In 1984, at a time when South Africa was beginning to feel the consequences of international isolation and sanctions, and when the tourism and hospitality industries faced bankruptcy and failure, Protea Hotels was launched – without a cent of capital and with just four hotels. Under the leadership of Arthur Gillis, the Protea Hotels Group grew from the initial four hotels to over 130 hotels operating in seven African countries, and is today the largest and leading hotel operating company in Africa.
Arthur is currently the CEO of Platinum Hospitality Holdings, a leading hotel asset management company with approximately 15 hotels in South Africa.
He has been extremely active in all facets of the hospitality industry and has received many industry awards. He was recognised by a highly esteemed business community, having received the ABSA Jewish Achiever of the Year Award for non-list companies in 2008.
Where do you think your ‘MAGIC’ comes from? | Insatiable curiosity.
What do you think is often the difference between people who are good at what they do and people who are great at what they do? | Persistence and getting up again when knocked down.
What are the principles and values that you believe are important to live by? | Respect for human dignity.
What is your biggest weakness? | A belief that everyone around me is honest.
What are the most important lessons you have learnt so far, in your career or life journey? This could be anything from very simple small lessons to much larger bigger lessons. | To remove myself from toxic relationships as soon as possible.
What is the best advice you have ever received? | Narrow your business focus and pursue it relentlessly.
Who inspires you and who are your role-models? | My wife Lauren who sees only good in people and works tirelessly for those who don’t have opportunities.
Manuel Lima is a designer, author, lecturer, and researcher based in New York City. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Founder of VisualComplexity.com, Design Lead at Codecademy. Nominated by Creativity magazine as “one of the 50 most creative and influential minds of 2009″. WIRED describes Lima as “the man who turns data into art” […]
Dr. Reza Aslan is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, and the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Reza Aslan | The Legacy Project He is the founder of Aslan Media, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle […]
Lizé began her life as a singer-songwriter with her first break as a nine year old in the hit musical – Annie. Whilst still at school she then signed her first recording contract with David Gresham Records, South Africa and at 21 years of age she entered South African Idols and landed herself a finalist […]
Patrick is a social entrepreneur. Believing in the principle of ‘doing good is good business’ he has invested in and is part of a number of successful social enterprises in South Africa including The Indalo Project; Streetwires Artist Collective; Kwalapa Organic Wholefoods Centre; Billboard Information Services & African Manga. He talks & consults regularly on […]
Debbie Millman – TLP is an American writer, educator, artist, and designer who is perhaps best known as the host of the Design Observer podcast ‘Design Matters’. She is ‘President of Design’ at Sterling Brands, based in New York City, working with brands such as Pepsi, Gillette, Colgate, Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé, and Campbells. She chairs the […]
Her heart has answered the call to empower the next generation in Africa to learn to code. Camille Agon has been instrumental in co founding a French and South African initiative We Think Code with Arlene Mulder. Her ambition to source and develop the next generation of Africa’s digital talent is realised thereby echoing the […]
Here Clive Butkow shares his journey from humble beginnings, through a remarkable career, leading from the front and investing and growing human capital. He advises on investment in self development, being always willing to learn but also being willing to teach. Clive Butkow | Legacy Project Tackling the job generation challenge currently facing South Africa, […]
Louis Minnaar forms one half of Albino Creations, with Werner Burger. Their amazing collaboration allows them to tackle animation, illustration and design work, and from what we can see, there is no shortage of magnificence in their work. They see beauty in things that ordinarily seem odd, and this gives them their explicit uniqueness. From […]
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