Let’s start with your childhood. Was there a formative experience that helped make you who you are today?

My family emigrated from South Africa to Dallas, Texas, when I was around five years old. While I would be remiss not to acknowledge its troubled history, I appreciate the multifaceted culture and unique traditions of the country that housed four generations of my family. I feel grateful that my parents never let go of their South African identities, but rather made it an integral part of our household (afternoon tea with milk, anyone?) and fostered a love of different backgrounds and hunger to explore the world around me.

So would you say your parents had a strong influence on you?

One hundred percent. They taught me that living a good life is accomplished by being a good person, by looking outward rather than inward. I actually think that their example is in part what led me to my role today, and why I get so much energy and excitement from helping our fantastic founders navigate their startup journey.

Wow. But before we jump to the present…what did you study in college?

History — and I loved every second of it. Not only are you constantly immersed in stories that are arguably better than fiction, but you learn so much about leadership, human nature, virtues and vices and motivation. You learn to recognize patterns, to analyze trends, to read three levels deeper than the text in front of you and to somehow reconcile past, present and future.

Kind of like we’re doing with this Q&A?

Kinda.

So what gets you most psyched about working with brands at VMG?

I love the symbiotic nature of the fund — that our B2B technology companies are here to fuel the success of consumer brands, and the consumer brands do the same for our tech companies. It’s such a unique differentiator to see up close how transformative our investments can and will be.

Is there an aspect of this work that’s like second nature to you?

Helping our founders find the people that are going to help them build their company. I love figuring out the traits and attributes they look for and value in their peers, truly understanding what keeps them up at night, and then finding the one person whose very passion is to fix that problem — and doing it in a way that the founder would appreciate.

Sounds like a lot of pieces to put together.

It's my favorite kind of puzzle to solve.

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