Full Name: Denzil Steyn

Position and Company Name: MD of Intellisec South Africa

Main Activity of the Company: Installation of smart site management systems to reduce costs, increase security and manage production and site facilities on a single smart platform using Internet-of-Things devices, closed-circuit TV, access control, fire detection and the integration of smart systems already deployed in a business

Date and Place of Birth: December 29, 1973, Port Shepstone

Schools and Tertiary Education: Port Shepstone High School; Institute of Marketing Management; MBA

First Job: Export account manager at Moxwood

Size of First Pay Packet: R3 000 a month

Career Path to Date: I worked for Moxwood from 1996 until 2000, when I founded Artesan, an export agency and manufacturer to the do-it-yourself export market in France, the UK and the US. I started Intellisec in 2007, after the strength of the rand had rendered exports of the do-it-yourself products we were shipping unviable

Number of People under Your Leadership: 150

Management Style: I am people-centric, encouraging members of our team to stretch and grow beyond what they thought possible. Change is always uncomfortable, but, for those that embrace it, an incredible journey of growth and possibilities awaits

Personal Best Achievement: Being a father to two amazing children, starting Intellisec from the ground up and seeing it grow to one of the largest system integrators in South Africa, with six branches in South Africa and one in Mozambique

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My father – he was an entrepreneur who operated with integrity and worked incredibly hard to provide for our family and have fun with his three sons

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: It has been the sum of a number of incredible biographies from Steve Jobs, Phil Knight, Tony Hsieh and authors such as Malcolm Gladwell and Jim Collins.

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: The late Tony Hsieh

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Steve Jobs

Philosophy of Life: Work like there is no Plan B and ensure you have the right team who are willing to run with you

Biggest Ever Opportunity: It was not our biggest opportunity, but was a critical building block for our business – securing Island View Storage (now Bidvest Tank Terminals) as a client in the early days

Biggest Ever Disappointment: Having to face our staff after a year of hard work and tell them we could not afford to pay them bonuses one year

Hope For the Future: That, as a business, we can walk alongside our clients in making them more efficient, profitable and competitive, and giving them control of their businesses to make decisions with accurate data

Favourite Reading: Biographies of businesspeople, sportspersons and others who have stepped out of their comfort zone to do something extraordinary

Favourite TV Programme: Boston Legal

Favourite Food/Drink: Butter chicken curry prepared by one of our project managers – a standing order she spoils me with every year for my birthday

Favourite Music: Jazz and classical

Favourite Sport: Swimming is my happy place, but I have recently become involved in triathlons, which I am enjoying

Hobbies: Anything my son wants to do on the weekend

Car: Toyota Hilux double-cab

Pets: We have 16 pets, my favourite being Bailey, a nine-year-old Rottweiler

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Small-minded businesspeople and the victim mentality

Married: To Nicky, since 1997

Children: Tayla, 21; Joel, 16

Clubs: None