Brand manager Aina Shangheta on pursuing dreams with passion and precision

Phillipus Josef
  • 1 Week Ago
Aina Shangheta is a brand and projects manager at O&L BrandX, where she manages 11 different brands.

Her job involves managing and organising campaigns and projects. "Deadlines are my bread and butter," she said.

Shangheta has earned an impressive education, with an honours degree in marketing management from the University of South Africa in 2022, a postgraduate diploma in marketing management from the University of Cape Town in 2020, and a bachelor of business administration in marketing from Heriot-Watt University in 2015.

She is currently perusing a master's degree in marketing management at the University of South Africa.

Brand care

With the number of brands under her care at BrandX, Shangheta pays close attention to detail and relies on her strong planning skills to keep all tasks on track.

She views each brand as having its own unique personality with different communication needs, personifying the individual brands to ensure they remain authentic and relevant.

"You have to understand that brands are like people," Shangheta explained.

This mindset helps her ensure that every brand’s story is well-managed and presented to the public effectively.

Teamwork essential

When it comes to working with her team, Shangheta believes that clear communication and people skills are essential.

She emphasised the importance of effectively conveying client needs to her team, whether they are working on digital, media, or strategic tasks.

"It is very important to have people management skills because you need to ensure that everyone working on the brand understands it and remains attuned to it," she noted.

Shangheta’s experience in the corporate world, especially in the fast-paced era of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), has taught her to adapt quickly and remain strategic.

She views the challenges of this constantly changing environment as learning opportunities. "We constantly learn," she said.

Pursuing dreams with passion

Apart from her day-to-day job, Shangheta pursues her passion for education and academia. She takes time to guest lecture and has two years of full-time experience teaching entrepreneurship and accounting at the senior secondary level.

For young professionals interested in following a similar career path, she advised having a clear understanding of what they want to achieve and going after it wholeheartedly.

"You don’t have to understand how you are going to get there," she said, "just know what you want and make decisions that lead you to that along the way."

She underlined: "When you know that this is where you want to be, you work towards that," adding that mentorship is also crucial for growth.

Shangheta finds inspiration in Maya Angelou’s poem 'Still I Rise', which reminds her of the importance of resilience.

"No matter what, I will always rise," she concluded, a motto that guides her in both her personal and professional life.