Her initial intentions were that of becoming an auditor, however, her hands-on experience with the financial field provided her with the skills necessary to leverage herself into a more unique role at The Strategists.

Being part of our team, Mahfooza was able to step out of her comfort zone confidently. Her skill set adapted into engaging with clients more often while still serving in her strengths within the financial field. She played an indelible in scaling and growing multiple businesses.

Having always had a passion for numbers Mahfooza elected to pursue a career in finance and auditing. Upon matriculating she registered for a Bachelor of Commerce with specialisation in the internal auditing function. She completed the degree and was selected as a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society which is awarded to the top 15 % of students in class. She went on to study her Honours at the University of Pretoria whereafter she started working at KPMG as an Internal Audit trainee.

After enjoying working with different clients and getting a practical understanding of what she had studied, Mahfooza served as part of auditing teams in the hospitality, financial services, media and agriculture sectors. She grew within the organisation and gained significant experience in auditing, risk and controls and client engagement. She spent three extremely fulfilling and rewarding years at KPMG.

In December 2010, Ms. Nwabisa Mayema and Mr. Abdullah Verachia approached Mahfooza to join The Collective Genius. Their business had grown significantly and they wanted to appoint a Finance Director. Mahfooza jumped at the opportunity and has never regretted the decision. She got involved in client engagement at a senior level and played an active and integral role in every project assignment. Mahfooza was given the opportunity to move beyond just the finance function but also to run the operations of some of the consulting assignments. This opportunity empowered her to gain new skills and to truly understand and better appreciate the business cycle in its entirety.  Her role also allowed for the business to scale and grow.

In 2016 Mahfooza went to start up a learning centre called The Collective Genius Centre – a division of The Collective Genius. Specialising in creating a place for many students who did not feel comfortable with the general schooling structure. By, she 2020 sold this business and decided in 2022 to pursue a career in coaching with a centre of coaching for development.

As an individual with an enquiring mind and a hunger to succeed she embraces new challenges and opportunities to grow. She loves working with people and seeing them grow consistently. Being a practicing entrepreneur has given her the ability to resonate with different people consistently and actively.

Mahfooza has taken her incredible expertise, leadership and entrepreneurial journey to go down the path of coaching. Her lived experience makes her the ideal coach.  She is currently completing her Professional Coaching Certification from the Centre for Coaching at UCT’s Graduate School of Business. It is accredited by the globally recognised New Ventures West (San Francisco).

The Strategists team is only amplified through her addition and efforts. With Mahfooza as part of the team, anyone can rest assured in knowing that their growth is spurred by a simultaneous belief in doing better than before and to growing and scaling others.