Bianca Sibiya

Although she was born in Durban, Bianca Sibiya identifies as “Joburg bred”, having been raised and educated in the city. Sibiya embodies the pace and energy of Jozi: She speaks quickly, rattling off a stream of career conquests as she goes, and making thematic connections that telegraph how she cut her teeth in content marketing. Just the qualities you want for TikTok’s head of content operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sibiya got her start in marketing two decades ago while she was studying at Wits Business School, after the completion of her BA. Mid postgrad-diploma, she was interning at an ad agency, the client being the L'Oréal portfolio of haircare aimed at black consumers. The challenge was strategically repositioning the previously white-focused brand to speak to the black consumer. “That had me asking, ‘How do I identify myself as a black woman in Africa?’, and, ‘How are we utilising our understanding of our own cultures to inform decision-making in people's purchasing power?’,” she says, questions that have been pertinent throughout the intervening years.