Blogs & Insights From Mama Gold
FROM STARTUP TO SUCCESSION
Startups require STAMINA
S stands for SIGNIFICANCE
Significance means a higher calling. A bigger mission. Many entrepreneurs focus on success. Significance is far deeper.
The Compounding Advantage
I never thought my story mattered, but now I do.
I used to compare myself as a founder to other companies, far larger, friends who employed 2000 people. Why would people want to listen to my story?
But then I realized it was not the size of the company we built, but the significance of the lessons we learned.
Last week I was interviewed by Leanne Manas as an entrepreneur at the book launch of "Compounding Advantage", a remarkable book that is both a mirror and a roadmap for businesses in South Africa.
“Success” vs Significance
For those who have been following my journey, I want to introduce myself properly. That means being honest. Raw. Unfiltered.
My name is Ali. Some know me as Alleycat. Some as Mama Gold, a name given to me during a Gold TV series that stayed with me. My close friends know me as Jessica, my middle name. Jessica is lighter, freer, more playful. Alison can be serious. Ali is warm, open, and less guarded.
For a long time, I didn’t believe my story mattered. I didn’t believe my voice mattered.
In 2025, I received harsh criticism from family about my visibility. It broke me more than I expected. I retreated for months into silence, into safety, into healing. I had to look myself in the mirror and ask myself whether being visible was worth the cost.
Butterfly Dreams
Five years ago, a shy young woman entered my life. I never realized how much our journey together could change the very nature of the work I do now and my why.
Five years ago, when I met Jean at a church in the inner city, I could see her remarkable talent as a graphic designer. And how much her creativity was not being given the wings it deserves, the wings it was meant for, the wings that were meant to fly.
The Jackets of our Lives
It was about five years ago, when I sat shyly at the dining room table of a well-known speaker named Nikki Bush, where she spoke about the jackets of her life and what they represented.
I had heard Nikki speak for the first time after her husband, Simon, had been brutally gunned down in their home in December 2017 in a home invasion.
Nikki stood in a church in Parktown, only 18 months after having lost her husband and told her story of the six seconds that changed her life. The same church where she had married her husband. The same church where her children had been christened.
Second Chances
So many people ask me, “Why don't you retire? Why are you still working? What are you trying to prove? You don't need to prove anything anymore.” And lately, I've had to question myself: Why do I work?
Why do I work?
I work because I'm living a second chance, I believe. A second chance at being a better wife, a better mother, a better leader.
