The great thing about start-ups is that you always find a few team members who have stuck around from the very beginning. Those who have had a front-row seat to the explosive start, the rocky middle and the exponential growth.
Two of those key players at iKhokha are Charlotte Badassy, Customer Success Manager and Ravesh Badassy, Head of Sales. The power couple joined iKhokha during its infancy stages when there were only a handful of employees to steer this ship to its thriving port.
They met in 2009 before joining forces with iKhokha, and since then have established a dynamic working relationship and (even better) a wonderful marriage. But there is so much more to what these two bring to the table, and we’ll tell you all about it.
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Then and Now
Charlotte joined iKhokha in 2014 as a FICA administrator (a crucial role to ensure our merchants are up and running), and her journey has seen nothing but growth.
She says, “Growing has been awesome. Learning new things, knowing that I have skill sets that I didn’t know I possessed until I started here at iKhokha. It’s really brought out a different side of me and amplified my leadership.”
Today, she is the Customer Success Manager, a role only somebody with a passion for people can adequately execute. Fortunately, Charlotte holds people close to her heart – whether we’re talking about her clients or colleagues.
Ravesh has seen a similar level of opportunities since joining iKhokha in 2017. He started his journey as a Digital Sales Manager and today leads a rapidly growing sales team as the Head of Sales. This was a big step in his career, and he welcomed the occasion with open arms.
Starting with a Start-up
Coming into a start-up at such an early phase has its risks – but from what we’ve heard, the rewards have been plentiful.
Ravesh recalls the first Black Friday Sale at iKhokha. His team were prepped the day before with power packs, letters from the CEO and the motivation to take sales to an exceptional level. When the time came to sell, he remembers a surreal atmosphere where they went above and beyond their targets.
To this day, there is an ongoing culture of high performance and a company-renowned hustle within the sales department.
Charlotte learned quickly to wear many different hats and get involved wherever needed. She shared that the nature of start-ups is being able to grab the bull by the horns and run with it. One of her key takeaways was that,
“it’s only when you’re running you realise how fast you can actually run, and that was the most enjoyable part of being part of the very beginning.”
When it comes to the start-up lifestyle, things don’t always go according to plan. But that doesn’t stop Charlotte from celebrating the little wins. She shares that in life, more often than not, we focus on our failures. But iKhokha has created a culture of winners who constantly improve from the tough days and celebrate the little victories together. Charlotte learned early on to use failures as lessons on how to be better, how to do better and how to achieve better:
“So technically, they weren’t really failures. They were victories that were delayed a bit”, she says.
Leadership and Purpose
As two strong leaders, there’s a lot they have to share about successfully heading up their respective teams. For Charlotte, it means being accountable in your role. It’s essential to foster empathy, have a passion for people and a knack for managing them. It’s about putting on a strong face, even when your knees are shaking. For Ravesh, leadership is all about the people aspect. As he aptly says, “people are our power.” Leadership is about enabling and supporting his team to become the best version of themselves – something he’s done to great effect.
Witnessing the Growth
For Charlotte and Ravesh, career growth has been a constant factor.
Since being at iKhokha, Ravesh has celebrated the “taking over the world” scenario that keeps him and his team driven. He’s learned to understand, and strive for, the difference between good and great. He says one of his most significant lessons is never settling – that to be great, you can never settle for good. He’s set on taking his team to the next level, which the company’s constant innovation has mirrored.
At the End of the Day
It’s about being a part of something bigger, which drives these two to achieve their best every day.
Their unique dynamic of working together, and going home together, is admirable in how they respect, support and challenge each other to ultimately win together.
For both Charlotte and Ravesh, it’s about being proud of the work they do. It’s about looking back and thinking about “what we’ve been through, where we’re headed and how big we’ve become”, says Ravesh.
They both echo the sentiment of being invested in the success of iKhokha. They agree that when a new candidate comes into iKhokha, they’re not just coming into a company – they're coming into a family.
Join the #iKTribe
Charlotte sums it up perfectly, “you’re never just a number at iKhokha. You’re known by your name; you have a purpose.”
If you’re looking to work with people that truly care about our cause (and about you), visit our careers page to find a role where you’d fit right in! If you’re interested in joining Ravesh’s team, there’s a spot open! Click here to learn more.
