With a career shaped by resilience and mentorship, Marilyn Maki now champions women’s leadership in finance — sharing insights on success, work-life balance, and the power of believing in one’s own potential.
YLA: Marilyn, tell us about your mentorship programme at Standard Bank.
Marilyn: The idea started in our Energy and Infrastructure cohort at Standard Bank and it was designed to focus on women who we felt had the trajectory to become executives and leaders in our business. We don’t only look at career goals, we look at personal existence and personal achievement — where we see ourselves now and in 10 years. This helps us maintain the balance that we as women must find between motherhood, career, being a wife, and being a friend.
YLA: You were very successful early on in your career. Looking back, what advice would you have given yourself?
Marilyn: As successful women, we must own our greatness and distinguish the difference between what we are in our womanhood versus who we are in the workplace without losing our authenticity. It’s about harnessing our greatness and pushing through. It was important for me because of the layers that a woman born in South Africa in the 1970s needed to manage. I wasn’t only dealing with being a woman, I was dealing with being black, and I had to grow this intrinsic self-belief.
YLA: You’ve lived and worked in the UK. Tell us about your time there.
Marilyn: I loved it. I loved the travel and having easy access to the European continent. I also loved how people in the UK immerse themselves in subject matter. In South Africa there is a tendency to focus on the specifics of the transaction. I learned to broaden my knowledge about everything surrounding a transaction in that environment and that has been to my absolute benefit.
YLA: You’re back in South Africa …
Marilyn: Yes, this country is filled with the most amazing landscapes, but it’s the people of this country who make me not want to live anywhere else. Our people make a huge difference in what this country has been able to withstand.
YLA: You recently moved to Cape Town; how different is it from living in Joburg?
Marilyn: Joburg has a wonderful energy that moves and shakes with the rhythm of the times, always ready to go with whatever’s happening. In Cape Town, the rhythm feels more even and steady.
YLA: Who inspires you?
Marilyn: My Mom will always be my greatest inspiration. She raised three girls by herself and was an extremely successful businesswoman and contributor to NAFCOC, the oldest black business chamber in SA. Through her, we were taught to be independent – and that a partner is a wonderful addition to have, but it doesn’t define you.
YLA: What does luxury mean to you?
Marilyn: I am a victim of all the trappings of luxury and can immerse myself in a shopping gorge in London for a week!
Having said that, there are also those small, profound moments, like watching chicks learning to fly from your garden patio. The mom would chirp once, and they would flap away until the mom chirped twice and they would return. There was an entire language, and it was just glorious to witness them going a little further every day. There’s luxury in being part of that.
YLA: Which restaurants do you enjoy in Cape Town?
Marilyn: You can’t do better than La Colombe. I also love The Nines, which is quintessential but extremely cosmopolitan. I try to get out to the winelands as often as possible — it transports you into something quite different. And again — appreciating this country, I turn a corner and something else takes my breath away.
YLA: Do you entertain at home?
Marilyn: Yes, when I have time. I am well-known for my cooking skills and can throw a four- to five-course dinner party quite easily.
YLA: Where did you learn to cook like that?
Marilyn: Ask my sisters about my cooking in my teenage years! I couldn’t even get the rice right, and on my night, we’d order pizza. Over time, I became so enamoured with what happens when people dine together, and this made me want to learn. Cooking classes in the UK helped refine my technique.
YLA: What do you do in your free time?
Marilyn: I try to be as active as I can. I swim at the Sea Point Pavilion Pool in summer and the heated pool at The Silo during winter. I’ve recently started golf too, so I’m trying to get onto the course.
Marilyn Maki is Standard Bank’s Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, Cape Regions. The Suite Standard Sustainability Sewn-In women’s event took place on 11 September at Cape Town’s Zeitz MOCAA Museum, and merged leadership, sustainability, and a luxury fashion showcase in collaboration with YourLuxury Africa.
