BACKSTORY: Nestlé’s Bruno Olierhoek

What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?

Focus on gaining a win-win situation, no deal will be sustainable without it.

What was your first job?

Working at an industrial bakery factory when I was 15 years old.

How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?

I don’t remember exactly how much, probably around €100 (guilders at that time). I was saving to buy myself a scooter at 16 years old.

What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?

You have to learn to trust the universe.

If you could fix only one thing in SA, what would it be?

Services for the community and industry. These are the basics needed to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit to make concrete progress and ensure harmony in society.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?

I grew up in a family living in seven different countries, my wife is Asian, I am European, we live in SA and my three children were born in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made?

Time spent watching TV when I was growing up.

What’s the best investment you’ve ever made? And how much of it was due to luck?

Lifelong learning has been the best investment personally and professionally. I’ve been very fortunate to work for Nestlé, which believes in purposeful upskilling. I’ve also been an avid reader of books; so I kicked out the TV and doubled down on reading and still have time to spare for other hobbies.

What is the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt so far?

 You can do everything right, but luck is equally important in life.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Hard work, because if your personal and life purposes align then work doesn’t feel hard, no matter how much time you work.

What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?

That before the age of 50, I would have lived and worked in 10 countries across three continents.

If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow?

Solve the energy crisis and in the process go big on renewable energy: this helps current industry including SMEs, creates employment and is all done in a sustainable way.