Xtraordinary Woman of the Month
What advice would you give to your younger self?
We tend to make everything tougher that it has to be. Step back, take a deep breath, and the solution will come.
What advice would you give to women wanting to follow their dreams?
If you have dreams, act on them today. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Ask yourself how you can achieve your dreams as fast as humanly possible but also be realistic and take cognisance of your capabilities. It’s also good to dream big because you’ll set the highest possible goals for yourself..
Your favourite daily affirmation:
Never give up, have faith!
Your favourite quote:
“Life is about making an impact, not an income” – Kevin Kruseu
Contact Info:
@MadAdvertosing
@MadAdelaide
www.madworld.co.za
Adelaide is an entrepreneur and founder of Mad World, a diverse group of companies consisting of a creative communications agency, recording studio, chat room, set-construction, restaurants, and property development. A law school dropout and Miss SA finalist, Adelaide refers to her tertiary education as obtaining a’ Doctorate through the University of Life.’ With the gift of the gab, Adelaide tried her hand at a few ventures such as selling luxury cars, before the single mother of two launched Mad World in 1998 with R1500 in her pocket and a rickety car.
Adelaide found herself fixated on landing the Shoprite Checkers account but knew a unique strategy would be necessary to capture the attention of CEO Whitey Basson. In a neat cardboard box, Adelaide packed the arm and leg of a mannequin and addressed it to the company’s big boss in the hopes that the symbol of giving and ‘arm and leg’ to work with his brand would strike a chord with Basson. A few weeks later a box was delivered to the Mad World office: “Thank you for the arm and the leg, but you have forgotten the most important part of the body, the heart!”
It went on to say that Basson was eagerly awaiting the rest of the body of the proposal. The bold move opened the door to an official account pitch alongside other much larger agencies, but Mad World came out on top and still services the Checkers account nearly 15 years later. Some of the more recent prominent accolades of Mad World include winning Best Television Series for Die Nataniël Tafel in the Huisgenoot Tempo Awards.
Please tell us a little more about yourself and your journey thus far.
I will never forget the day that I started 15 years ago. My journey has been an interesting one filled with colour, tears and massive hurdles. My never-say-die approach has always held me in good stead and somehow, somewhere, whenever I hit a low I managed to find the courage within myself to overcome the situation. I feel exactly the same today as I felt 15 years ago when I started. Obviously life has made me wiser, but one thing for sure is that I’ve made plenty mistakes. Some which I learnt from and didn’t repeat and others that I still struggle with to this day. Every one of us has dreams and aspirations and if I’m honest, I have come nowhere close to fulfilling all mine yet. Every waking moment I find myself contemplating on how I could have done things differently. This contemplation is good for one because it forces you to push yourself harder.
Please tell us about the inspiration behind Mad World.
My inspiration was driven by desperation. I was a very young mother to be with very little money. I wanted to take charge of my life and realized that the only person that was going to do it was me. There was nobody at the time that I could turn to. I felt I was capable of more. I felt I had so much more to give to this world. It was then that I took control of my destiny and made a conscious decision to change my circumstances. I was fearless because I was down and out and had nothing to lose. I needed to think of the future and the future of my child. I’m also from a very close family and felt a desire to tackle life with them.