Industry titan Emy Casaletti-Bwalysa, rising PR specialist Maphuti Hlako and Group CEO of Unorthodox PR and Media Group Sibabalwe Sesmani vie for top honours in the Woman in PR & Sponsorship category at the 2022 Momentum gsport Awards.
The PR and Sponsorship category celebrates a woman in the public relations and sponsorship space who works to build the brand and business of women’s sport. This is a woman who has been able to make her mark and contribute to the advancement of women’s sport.
With over 25 years in leadership and marketing, Casaletti has used her experience to advance women in sport through her company, Optimize Marketing Agency, which is responsible for a number of personal endorsements signed by South Africa’s wheelchair tennis superstar, Kgothatso Montjane.
The road has not been easy but her resilience and passion for her craft and women’s sport has motivated Casaletti-Bwalya to keep striving.
“Sponsorship is not easy, in fact it’s one of the hardest things to do. Many doors will be slammed in your face, but perseverance and believing in what you represent is paramount. Being a finalist at this years’ Momentum gsport Awards is truly inspiring. The winners that have gone before me are motivation enough to keep striving and to keep climbing.
“Women on and off the sports fields work so far in the background that too often, they are not noticed or rewarded for their hard work and achievements. These Awards bring women to the fore and for this I am truly thankful. Being a finalist motivates me more to keep shining a light on women in sport and holding up the elevator for them to come up.”
Rising PR guru, Hlako, has used her many talents which include Content Producing as well as Social Media Manger to contribute into her PR craft. Hlako has successfully delivered outstanding PR results at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
She is passionate about the next generation of PR and Sponsorship leaders and share’s her advice on how they can start to pave their way and make their mark.
“I am grateful to be a finalist in the Woman in PR & Sponsorship category at the year’s Momentum gsport Awards. It is really such an honour to be a finalist amongst Emy and Sibabalwe who are phenomenal business owners and CEOs of their companies. It motivates me to keep going within this workspace. I hope that being a finalist in this category inspires young ladies and gents who are passionate about sport and would love to get involved some way because that is how I started. I just wanted to be involved in some way. I believe that if you put in the work and if you believe in what you set out to do, you will get there, you will make it work and you will reach for your dreams.
“The most important thing for me is to just start. I always say to young people who have asked me how I got into the industry and how I became so successful. I literally just asked every single person that I knew and took every single opportunity and ran with it,” she continued.
“My wish for the next generation of PR or Sponsorship managers is not to be afraid. Do not be afraid to ask questions or afraid to send that DM or an email just enquiring. A lot of the work that I have been blessed to do is because I asked the questions. I asked to attend an event, at that event I met a person who led me to another person. I asked to join a team because I believed that I was worth it. Ask and keep going. Rejection is hard but when you finally get your yes, it will all be worth it.”
Rounding up the category, Sesmani has used her leadership role at Unorthodox Group to be the voice of both women and men in sport. Sesmani uses her expertise to shine the light on athletes and sports personnel to gain not only visibility but sponsorship to further them in their careers.
Sesmani is passionate about bridging the gap of women in sport to empower them.
“I feel honoured to have been nominated and also being a finalist in this category. The work that gsport is doing is so important, especially in sport where often women are overlooked and women do not fully participate in the value chain of sport, perhaps also because of lack of exposure. I do believe that this will definitely introduce the work that we do to other women and the world at large and I do believe that it will aid in representation so more can feel represented in male dominated spaces,” she concluded.
In 2021, former Cricket South Africa media liaison and current ICC Media & Comms Assistant Manager, Sipokazi Sokanyile walked away with the Woman in PR & Sponsorship accolade.
Check out the latest women’s sport news in the Momentum-powered gsport newsroom and cast your vote for your leading #gsport17 candidate here.
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