Thora Mansfield – Open Door Crisis Care Centre
- Describe your business in two sentences. Primarily focuses on women and children who have been abused with a special focus on women from the rural areas.
- How long have you been in business? 17 years.
- How did you get into this business? Always having been socially concerned with those less fortunate and facing extreme hardships through poverty, abuse, HIV/aids. I am a well known activist for human rights which was why I was approached by the SAPS to come alongside them to support victims of crime related incidents.
- What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it? Financial sustainability. Having to meet ever increasing budgets with limited resources to support our work. We endeavour to overcome through personal contact, relationships and proposal writing.
- What single trait/skill could you not have succeeded without? Passion and love of my work – making a difference and seeing lives changed.
- What is the best business advice you’ve received?Never, never, never give up.
- Your secret to business success is? Passion, passion, passion and passion.
- What is your business goal for 2014? Continue to seek the right passionate people in other provinces to extend our work.
- Tell us one thing that not many people know about you? I am a fairly closed book and people frequently only hear that I am a control freak and the tough side of me, but I am extremely compassionate and deeply moved by stories of peoples struggles and challenges in their lives, I wish I could take their pain away.