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Lauren spends a big part of her days with clients, understanding their needs and assisting in the development of cutting-edge activations strategies. Parallel to this, she invests energy into mentoring members of the Isilumko team to be able to do the same - which makes sense in an organisation so customer-centric. Lauren is also passionate about empowering women in the workplace; a drive that is fuelled by the fact that only 5% of CEOs in the private sector in Africa are women. Although she recognises that progress has been made in terms of gender diversity in leadership - Lauren believes it's still a big issue. When it comes to choosing who she brings on board, Lauren is big on culture and an alliance of values, believing this fit is more important than skills which can be learnt. “In a service industry - where building successful teams is so fundamental to success - I am grateful for the lessons I have learnt from being a mother. My parenting journey has and continues to teach me how to nurture, care for and build teams.”

Lauren is a firm believer in personal growth and says that the funny thing about life is, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. It's this philosophy that drove her to complete her MBA in 2000 which she cites as one of her definitive periods. Another being her appointment to the Isilumko Board of Directors at the tender age of 28.

Durant's biggest career hurdle is being an A-type personality in an industry where plan B is often a necessity. Her life philosophy centres on ‘being happy first and the rest will follow' and her resilience is one of her strongest points. Quick to move on - she doesn't bear a grudge and leads by example - believing that by working hard and showing kindness she can overcome any obstacle.

Not one to do anything in half measures, Lauren's commitment to her job, her family and to living her best life is evident in how she manages to juggle her time and obligations. She is best described as intensely driven, incredibly articulate, big-picture thinker, passionate and the person you want in your corner when the chips are down.

“I appreciate the sentiment behind the quote: ‘Great Minds Discuss Ideas; Average Minds Discuss Events; Small Minds Discuss People.' And I believe in living the life I dream now, but making sure I put in place contingencies to secure my reality.”