Company culture is our passion.

Hi, we’re Aspire South Africa (pronounced as you’d expect, not “aspireza“). We are the proudly South African branch of an international consulting company founded in Egypt that has worked with over 400 organisations. From 2-person startups to multinationals like Microsoft, we help companies develop a culture that empowers their people and teams to thrive, engage and positively contribute towards the company vision.

Company culture teambuilding exercise with multiple people holding a rod
Uncomplicated tools x innovative facilitation = entrenched company culture

OUR VISION

To inspire and facilitate deep, lasting transformation in individuals, teams, organisations and communities, empowering them to grow, lead and prosper.

OUR MISSION

To deliver unrivalled, integrated experiences in every solution we implement, using a unique methodology combining knowledge, experience and innovation.

We believe that no company should be held back by their organisational culture.

After George visited Aspire Egypt in Cairo in 2019 and saw the impressive impact the company was having on hundreds of companies and thousands of lives, he started planning how to start a branch in South Africa using the same approach and methodology that was making such an impact in Egypt.

George and Braam were friends long before 2019, and when George came back with a passionate vision for unlocking the true potential in companies through meaningful culture transformation, Braam — a qualified I/O Psychologist with a lot of practical experience — was immediately interested. Between Braam’s experience in industrial psychology, George’s speciality in finance and accounting as a CA(SA) and a shared passion for transformed culture, Aspire South Africa quickly became a reality.

SOME OF ASPIRE EGYPT’S CLIENTS

In December 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown started in South Africa, George and Braam left stable careers to dedicate their full attention to cracking the culture code and helping companies grow by effectively harnessing their culture and people. While many other consultancies closed shop, Aspire SA has steadily grown through the pandemic period to work with clients like Berryworld, Sanlam, WeconnectU, Finovate, Mezzanine, Maties Rugby and more.

Beyond our work in the corporate sector, we believe all companies should work towards uplifting their local communities. Aspire South Africa is majority-owned by a non-profit company, Aspire Foundations NPC, which ensures that meaningful community impact stays at the core of our identity. All of the Aspire South Africa staff are involved in projects that build community on various levels, and we are passionate about building a better South Africa, particularly through youth development, economic inequality and quality education.

A company with clear, widely understood and deeply ingrained values still face the same opportunities and challenges as other companies, but their clarity of identity provides them with a solid foundation from which to engage. These are the values we’ve chosen:

OUR VALUES

Impact

We add value with a winning mindset.

Care Through Service

We genuinely support our clients.

Collaboration

We work in teams, with passion.

Daring To Be Different

We create an unrivalled experience with innovation.

Continuous Improvement

We learn continuously, with intentionality.

People are the most under-utilized capital of any company.

During Aspire’s 15-year journey with organisations of all sizes in a variety of industries, we have seen time and again that the way a company manages their people and builds is strongly indicative of how happy and productive its employees are, even impacting the quality of work the employees produce.

And the single most dominant factor determining that management style is company culture.

Culture is often the most underappreciated tool a company has in turning around its outlook or taking its productivity to the next level. A simple example of this is one of the fundamental aspects of culture; the company values. And specifically:

  • whether the values are explicitly clear or assumed,
  • whether the values are clearly communicated or only known to the top-level leadership, and
  • whether the values are part of the DNA of how the organisation operates or just abstract ideals that are completely ignored.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help you build, rebuild or refine your company culture from the ground up.

Meet The Team

We also have teams of skilled facilitators and trainers which allows us to partner with companies of all sizes.

George Carstens

Director

Braam Venter

Operations Manager

Lené Pienaar

Communications Manager

Nelia Dukhi

Client Engagement Specialist

Nerine Louwrens

Project Manager

Stephan Basson

Project Manager

David Liprini

Web and Technical Support

Bassem Emad

Egypt Office

Nader Ernest

Egypt Office

Cassie Carstens

SA Office

Meshack Lefifi

SA Office

Carel Wandrag

SA Office

Marko Pretorius

SA Office

John Yip

SA Office

Errol Gray

SA Office

Braam LinkedIn