Why Living Your Purpose Will Lead to Success As an organisation, Woman of Stature believes that the ideals of success mindset and living your purpose are shaping a new breed of empowered women.

Vital Stats

• Players: Charlotte du Plessis (founder of Woman of Stature and MD), Lynn Hill (WOS director and Inspirational Speaker, Trainer and Life Coach) and Sue Moodley (WOS director and founder of Pluminco Trade).
• Business: Woman of Stature
• Launched: 2013
• Visit: www.womanofstature.co.za

When Charlotte du Plessis founded Woman of Stature (originally named Woman of Substance), it was because she wanted to create a network of women who could support each other and share skills as well as life and business lessons.

What started as a side-project soon consumed more and more time, until eventually she made the decision to sell her eventing business and focus on Woman of Stature full-time. Passion, purpose and business combined to not only give Charlotte a clear goal, but one that she could share with others, and that would hopefully live on as a brand well beyond her own name as the founder and current MD.

In 2018, she asked Lynn Hill and Sue Moodley to join her as directors. As an entrepreneur herself, Sue's focus is the growth of the brand and platform, while Lynn's background in training and her experience as a speaker will shape the training programmes that Woman of Stature offers its members and the public. Charlotte, Sue and Lynn share their lessons in finding your purpose, pursuing passions and ultimately leading full and successful lives.

1.You are in control of your own destiny

Sue Moodley started her business 21 years ago with just R4 000. Her father had been retrenched, and they decided to launch a business of their own. He was a salesman, she a born entrepreneur, even at the age of 19. Today Pluminco Trade has supplied plumbing and building products to some of the biggest construction projects in the country, including OR Tambo International Airport and Emperor's Palace Hotel.

"The key is to just do it," says Sue.

"I believe that there's no excuse for remaining poverty-stricken, struggling as a single mom or relying on a man. There are so many ways to make money, so many things to sell. You just need to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and make the change.

"It won't always be easy. Our business still hasn't completely recovered from the 2008 recession. I've lost millions, but I've kept going. I've dropped my GPs on certain things so that my product turnover is better, I've slowed some projects down, committing to four years instead of two years, but through it all I haven't given up. We are in control of our own destiny. It's important to remember that."

2. Start by showing up

It was Sue's desire to share the lessons she'd learnt, build up her personal brand and learn from others in different situations that led her to Woman of Stature. "We're a multi-racial organisation that accepts members from 17 years up," she says.

"It's incredible what you can learn from people when you're in an environment where you'll find someone who shares your background and culture as well as people who come from completely different walks of life. You just need to be open to taking it all in."

This was exactly what Charlotte had in mind when she first founded Woman of Stature. She wanted to be able to network with like-minded women who shared her values, but also to create an environment where women could learn from each other and share their stories and experiences.

"We believe in self-actualisation," says Charlotte. "I attended an event a few years ago and the theme was "Africans come uninvited', and it really struck a chord with me. That's what we stand for. Anyone can join us. Come and take a seat at the table — but what you do with that seat is up to you. Over the years we've seen that the truly successful people in life seize opportunities and run with them. They don't wait for things to happen — they make them happen."

3. Everyone has a purpose — you just need to live it

Much of what Woman of Stature stands for is upliftment. Sue talks about who you see when you look in the mirror each day, because if you don't believe in yourself, you can't expect anyone else to, but there is also a strong sense that no-one is locked into their current fate.

"We always tell our members to look beyond themselves," says Charlotte. "Step one is networking. Once you start hearing stories that are similar to your own, you realise you're not alone. From there, you can begin to share, learn and build yourself up, whether it's a self-confidence issue, building a personal brand or finding your purpose. We all have a purpose, and once you start living that purpose you find success."

Finding and living your purpose is one of Lynn Hill's passions, not only for herself, but others, and has played a key role in the coaching, consulting and training she does for corporates and entrepreneurs. "We often talk about finding our purpose, but that's not correct," she says.

"You are your purpose; you can't separate yourself from your talents and gifts. What we need to do is recognise our purpose, and to do that, you need to know who you are.

What makes you tick? What are your gifts, talents and passions? What gives you joy?

"Usually, these are the questions that lead us to our inherent gifts and talents. When we learn to express these, we find our purpose. The real secret to purpose is that it's innately unselfish. When we use our talents to uplift humanity — in whatever form that takes, from solving big problems to acts of kindness and compassion — purpose is achieved."

For Lynn, people who fail to find their purpose haven't come to terms with who they really are. "We get caught up in being competitive and comparative," she says. "We compare ourselves to others'. We want what someone else has, and end up trying to copy a gift or talent, instead of being authentic to ourselves.

Never underestimate your uniqueness. You are your most perfect at just being yourself. We don't focus on that enough." At its core, this is what Woman of Stature offers its members. Charlotte believes that you can't separate business from life, and if you want to run a successful company, you need to first lead a successful life.

"It's about you as an individual," she says. "You need to develop everything inside you in the best possible way so that you can live a purpose-driven life." Interestingly, it's clear from Charlotte, Sue and Lynn's journeys that your purpose and passions evolve, and that it's never too late to pursue your dreams.

Charlotte left the corporate world to launch her first business at the age of 50. Her experiences as an entrepreneur as well as losing her mother to breast cancer led her to forming a charity and then Woman of Stature. The realisation that this was where her true purpose lay meant she then sold her business to focus full-time on empowering women.

Lynn's current focus is to share her message with as many people as possible, which she's doing through her writing and speaking and Sue wants to share her experiences with other women to give them hope and inspiration.

4. Embrace a success mindset

Ultimately, organisations like Woman of Stature are designed to promote a success mindset, through networking, training and motivating or inspiring others. "I believe a success mindset is a mindset of excellence," says Lynn. "It's a mindset where you don't simply aspire towards excellent standards, but where you begin to normalise standards of excellence to a point where you embody them. It's the belief that mediocrity is a sin.

"Once you embrace a success mindset, you move beyond a goal and acquisition focus and recognise that the means is as significant as the end. As a result, quality relationship-building happens as part of pursuing those goals.

"When we are able to move beyond the traditional idea of success, we also focus on significance: The fact that our success does not just impact our own lives, but the lives of others. That's when we begin to make meaningful contributions to those around us and even whole communities."

5. Success is a team effort

The reason why Charlotte took the step to invite Lynn and Sue into her business is because they were already exceptional women in her life. "We became friends through networking first," she says. "There's a lot to be said for first forming a friendship. You need to do business with people you trust, like and have shared values with. It's one of the reasons why networking and joining associations is so important. It allows you to build relationships and trust."

Like Charlotte, Sue had lost her mother to breast cancer, and the two felt an instant kinship, particularly as Woman of Stature supports the same charity that Sue supports, Breast Health Foundation. Once the relationship was built, it was natural for Sue to take an interest in the organisation, and even become an angel investor based on her experience with the brand and its impact.

"It's difficult to build something from the ground up," says Charlotte. "No one can do it alone. You need to be able to rely on family, friends and associates to build something that lasts. You also need to be able to exchange knowledge. We all have dreams, but if you're really going to build a sustainable brand and business, you need the business acumen to back it up.

We tend to focus on the great idea, and what we love and are passionate about, but need the business side too. The associations and networks that I've built up aren't only about emotional support — it's about that knowledge exchange. It's about mentoring each other and sharing advice and lessons."

"You need to give to receive," agrees Sue. "We all learn from each other. It's a two-way street though. Networking isn't about what you can take — it's about mutual growth." Much of what Woman of Stature does is built on this concept, including its Impact Circle training programme.

"Impact Circle is a self-development and entrepreneurial development training programme, and all the trainers are members," says Lynn. "We've drawn from our own network, both to support our members who are in this field and to give everyone more access to each other."

Through this vision, Charlotte, Sue and Lynn are planning to make a real difference in South Africa's business, social and political landscape. "We're fostering future ministers and presidents," says Sue. "Shakira Chumara, whose goal is to be Minister of Health, says that her shift happened at Woman of Stature. We opened her eyes to a vision larger than herself. That's the ethos of everything we stand for."

"Our goal is to empower women to do the incredible things they were born to do," says Charlotte. "And that takes a vision bigger than my own, and a brand that's much more than just me. It takes like-minded people banding together to achieve great things."

BE THE CHANGE

Woman of Stature (WOS) is an organisation that was founded by Charlotte du Plessis in 2013. In 2017 she stepped away from her business to focus full-time on growing WOS's membership and community impact. Lynn Hill and Sue Moodley joined WOS as directors in 2018.

Originally created as a platform for women from all walks of life that was committed to empowering women to live their purpose and reach their full potential, WOS has grown from a networking association and a member's directory into an organisation that includes training and a speaker's bureau.

Current training programmes include 5 Pillars of Empowerment, a corporate-sponsored, accredited Enterprise Development training programme, and Impact Circle, a self-development and entrepreneurial development training programme.

There is also a Speakers Academy, designed to train women who want to become professional speakers and entrepreneurs and executives who want to build their confidence in front of an audience, and the Woman of Impact Speakers Bureau, a professional bureau representing woman speakers. WOS also hosts an annual awards programme, celebrating women across various industries and sectors.