CN&CO: 10 years on and still going strong!

Ten years ago Carel Nolte (Pty) Ltd was started by the eponymous Carel Nolte. Back then it was just Carel and Rikus working from a small studio behind the Flow Communications offices in Oxford Road in Illovo, with Penny running Carel’s affairs remotely.

“It was an exciting time,” remembers Carel. “I was working two part-time jobs and taking care of a whole lot of bits and pieces for friends who would eventually become clients.”

At some point in 2015 the planets aligned and a group of talented, passionate people in Carel’s network found themselves looking to make career changes. These people were Colin Ford, Gabbi Rego, Gianluca Tucci, Josie Dougall, Kurt Solomon and Rob Christian.

“And so we joined forces and CN&CO was born!”

There have been many changes over the past 10 years, with several colleagues and clients coming and going. But at its core, CN&CO is about people and working with them to grow their brands – and our own.

“We love it!” says Carel. “Part of what we do with brands is to start things and give them life, then either hand over the reins or continue to support them. We have no problem making ourselves redundant if that’s what the customer brand needs.”

From a team perspective we have seen many people come and go, including directors and shareholders. Gabbi went to do amazing things in the PR space (and have a baby boy with her husband Dagan), Rob left to pursue an opportunity in the Netherlands (and finally got married to Meghan), our founding chair and deputy chair, Colleen Magner and Lee Astfalck, stepped down after a couple of years of superb leadership and mentoring. We were also joined by several amazing humans who have subsequently gone on to do great things – Thabs Royds, Neo Matsei, Emi Adriano, Carly Barnes, Cristiana Cavalieri, Alan Bader, Josh Nuttall, Lorraine Lamola and Kate Conlan, to name a few.

Some people joined since 2015 and are still with us. Blake Dyason is doing great things on The Insurance Directory and running a few other projects; Llewellyn du Plessis heads up CN&CO Events; and Stella Carter services a number of clients, including Lombard and epic ERP.

The founding members of CN&CO – Rob Christian, Rikus Kok, Gabbi Rego, Carel Nolte, Josie Dougall, Gianluca Tucci, Colin Ford, Penny Hickinbotham and Kurt Solomon

Carel is still our chief señor, with an additional focus on EasyEquities where he serves as the chief marketing officer; Colin is happily writing up a storm; Penny handles our admin and accounts; Kurt’s focus is 99% on Ami Underwriting Managers; and Rikus lives on and manages a farm in Stellenbosch.

There have been some recent changes to our shareholding and board as Josie and Gianluca have decided to take up new challenges and step down as CN&CO directors.

Josie has joined her husband Simon in his business, Crawford Dougall (where Carel is also on the board) as head of people and brand. She continues to focus on her family while adding enormous value at Crawford Dougall, where renewable energy and hospitality are the top focus areas. Josie sent us this awesome tribute for this blog:

Mom, what work did you do when we were little? 

“Well, when I first found out I was pregnant with you, I had started my own business with some of my friends. It was a business that allowed me to be both a very hands-on mum to you three, but also a balanced, engaged working person. Tapping in and out of quantities of work as and when I was able, it wasn’t always easy, but I will never forget that decade of my life that was so rich in so many ways”.

What CN&CO has done for me personally is enabled the most gentle adventure into parenthood that I could have ever wished for. Ask any mum, they don’t want to NOT work, they don’t want to become irrelevant and guilty for not contributing, and lonely sitting at home with kids all day… but more than that, they DO want to be present for their families. Trying to get this balance right was and still is so very challenging for so many parents. Before Covid and flexible working time, CN&CO allowed me the complete freedom to be a mother, and have the wonderful stimulation and reward and social engagement that comes with working. I will never forget that time in my life and will be forever grateful to Carel, Colin, Gianluca, Kurt, Rob and the various other colleagues and shareholders who have come and gone over the years. 

This chapter for me has been one of acceptance, support, understanding from my business partners and one of immense growth and challenge for me personally, Nothing could have prepared me for motherhood and the utter joy and utter pain that comes with it. But having the CN&CO team by my side, allowing me to ebb and flow and be who I needed to be, was one of my life’s greatest gifts.

Gianluca, who became a dad not long ago, has also decided to move on from CN&CO to start his own empire.

“After a fabulous nine-year stint with CN&CO, I’m proud to say it’s been the launchpad for my next adventure—cue drumroll—a new venture (opening in May) that’ll dive into partnering with diverse brands and people, helping them flourish in business and brand culture,” he says. “Details are under wraps but will be revealed soon!

“Currently, my time has been geared around building digital platforms and campaigns, with some lead gen magic and crafting communication strategies in the realms of property, industrial arena, design, lighting and insurance.

“Exciting moves ahead!”

Carel says we will continue to engage with our departing friends.

“As we have done with everyone who has passed through CN&CO, we will retain our friendships and working relationships with Josie and Gianluca. CN&CO may be moving into a new phase, but our networks keep growing – and will carry on doing so in the years ahead. In addition, our publishing division is working on an exciting new book, we have some more TV production in the works, our events team is working tirelessly (most notably on organising the 50th African Insurance Exchange) and our recruitment team is still actively sourcing top notch candidates in the education space.

“Lots of exciting stuff ahead!”