By Zaida Mia | Chief Operating Officer and Board Member, Ami Underwriting Managers
On the first of August this year, I took a quiet moment to sit with what had just happened. I had just been appointed to the Board of Directors at Ami. Me. A girl from humble beginnings. A working mother. A woman who built her career in the trenches of insurance operations and service, always just focused on doing good work.
This wasn’t a promotion. It was a calling answered. It was a door opening not just for me, but for the next woman watching, wondering if she belongs in the room.
She does. And so do you.
As we mark Women’s Day in South Africa, I’m writing this for young women who are working hard, showing up, making it happen, and still wondering if they’re doing enough. You are. And here’s what I’ve learned on the road to the boardroom.
Earn your seat by mastering your craft
In every role I’ve ever had, I made it my business to be excellent. Not perfect. Not flashy. Just quietly, consistently excellent. I worked in underwriting. Claims. Admin. Service. Strategy. I carried clipboards and ran call centres before I ever entered a C-suite. The work made me sharp. The grind made me humble.
This foundation is what allowed me to lead later with confidence. If you want to be trusted, start by delivering. Know your work inside out. Honour the small jobs. Take the phone calls others avoid. Fix the problems no one wants to touch.
Excellence is never wasted. It travels with you.
Don’t let titles define you
I’m the Chief Operating Officer now. I’m on the board. But the most important work I do still happens off the record. I listen. I make people feel seen. I spot the patterns. I bring calm into chaos. That work doesn’t come with applause. But it matters more than any title ever will.
Leadership is often quiet. You don’t need a corner office to change the culture of a company. You need courage. You need consistency. You need to remember who you are when no one is watching.
Build the village and be part of it
Every milestone I’ve reached was helped along by someone who saw something in me before I did. A manager. A mentor. A friend. And today, I pay that forward by being that person for someone else.
I give anonymously. I mentor young women. I contribute to girls’ education initiatives. I help feed communities. This is not corporate social responsibility. This is personal. It’s a way of life. My faith calls it sadaqah. My heart just calls it being human.
Giving keeps you soft. And staying soft in this world is an act of strength.
Speak even when your voice shakes
I’ve been the youngest woman in the room. The only woman in the room. The brown woman in the room. The new hire. The working mom. I’ve doubted myself. I’ve stayed quiet when I should’ve spoken. I’ve learned to stop doing that.
When I speak now, I do so from a place of truth. I don’t use jargon. I don’t perform. I say what needs to be said, and I back it with evidence and care. That’s it. That’s the secret.
If you wait until you feel ready, you’ll wait forever. Speak anyway. Then speak again.
Do the job, but keep your soul
At Ami, we care about people first. We’re not just here to tick boxes and close claims. We’re here to make insurance feel like something human. Something helpful. Something kind.
You can build a business and still hold your values close. You can chase results and still care deeply about people. You don’t have to choose. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn’t seen what women can do when they lead with both head and heart.
You already belong
You don’t need to harden yourself to succeed. You don’t need to become someone else. You just need to keep showing up, as yourself, and doing the next right thing.
This board seat did not fall into my lap. It was built, slowly, through years of saying yes to the hard things and no to the wrong ones. Through building teams that trust me. Through making decisions with integrity even when no one’s looking.
It’s yours to build too.
So here’s what I want you to know.
If you’re working behind the scenes, wondering if anyone sees your effort, keep going.
If you’re doubting yourself in the silence after a big decision, trust that you’ll learn from it.
If you feel the pressure to be perfect, remember that people don’t follow perfection. They follow truth.
You are enough. You are powerful. You are already the kind of woman this country needs more of.
And when you walk into that boardroom one day, don’t apologise. Take your seat. Breathe. And get to work.
BIO: Zaida Mia is the COO and Board member at Ami Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd. Ami is an underwriting agency for Lombard Insurance Co, dedicated to providing bespoke insurance products in the personal lines space to our chosen market segments, namely aspirational millennials and the high net-worth, wealth market. www.ami.co.za