Nombini Mehlomakulu has an ingrained awareness of the impact she has as industry leader – and strives to ensure it is positive, considered and mutually beneficial.

As a leader and director of an advertising agency, I have the privilege of influencing the gender gap that exists in our business and in our industry. It’s both a privilege and a responsibility to be able to say I have the influence to change its course or direction.

In media, and in particular advertising, there are many women in the sector, but sadly, a large number of these women are in lower-level positions, with limited opportunity to make real decisions and create impactful change. So, the women who have been entrusted with leadership need to be catalysts of change and positive influence.

FIRST CHOICE

My career in advertising has not been a linear affair, but advertising has always been in my blood. It grips me and intrigues me. As a child, I watched the adverts because in these one could see sneak previews into society. In fact, I enjoyed them more than the TV shows. I remember getting slightly annoyed when the scheduled programme started because I wanted just one more ad.

So it’s hardly suprising that advertising was where my career began. As opportunities arose and my career blossomed, I moved further from the sector, but kept in touch. I was, for a long time, a non-executive director of one of the country’s biggest agencies. In 2018, a single, compelling billboard brought me back into the industry, fulltime. The billboard was clever, sassy, humorous and impactful. I talked about this piece of work for weeks; I couldn’t shut up about it – and I knew I had to get back in the game, so to speak.

This time, though, I wanted a feature role in an agency that would help me create a positive, lasting impact. That would help me bring about transformation and change. So, the hunt began for the place to relaunch my advertising career.

After many meetings, engagements and conversations, I found myself at Ebony+Ivory. I walked through the doors, and I felt ‘it’. The agency was brimming with potential… it had everything that I wanted. And then, I met Paul Middleton. To segue, Ebony+Ivory is the oldest independent agency in South Africa and Paul’s father was the man who started it all. The legacy and sense of place is so compelling. Paul and I talked and he shared his purpose for the agency… to serve the society we are in. I was hooked! We had a common vison and purpose and that was the beginning of our partnership.

FINDING PURPOSE

My love affair with advertising was reignited; this time, with grounding, knowledge and a renewed sense of purpose. That purpose has grown and evolved into three ideals that are an intrinsic part of who I am – and that I am instilling in our agency – to ensure we are able to serve the society we live in.

The three ideals, very simply, are:
• To be socially conscious
• To forge the path for women in leadership
• To pay it forward

I believe that, as female leaders, we need to use our voices boldly for transformative change and positive societal impact.

SOCIAL AWARENESS

This awareness of the impact I have, and ensuring that it is positive, considered and mutually beneficial, is deeply engrained. I was raised in rural Eastern Cape – Sterkspruit, to be exact – where extended family living was a way of life. It’s impossible to have harmony in this setting without communal thinking, so I learned at a young age to be consultative and to consider those around me when making decisions.

My Tata always encouraged me to be bold and reach for the stars; my Mom, mamGcina, taught me to have my feet firmly on the ground by being involved in community development and social impact projects.

This approach has influenced my leadership and management style, the development and maintenance of my business and social networks and my approach to transformation and more importantly, inclusion. Inclusion that is meant for ALL regardless of colour, preferences, language or gender.

At Ebony+Ivory, we align to four values that ensure our social consciousness is front and centre in our culture, our work and our approach: Integrity + Creativity + Inclusion + Excellence.

FORGING THE PATH FOR WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

The second ideal is quite specifically around helping women to develop into leadership roles – but it’s predicated on helping women to help themselves. The two burning issues I’m focusing on now are around education, and finding ways to enable women to stay, or re-enter, the advertising world after having children. Both are having a devastating influence on the number of women in leadership positions in our industry.

I have personally experienced the profound impact a good education can have on being taken seriously in business. I have always had a voice, but I also knew that I needed to have solid credentials behind my name in order to open doors which were literally closed for me. I applied for a scholarship at Harvard Business School. It wasn’t vanity that drove the decision to attend Harvard; it was the quest for knowledge, a need to harness the best business skills and the confidence that this would bring me at the professional level. What I didn’t know was that I would gain so much more, including an alumni network that, to this day, is a meaningful group of people who add value to me and that I add value to, in return. The point is that qualifications give you a seat at the head of the table, and the confidence to make well thought-out decisions.

I am passionate about encouraging and helping the women I know, and those I mentor, to study further as their careers progress. This ongoing endeavour to learn has a multi-faceted effect on you as a person, your confidence, competence, ability to innovate and improve.

As an agency, skills development is a critical point on our agenda and is split into helping our team develop and expand their skills via our working hub, Hlumani, that creates learning opportunities for aspiring creatives, and in supporting a black-empowered development trust that helps to educate and support economically disadvantaged black women to become productive citizens and pillars of their community.

Another initiative I am extremely passionate about, is how we, as an agency and an industry, can help women to have a family without jeopardising their careers.

This is something that corporates have taken seriously and are addressing incredibly effectively with child-minding services, extended maternity leave, and hybrid work options. It’s something that we, as an industry, should be far more proactive in, yet sadly, for a creative sector, we are not being very creative in solving this issue. I believe the solution lies in collaboration, as teams, as agency collectives and as an industry body.

I hope these ideals will fall on fertile ground because every positive action has an impact and every impact creates a ripple effect, and it’s the ripples that change the world. So, while being seen is incredibly important, it’s time to be see and hear. It’s time to create some waves.

I was taught that if you are given, you must give in return. This concept of paying it forward, builds on my belief that favours are gifts and shouldn’t be returned but paid forward, in gratitude, to someone else in need. This idea
of gratitude implies humility and a recognition that we could not be who we are or where we are in life without the contributions of others.

Helping others, and by extension, helping others to help too, inspires kindness, connection and changes lives. As an agency, we talk about the ‘+’, in our name as our guiding principle; to add value in everything we do. And we do, every day, strive to do that. For our clients, our team, our industry, our community and society.

FUTURE FORWARD

It’s easy to get distracted and focus only on ourselves and our careers. My definition of success is a full life, not a great career.

A great career just means you are good at your job, but a full life is one with purpose; one that can create a positive, lasting impact in your community and society as a whole – that’s what I’m striving for.

Nombini Mehlomakulu, a director of Ebony+Ivory, is responsible for the agency’s financial health, strategy development and client service. Her 28+ years of experience spans a broad client base including corporates and niched brands, providing her with deep knowledge in managing and marketing brands. Mehlomakulu is a Harvard Business School Fellow.