Payfast by Network is dedicated to growth; the growth of the South African economy, the growth of our merchants and the growth of our valuable employees. In this guest blog, Luqmaan Abrahams, our Product Marketing Coordinator, shares his journey of growing within the company from a Customer Support Agent to an invaluable member of the vibrant Marketing Team.
I started my Payfast journey in October 2018, when I stood at a whopping 1.74m. After six years, I’ve grown to an astonishing 1.76m. Other than my rather impressive physical growth, I’d like to share a bit about my professional growth within the company.
Learning in the Payfast by Network Customer Services Department
When I joined Payfast as a fresh recruit in the Customer Service Department, I was employee number 35. From the get-go, I was eager to work hard to understand the ins and outs of the business and to see what made Payfast run like a well-oiled machine. During my coffee breaks, I enjoyed spending time with my coworkers in other departments to find out what they did and why they did it. I sought to gain knowledge to upskill myself to reach my personal development goals and full potential. I knew I had potential. I knew I was worthy, and I was prepared to do whatever the business identified as necessary to reach my goals.
Although I loved working alongside my Customer Support teammates and helping our merchants with their queries, I aspired to join the Marketing Team. So, when an internal opening in the team was advertised, I immediately applied for it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be as I didn’t get the role, but I used that experience as fuel to further accelerate my drive to learn more.
Soon after that hurdle, I was privileged enough to earn a secondment in Business Development, which opened my eyes to a new facet of the business. Through this, I gained experience liaising with merchants on the banking front, working on contractual agreements and fee negotiations. I also chatted with managing directors, founders, account managers, you name it. It was a lot of fun, but sadly came to an end without a vacancy opening in Business Development.
However, a few weeks later, a marketing role opened once again, and I just knew that this was my chance. This time I went in equipped with even more knowledge and a bigger drive to succeed.
Growing in the Payfast by Network Marketing Department
I made it! In 2020 I started my role as a Marketing Liaison within the Payfast Marketing Department. It was so exciting, especially as the role afforded me my first ever plane ride up to Joburg to attend an event that focused on SMEs, NPOs and the importance of uplifting societies. I’ll never forget that day, especially as attending gave me the opportunity to learn even more about the industry.
Since joining the Marketing Team I’ve learnt even more about the payments industry and what it takes to launch and offer market-leading products to help South African businesses succeed. I’m pleased to share that I’ve since been promoted from Marketing Liaison to Marketing Coordinator, and then more recently a more defined role of Product Marketing Coordinator.
Thriving with the best support structures
In short, Payfast has been great to me; not only in my career but also in my personal life. Throughout my Payfast journey, I’ve been blessed with great managers and leaders who have guided and assisted me. I’m 100% where I am today thanks to people believing in me and trusting in my ability, and I will always be grateful to them.
I’ve learnt that growth comes in multiple forms. Growing your career, growing your experience, growing your confidence and growing as an individual are all intertwined. My late dad used to say that “even though we place our arse on the soft cushion of the chair, there’s more to what makes it a chair.” Using that same concept, there’s more to growth than just your career.
The learnings you receive along the journey are what’s most important. Success isn’t guaranteed but sacrifice and hard work are mandatory. We’ve all seen a magician perform, but not many of us – if any – have seen the hours they’ve spent practicing. Day in and day out, hour after hour honing their skills and learning new ways to be efficient and hit the desired outcome. And once they’ve perfected the skill, the learnings, the movement, the script, the angles and slights, they achieve success. People will see the magic, but it’s up to you to practice. It’s up to you to align what you say with what you do. Your actions need to match your intention and you need to be prepared to make sacrifices to get what you want and where you want.
“Do what others don’t so that you achieve what others can’t.” I’m not sure who said this but I’m assuming it’s someone who achieved great things in their lifetime. Now, enough about my growth. What are you doing about yours?
