Tshepiso was born and raised in Tzaneen, Limpopo. In 2003, due to the poor economic conditions in his home town, he moved to Johannesburg to search for better work prospects. After an extensive job search, he was offered a position in Italtile in 2007, where he started working at the CTM Sports Field in Soweto as a Caretaker. In this role he received training in landscaping, sports field management and sport practices. Not only did the training teach him new technical skills but he says since working at Italtile he has developed interpersonal skills such as communication, empathy and understanding, which are vital when working with communities and children. He says Italtile gave him an opportunity despite his limited experience, and the belief the Company had in him exposed him to a new career path he didn’t know existed. Once he had gained the necessary training and experience in managing a community sports field, his dedication earned him a promotion to Manager of the sports field facility. Tshepiso is especially grateful to the Chairman, Mr Ravazzotti, who often visits on the weekend in his personal time to check on him and the field and shares his wisdom and love for children and community. He states that this has inspired him to work hard and be a good ambassador for CTM and the Group.

Julian grew up in Tlhabane Township, Rustenburg, as the middle child of five siblings. After he matriculated at President Mangope Technical and Commercial High School, he was employed as a waiter, and via student loans and waitering earnings, funded his studies at Tshwane University of Technology, where he graduated with a B-Tech Degree in Finance and Accounting. Julian shares that being a waiter taught him customer service at the most basic level and that if you take care of your customers, they will also take care of you. This still applies to his job today and is a key ethos of the Italtile business.

In October 2015, Julian started working for Italtile as a Forensic Internal Auditor. While in this role, he had the opportunity to work with the Group Chairman implementing effective warehouse standards and reducing stock control costs. At that time, he also started working as the second in command to the Head of Internal Audit.

Portia Mathe was born and bred in a small village near Mahikeng in the North West Province. She was raised by her grandparents while her mother went to work on a farm in Brits. Portia shares that growing up in a very under-developed village was tough; she remembers walking to school on cold winter mornings with no shoes and nothing but a shirt and an old pair of trousers. There was no motivation or role models around her as everyone would drop out of school to go and work on the local farm to make a living. At 11 years old, she moved to Soweto. Johannesburg was a different world to what she had known but in a good way. Adjusting to her new school was difficult as she was previously taught in purely Setswana, but it did not take long to become a top achiever in the school.

When in Grade 12 at Forte High School, she was presented with an opportunity to apply for a bursary from the Italtile and Ceramic Foundation. At that time, she knew she couldn’t afford higher education and had no plans for post matric. At first, she was hesitant to apply for the bursary and thought she wasn’t bright enough to receive it, so she decided against applying. Fortunately, she received a second chance to apply and decided to take the chance. A week after interviewing with the Foundation, she got news she had received the bursary. She could not believe that a company like Italtile would invest in her potential.

Zanele is a mother of one, who was born in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Once she completed matric, she attended Mangosuthu University of Technology and obtained a National Diploma in Information Technology. Before graduation, she also completed a learnership with a technology company for a year where she acquired a NQF level 5 qualification in Systems Support.

Siyabonga, more popularly known as Siya, grew up in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape. His journey with the Italtile Group commenced in 2004 when he started working at CTM Port Elizabeth as a packer. He shares that for him, this new position wasn’t just a job, but an opportunity to start building his career. Siya says he took his passion for the job and translated it into hard work. He made it a point to learn as much as he could and after three months he was promoted to the sales department. While working for the Group, Siya has completed his Bachelor’s degree, Honours degree and Masters in Business Administration. A journey he explains that was tough and required long hours of work, but thanks to the support of his colleagues, he was able to successfully complete. He is also grateful for the technical training offered by the Company, including various courses in customer service, SAP, merchandising, material management, home and décor finishing and supply chain business optimisation.