A chartered accountant, by day, Paige Govender works as the group financial manager at WIPHOLD, a South African women’s investment company based in Johannesburg. By night, she changes hats as a yoga instructor. How does she do it?
“What I have here is the perfect work-life balance. Everyday I’m either at boot camp in the afternoons or doing yoga. WIPHOLD is a lovely environment to be in. When I come here, I am still me,” says Govender.
It is important to find time in the day to do things that make you happy, she adds.
“Even if it is for five minutes. I love doing the crossword puzzle, I make sure I do it every day,” she says.
Govender grew up in a small town in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. She surrounded herself with family, cousins, aunts and uncles. When she was 18, she moved to Cape Town to study. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted to pursue but knew what she didn’t want. Ruling out medicine and engineering, she was left with accounting.
“Like a good little Indian girl I took the CA route. I have always loved maths and problem-solving and being a CA has a lot to do with that. And now I have realized yoga is also all about balance just like accounting. It just ties together,” she says.
During her day job at WIPHOLD, Govender is responsible for investment evaluations, consolidations, financial audits and tax, tax, tax.
“I love numbers; it’s a language that I understand, I am a nerd and I am perfectly happy with that,” she says.
As a women’s investment holding company, WIPHOLD strongly believes in the employment and empowerment of black women and Govender shares the same values.
“I think every lady out there is brilliant and can offer something, and by contributing to something, you lift yourself up. I am very passionate about young girls coming out of their shell and into the workforce and not thinking that they can’t do it.
“I can see how happy I am in life in general, sometimes I meet friends and even family and they are so busy all the time. There’s good busy, that’s busy doing things you enjoy, and then there’s busy when you are just blank all the time. Finding something that you really love to do outside of work creates a good balance; too many people get caught up with work.”
Govender strongly believes that contentment comes from knowing you are not just defined by your job, and by allowing yourself to do something you love every day, you are creating the perfect harmony, which she deems her success mantra – in work, life and yoga.

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