About Marilyn
One word "authentic"
About Me
I was born in the sleepy town of East London in the Eastern Cape and educated in both the old Transvaal and Durban. After my schooling I attended Wits to do both a Public Relations and Secretarial Diploma.
My career began in the Public Relations field but swiftly moved into the Financial Services arena when I joined Liberty Life in 1980.
After an extremely satisfying and successful career with Liberty I moved into the corporate world in 1999. With Financial Services being my passion I looked at various forms of convergence – taking content and communicating in different ways to various target audiences. This included – fibre, mobile and internet. Never having lost the passion for the financial services industry that has always been my focus of information. I have my own FSP 40166 which is an independent Financial Advisory practice specializing in personal financial planning.
Marilyn
Just a little more
Why this direction
One of the very first policies that I sold was to a young couple in Oranjemund. He was young and healthy and certainly the furthest thing from either him or his wife’s mind was death or disability.This was in 1980 and electronic applications had not been invented yet, so I put the application and the cheque for the first premium in the mail to Liberty Life in Cape Town.
Sadly the young man was killed in an accident before the paperwork reached the offices in Cape Town. I was devastated and concerned that the claim would not be met. We used to have a benefit in those days that if the immediate life cover option had been taken, and there was enough money in the bank account for the first premium, the claim would be paid.
At that funeral I was the only person with hope for that young family and my new career had begun in earnest. I am grateful everyday that I can make a difference in the lives of families. I love people and enjoy assisting in planning their future – so my work is an extension of whom I am.
Later Careers
I became a marriage officer in 2005 when a very dear friend of mine was getting married and insisted that I should be the one to marry him and his fiance. I went about the research and proceeded to get the necessary accreditation.
Officiating at weddings, funerals and blessings has now become a major part of my life.
I am lucky enough to have two magnificent children and a son-in-law, all with very successful careers as well. My first Grandchild is now almost two years old and an absolute delight in every way.
Living between Johannesburg and Bathurst, with an office in Cape Town as well, I certainly do have the best of three worlds – the buzz of Johannesburg business hub – the magnificence of the Cape Town mountain and ocean – and of course the magic of the village of Bathurst – which definitely is the center of the Universe!!