit focused on helping vulnerable South Africans recover hope through sustainable support. It grew out of a running project, and it was made possible by people who put the first cents into motion before I could. It is not actively running today, but it shaped how I think about what work is for.
What drives me
Faith, family, and a difference made.
At my core I am motivated by faith, by my family, and by a desire to make a difference. The through-line of everything above is the same: create growth in people's lives, and help them think one step more strategically than they did yesterday. Whether that is a leadership team, a squad before a final, or a teenager who is struggling, the work is the same.
Next step
What's next?
Whether you are looking for coaching, a speaker, or an operations advisor, the next step is a conversation. No pricing surprises, no hard sell. We figure out together whether what I do is what you need.