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#BehindtheSelfie: Shivani Pillay, marketing director for Michelin
![Image supplied: Shivani Pillay, marketing director at Michelin Tyres](https://biz-file.com/c/2206/660586-700x364.jpg?3)
Tell us a bit more about what you do?
I’m the marketing director for Michelin Tyres across Africa and Middle East regions.
My team and I are responsible for the entire Save model and that means through research, we identify the need for a new product in the market, we create the value proposition for that product – and we do this for customers and dealers in the B2C and B2B space – and we are also responsible for price setting and offering our customers great after sales support as well.
What’s really behind your selfie?
I love animals, especially dogs.
Growing up, what did you want to do?
I wanted to be a teacher. I used to have this chalkboard in our garage and would role-play with my Irish terrier.
How did you end up doing what you do now?
I studied for a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and I specialised in Human Resource Management and Business Management. I worked as a sales intern at a company called Frame Knitting Manufactures, which at the time, was the largest knitting manufacturer in the southern hemisphere - and also the place where I learned most of my life lessons.
Tell us a bit about some highlights of your career.
At the height of Covid-19, the South African office was the first to close two big deals using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which is a social selling tool. The most exciting thing was that something that was conceived locally received recognition across our offices around the world, we still get colleagues in the USA and Europe asking us for our playbook when it comes to social selling.
I together with several other colleagues around the world, were identified in Michelin as high-performing individuals. This is something I don’t take lightly at all, it is such a privilege.
When you’re not busy working, what do you do?
I’m a DIY queen and avid gardener. I’m always doing mini-home renovations here and there and since the pandemic, I’ve developed quite a green thumb – gardening has become my go-to place for calm.
How do you socialise these days?
I have a large family and my parents, who used to live in Durban, recently moved to Johannesburg, so I visit them and my siblings often for family lunch.
What are you watching/reading/listening to right now?
I was identified, with several other colleagues around the world, by Michelin as a high-performing individual so as part of this global group I’m doing a lot of reading – especially Harvard Business Review articles.
I recently completed The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson.
What’s your favourite gif?
What are you hoping to achieve for the rest of the year?
I’m really excited that we are creating the first-ever B2B Centre of Excellence for the Africa, India and Middle East region, right here in South Africa – which will enable us to be closer to the customer, focus and harness our pockets of excellence in different markets in the region in order to strategically grow the business and also expose our talent to broader markets which they would traditionally not have access to.
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