For our celebratory 10th anniversary event, we asked @Tiffany Markman, speaker, copywriter, writing skills trainer and all-round incredible human being to deliver the keynote address.
In true Tiffany style, her address was not only a wonderful affirmation of the incredible 10-year journey we have been on as SA Business School – in the thick of things it’s easy to forget about the real difference we are making, the ‘why’ – but more compellingly, it was also a rally call to everyone present to seize = the power of resilience.
Resilience, says Tiffany, is the fundamental driver behind every successful person and business.
In the spirit of giving back, and because sharing really is caring, we wanted to share the nuggets from our 10th celebration. Because the milestones are only one part of our story at SA Business School. The real gold sits in the ‘how’ – and the practical, actionable steps you can take to build your resilience superpower to begin, withstand and thrive in your life and work.
Here’s the inside track, courtesy of Tiffany Markman…
The Power to Begin, Withstand and Thrive
Ten years ago on 14 May 2015, SA Business School began with an idea. An idea that education could do more than upskill. That training could do more than tick boxes. That BEE compliance could be a force for real, measurable change.
But ideas are fragile things. They get tested.
This one was tested by doubt, competition, red tape and later, a global pandemic. And yet, SA Business School still stands. More than that, 10 years on, it thrives. Behind every strong institution is a pattern of quiet resilience.
If you define resilience as the power to begin, withstand and thrive, you should know that SA Business School has done all three.
The first stage of true resilience: Beginning
In 2015, SA Business School entered a space packed with players. They could have said, “There are too many training providers.” They didn’t. They said, “There aren’t enough providers doing it right.” And they began.
They began with purpose: to help companies meet their skills development targets through recruitment, training, hosting and absorption. But they also began with conviction – that learning could close a couple of important gaps. The skills gap. The opportunity gap. The dignity gap.
That’s no small ambition. Especially when it’s accompanied by something very normal, very human. Like FEAR. Like that voice in your head asking, “Who do you think you are?”. Resilience starts the moment you ignore the voice and take the leap anyway.
The second stage of true resilience: Withstanding
March 2020. The world stopped. Budgets froze. Campuses closed. We all had to ‘pivot’ — not because it was a cool word being used by trendy people on Zoom, but because we had absolutely no choice.
SA Business School managed to keep learners engaged, funded and making progress, even when clients were scared and communities were in crisis. They didn’t sit still and wait. They moved.
Resilience isn’t toughing it out. It’s adjusting, quickly. It’s carrying people with you when they need leadership, not panic. It isn’t what you do when you’re feeling strong. It’s what you do when you’re tired, scared, uncertain, and you show up anyway.
It’s the quiet decision, every day, to keep going, when stopping would be easier.
The third stage of true resilience: Thriving
In ten years, SA Business School has trained and mentored over 6000 learners. They’ve built a national footprint. They’ve become a go-to partner for corporates who want to use Skills Development points for actual impact, not just paperwork. They’ve created jobs. They’ve funded futures. They’ve changed families and communities for the better.
Recent data on our country’s dependency ratio says that the average SA employee supports up to four additional people. So, for every learner who evolves to become part of the economy, that’s a total of five lives dramatically improved.
What’s more, SA Business School is proud to have seen many of its learners grow into positions in management and team leadership, business development, HR, reception and sales. Right here, at SA Business School and within its network of corporate clients and business partners.
Here’s the thing about resilience that no one really says out loud: It’s not about bouncing back to where you were. It’s about bouncing forward to where you’ve never been.
You’re not the same person after the hardship. The business isn’t the same. The team isn’t the same. And maybe that’s the point. SA Business School didn’t just survive the storm that was 2020. It expanded the fleet. It grew in the very chaos that threatened to undo everything around it.
That’s what real resilience does: it doesn’t return you to normal. It invites you to invent something better.
If you’re in a storm right now, here are three practical tips that might help you:
1. Don’t aim for perfect. Aim for momentum. Just keep moving, even in small, clumsy ways. Focus on replying to one email. Starting a voice note. Making a 2-item to-do list. Movement can break the freeze.
2. Find your ‘non-negotiables’. The people, routines or rituals that stabilise you, when everything else is uncertain. It might be a morning run. Or your child’s sports match. Or a WhatsApp group of three people who tell you the truth.
3. Take the next step. In business and life, remember that even the biggest and most monumental things happen one small step at a time.
The point is: resilience isn’t just surviving what’s hard. It’s learning how to build again and again and again. The storm of 2020 may have passed but, in many ways, it’s still raining.
So what does this mean for you?
You’re leading someone. You’re raising someone. You’re building something…whether you know it or not. Maybe it’s a business. Maybe it’s a child. Maybe it’s your own second act.
Resilience is not reserved for pandemics, presidents or CEOs. It’s in those small, ordinary choices. The choices no one applauds for.
Here’s a practical mental toolkit to help build your resilience. It’s composed of three simple concepts that spell out the word ‘YOU’, because that’s where resilience starts.
Y is for “Yesterday”: What’s something hard you’ve come through, that you now take for granted? We all have battle scars we never look at. Maybe it was a tough year, a horrible manager, a scary diagnosis. You survived that. That’s evidence. Think of one thing now.
O stands for “One quiet act”: What’s one act of persistence you can do this week, even if no one sees it? Send the proposal. Go to the meeting you’re dreading. Take the vitamins. Open the book. Apologise first. Resilience is a behaviour, not a personality trait. Think of one thing now.
U stands for “Uplift someone else”: Who can you support right now, who’s at the start of their resilience journey? A colleague. A teenager. A friend. Offer coffee. Share a resource. Give your number. Because resilience is a team sport. Think of one person now.
YOU = Yesterday + One Quiet Act + Uplift Someone Else
That’s resilience, lived in real time. Not just applauding other people’s endurance, but recognising your own and fuelling someone else’s.
It’s beginning, withstanding and thriving.
SA Business School’s first ten years prove it. It wasn’t just vision. It wasn’t just strategy. It was resilience.
Here’s to the next ten years, SA Business School – built not just on ambition, but on the everyday muscle of resilience.