Panel discussions are a different energy to keynotes.
When you’re delivering a keynote, you control the narrative. A panel is a conversation — and the best ones go places you didn’t plan for. The University of Pretoria session was exactly that kind of conversation.
What the students actually wanted to talk about
Going in, I expected questions about entrepreneurship and career advice. And yes, those came. But what struck me was how many students wanted to talk about fear — fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of entering industries and spaces where people like them weren’t traditionally represented.
That hit close to home.
Because I’ve lived that fear. I know what it feels like to walk into a room and wonder whether you belong there. I know what self-doubt feels like from the inside — not as a concept, but as something that kept me quiet when I should have been speaking up.
What I told them
Fear doesn’t go away. You just get better at moving in spite of it.
I didn’t become bold overnight. The confidence I walk with today was built through repeated action — through pitching when I wasn’t sure of the outcome, closing deals I wasn’t certain I could close, and showing up in rooms where I was the youngest and often the only one who looked like me.
That repetition is what builds the muscle.
The role of universities in shaping entrepreneurs
I also spoke about the gap between academic preparation and real-world business. Universities equip students with knowledge — but entrepreneurship requires application, risk tolerance, and resilience that can only be developed through experience.
My encouragement to every student on that panel and in that room: start before you’re ready. Start something — a side project, a small business, a service. The learning that happens in the doing is irreplaceable.
The University of Pretoria is producing the next generation of South Africa’s leaders. I was honoured to be part of that conversation.
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