Drew Schnehage:
Leading with Resilience and Lifting Women in Fleet
WORDS BY ANBY ALCOMENDAS
As the CEO of Solvd Australia, Drew Schnehage is at the forefront of driving innovation and transformation in the fleet and insurance industries.
Today, Drew is not only a part of AfMA’ s Women in Fleet Management( WIFM) Committee, but she has also recently joined the Board.
Her leadership journey spans continents, decades, and deeply personal challenges, all of which have shaped her into the hands-on, purpose-driven leader she is today.
Strategic Vision Meets People-First Leadership
Drew brings a hands-on style to leadership.“ I’ m not the typical CEO that sits at the top and just shouts out demands and what needs to happen in the business,” she said.
From leading recruitment and managing operations to personally driving sales, Drew stays close to the action.“ I get involved very much on the ground level and get my hands dirty in operations. I actually do sales myself … just to bring new customers on board for the business.”
“ And then it’ s just making sure that we remain competitive, we deliver according to budget for head office. That’ s obviously always a big demand.”
A Career Built on Grit, Growth, and Guts
Her journey began as a claims agent handling property claims for a major insurer in South Africa.
“ That was my initial learning platform. This insurer was really good at upskilling … you could do courses any time you wanted to, and just up your skills.”
Over the years, she worked for two large insurers, two corporate brokers, and a third-party claims administrator before being approached to build a new product for high-net-worth clients. She rose quickly and, at just 32, she was invited to co-found an underwriting agency and the business took off.
“ He said to me,‘ I want you to be my partner in business.’ So, I said, I’ m all for it. I’ m gonna grab it.”
“ We grew to 150 million in premium revenue,” she recalls.“ Unfortunately, two years in, he passed away( metastatic melanoma). I was like, what happens now?”
With guidance from a UK-based chairman, she led the business through the difficult time, eventually selling it to Hollard Insurance Company.
Then came another opportunity for Drew, this time to move continents.
“ I got the opportunity to move to Australia, which was a little bit more than five years ago,” she says.
“ My kids were teenagers, and my husband was very resistant … But I just said to him, we’ re doing it for the kids because the future in South Africa is not secure, especially for your children. He said to me,‘ All right, when do we start packing?’”
32 ISSUE 54 AUGUST 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU