Media Trainer, Business Mentor, Motivator -

Marlene van der Westhuizen 

A multi-faceted woman of action, Marlene van der Westhuizen is a Media Trainer, specialized in Presenting, and a Life Skills Trainer with a particular focus on Finance.

Marlene is self-motivated with first-class analytical and strategic planning skills. She has broad business experience in a variety of fields and is a masterful organiser.  Her ability to look at all options before making a decision makes her a savvy problem solver. She has superb communication skills, coupled with an endless interest in practical and theoretic learning. This makes her an adept leader who thrives on producing effective decisions while working under pressure.

Marlene's Business Journey

After completing high school, Marlene completed her BA Psychology degree through Unisa, while working her way up to manager level of a local firm.

After the birth of her son, André, she started an import venture, supplying the building industry. She also gained exclusive rights to import a range of products from China. Looking for a new challenge, she sold this thriving company in 1996.

Marlene entered the banking industry while doing a Diploma in Human Resource Management through Unisa. Starting in personal banking, she soon moved to their commercial division. She then studied Banking Internal and HR through Unisa. She added to her growing experience in credit policies and business finance by doing Bill Gibson's “Complete Sales Action System” as well. Seeing a gap in the financial services market, Marlene resigned from the bank in 1999.

Motivated by the thrill of bringing new ideas to life, Marlene and her husband started Sure Group , a debt management and restructuring firm, in October 2000.  The company grew quickly and they now have eight branches around South Africa.

2BFree was first started as a part of Sure Group. Offering training and financial skills courses to groups, it started running on it's own in 2005. From the many heartfelt and emotional testimonials Marlene has from people who have attended, it's obvious that these courses have an immensely positive impact on people's lives.

For Marlene herself, presenting is rewarding when she sees a person start to understand that they always have choices; that they aren't forever trapped in their current situation. “It feels good to achieve something with a person that no-one else has been able to; to show them that they have other alternatives to what they believed they had when they walked in.”

Although a seasoned speaker, Marlene travelled to New York in 2007 to attend a Media Training workshop provided by Media Training Worldwide. TJ Walker, the CEO of Media Training Worldwide, was so impressed by Marlene's confidence, poise and talent while she was there that he approached her to become their partner in Africa. This partnership has opened up many new doors around the world.

Marlene is a member of the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa , the International Federation of Professional Speakers, the Bloemfontein Chamber of Business and the Durban Chamber of Commerce. She is also doing her MBA through the University of Liverpool part-time.

On a personal note

Marlene is happily married to Jan. They have two wonderful children, André and Janike. She would like to teach her children to be honourable and to always be truthful, especially to themselves.

Marlene approaches life with arms wide open and she attributes her successes to “The fact that I actively work at making things more, be they ideas or anything else.”