Shaeleigh flies West Rand flag high
Shaeleigh was chosen to be part of the corporate board because of her eye for design and out-of-the-box thinking.
Sixteen-year-old Shaeleigh Buys from Hoërskool Florida flew the West Rand flag up high at BATA’s meeting of the youngest board of directors.
The youth board consists of people aged between 8 and 16 years of age, who promote brands such as Bubblegummer, Safari, Tomy Takkies and Toughees, among others.
Shaeleigh, who described herself as tiny, pale and weird, said she is very excited to be part of the board and aims to bring change.
“When my mother told me about this opportunity, which she heard of on the radio, I was very excited to be part of this new learning experience. I grew up wearing Tomy Takkies and Toughees, never thinking that one day, I would be part of the company’s board,” she said.
One of her duties is to advertise the product and make it well-known to her fellow students at school.
“We are in charge of promoting. The whole idea is to modernise the brand and make it popular. We distribute our business cards and give more information, like a presentation,” Shaeleigh explained.
In celebration of 65 years of Toughees, Shaeleigh said she was given the task of interviewing a 65-year-old and finding out what that person’s experiences with the brand are.
“Finding the 65-year-old was one of the challenges I have encountered so far – I hadn’t realised how difficult that would be! However, I enjoyed the whole experience of hearing how they grew up with the brand and what they remember from their school days,” said the young woman.
“BATA has welcomed our young and fresh Youth ‘Board’ of Directors to the team and through their market insight and novel perspectives, we look forward to delivering a vibrant and creative ‘youth-appeal’ to all young South Africans,” said Swastika Juggernath, Marketing Manager of the brand.
