From ‘Girl Friday’ to company owner

FOLLOWING A dutiful 27-year career at John T Rennie & Sons, Manju Pather resigned her position in 2007 with the firm belief that she was going to launch her own freight booking firm. Almost exactly one year later the worries of launching a business from scratch and establishing it in the market almost seem a distant memory as Pather’s journey has been a whirlwind of success. Reflecting on her time with JTR, Pather maintains she is indebted to the firm – Rod Eaton and the late Chris Cook particularly. She began her career at the company in 1980 in a ‘Girl Friday’ position and worked her way up from there. “I worked on the import desk, the export desk and in container tracking – by which time the bug had bitten,” she explains. “I was very interested in the industry and was lucky enough to explore a number of aspects within it.” Pather’s immediate superior was a line manager, and while working as his assistant, a sales representative position became available at the firm. He insisted she apply for it, which she did, and in so doing became the first non-white female sales representative out on the road securing business and maintaining established relationships with existing clients. Pather launched her company, Land & Sea Shipping, with her son, Dirushen, in June last year in what she describes as a “very humble beginning”. However, by October the business was doing so well that her brother, Siva, joined the company – also having worked for an established industry player for a number of years. “In the short space of 12 months we have grown significantly as a company,” enthuses Pather, “and this is ultimately rewarding.” Land & Sea Shipping has a staff of eight and will soon launch an office in Durban.