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.
Lloyd Blankfein has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. since June 2006, and a Director since April 2003. He serves as a member of the Goldman Sachs Management Committee and Board of Directors. Previously, he had been the firm’s President and Chief Operating Officer and prior to that, […]
Passionate about international education and providing diverse academic options to committed learners, Angela Franklin (a native of Cincinnati, Oh) has worked in West Africa and the United Arab Emirates in the development and implementation of several international branch campuses. Franklin has extensive professional experience working with international partners to develop collaborative programs. As the Director […]
Stephen Greene is the CEO of the international pro-social media company Rockcorps. As head of RockCorps, he has overseen the production of over 40 volunteer-exclusive concerts worldwide, featuring music artists such as Lady Gaga, Diddy and Rihanna. In 2012 the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, appointed Greene as Executive Chairman of the independent management body […]
Orrin Woodward TLP has co-founded two multi-million dollar leadership companies and serves as the Chairman of the Board of The Life Leadership. He has a B.S. degree from GMI-EMI (now Kettering University) in Manufacturing Systems Engineering. In addition, he attended University Of Michigan’s prestigious MBA program, completing half of the requirements for his MBA, before […]
Platinum-selling South African singer/model/actress Lira (which translates to “love” in Sesotho) has already conquered South Africa and much of Europe with her irresistible blend of R&B, Jazz and African styles. She is a multi-platinum selling and an 8x South African Music Award-winning Afro-Soul vocalist and with her debut U.S. release and a US tour in […]
Chris Dancy has been engaging information systems for over 25 years, wearing as many hats as there are heads in the IT industry. He currently is employed as Chief Digital Officer and Senior Vice President at Healthways, Inc. As a Data Exhaust Cartographer, Chris utilizes 300-700 sensors, devices, applications, and services to track, analyze, and […]
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 […]
Alex Seropian made his name as one of the founders of Bungie, the developers of Halo (the most successful box games of all time with $4 billion in revenue and more than 50 million games sold). Alex recently founded Industrial Toys a company focused on revolutionizing mobile games for core gamers and who are very […]
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