Janice Jordan

Growing up on the beaches of Durban, Janice Jordan credits her school headmaster for pushing her into leadership roles, which ultimately led to her running her own company as CEO of service provider ColabIT. “I was bright but naughty, and his guidance and belief in me helped make me a leader,” she says. On hiring, and retaining staff, Jordan says she chooses personality types over qualifications, which has created a thriving company that recently opened an office in Gauteng. ColabIT offers managed and professional services, connectivity, SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS solutions using Azure, as well as private cloud hosting.

Jordan laughs as she says there are no plans to move her head office from Durban. “I love my de-stressing walks on the Umhlanga Promenade and on the beach too much to ever leave.” Jordan matriculated from a government school in Durban. “We lived close to the breadline and we couldn’t have afforded university anyway. I’m a big believer in the value of dynamic, driven, passionate people. They can do anything they put their minds to. Most of my leadership team don’t have degrees.”