Marthélize has followed an unconventional career path. Starting off in the molecular sciences, she completed her M.Sc. Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University, followed by her first job as a Scientific Officer in the Subunit Vaccines Unit at UCT. From there, she moved to Educational Publishing at Siyavula, working on developing and translating Life Sciences textbooks for grades 4 - 9.
During a short stint at Snapscan (setting up some basic operational structures, around the time the company was acquired by Standard Bank), her hobby of writing about wine lead to her winning the inaugural Veritas Young Wine Writer award in 2015, as well as her first job in the wine industry - Business Development & Account Manager a US-basd importer of South African wines.
Several years were spent in the wine industry, both writing and later working as the Direct Sales Manager for Oldenburg Vineyards. At the end of 2022, Marthélize made the jump to work with her partner on building his businesses (one of which specialises in events), which afforded her the opportunity of a lifetime: to be part of the Operations team that executed the hugely successful Formula E Cape Town E-Prix, in February 2023.
She is also a part-time lecturer at the IMM, presenting Sales Management to the 2nd and 3rd year classes.
Interests: Podcasts, Moleskine notebooks, buying books while I still have a shelf full of unread ones, and Pedro Pascal TikToks