Sholain Perumal: From PicknPay Cashier to CEO of her Own Gold Company

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Sholain views herself as driven by her passion to succeed and to empower those around her. She comes from really humble beginnings which she isvery proud of. After matriculating, with no funds to study, Sholain started working as a cashier at Pick n Pay store. 

She earned just enough to help her family and to enrol in short bookkeeping courses where she could. In her early 20s Sholain left Pick n Pay and spent 3 months in Ireland, that was her first exposure to travelling abroad which became her passion in life and something that she looks forward to doing as much as she can.

On her return, Sholain took a position as book keeper at Blake and Associates. That’s when she started studying towards a Degree in Financial Management through unisa part time.

In 2005 Sholain joined Retsol, short for Retail Solutions. A QSR franchise management company headed up by Wayne Duncan, her mentor and the founder of Debonairs Pizza. 

Retsol was the appointed management company for Unilever when they acquired the Milky Lane Brand Trademark. They acquired other brands such as Juicy Lucy, Chicken King and Bread Ahead. This period played an integral part in her career, shaping her and where she could apply the theory. Having a boss and mentor like Wayne Duncan has been the key to Sholain’s success today.

Sholain stayed with Retsol till 2012 when she joined DW Bullion. During my tenure at DW Bullion she completed her studies and got her degree in Finance/Business Management. 

Through her hard consistent work and always going over and beyond the call of duty has rewarded her with a promotion to CEO of DW Bullion a Gold Buying Company. Sholain decided to invest in the company by purchasing 26% shares at the time.

During her time at Bullion, approximately 65 staff reported to Sholain and she took on operations. Regularly travelling to the shops in Gauteng and KZN. The decision to get her hands dirty with operations came naturally, as CEO a solid understanding of both finance and operations are crucial to lead a successful business.

In 2018,  both of Sholain’s business partners and her decided to pursue other business interests hence they split the company. Sholain named the new legal entity The Gold Bar as she wanted to cover all things Gold.  This transition was yet another learning curve for her which she thoroughly enjoyed. “Designing a new Look & Feel for the brand and materialise her vision of what Gold Bar will be.  Engaging Interior Designers, Shopfitters, negotiating the leases to name but a few were all new learning experiences for me that has subsequently made me stronger.”

Sholain opened the first Gold Bar at Cornubia Mall in Mt Edgecombe in May 2019 and the first Gold Bar Kiosk installed in Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria. In addition to the rebrand and relaunch, all new stores opened under this new umbrella will be branded as THE GOLD BAR. Sholain currently has 7 Gold Buuying stores as well as a Hair Nails and Beauty Salon in Umhlanga Rocks.

“This experience confirmed what I already knew, you can achieve anything you dream of no matter what your circumstances are. There are two keys to success, have fun whilst doing so and give back to the community, help others to build the foundations of their Dreams.

I love to empower and motivate and mentor those around me, and helping people grow into their own greatness. I am also a philanthropist and believe there is no better satisfaction than helping people in any which way I can. This trait I guess comes from the way I was raised and the values instilled in me by my parents. No dream is too big to achieve.”

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