ROYAL HUSTLERS

Getting to know Mercia Geises, Standard Bank’s executive powerhouse

“My entire career has been about purpose, to make an impact in people's lives,” says the inspiring and enterprising Mercia Geises.

A firm believer in living her purpose and making a positive impact, the Chief Executive of Standard Bank Namibia, Mercia Geises, gives us a look into her career. In this inspiring '99FM Royal Hustlers' edition she talks about the early years that shaped her and shares her take on the importance of having a side hustle.

THE RISE AND RISE OF MERCIA GEISES

The youngest of seven children, Mercia grew up in Kalkfeld, a small settlement in the Otjozondjupa Region. From the tender age of two, Mercia always followed her father to the school where he was the principal. By the time she was five, she was way ahead of her peers. “I knew the pre-primary syllabus off my head so my dad sent me to another school in Outjo to start my formal education. I spent my barefooted childhood there until I was 12.”

Mercia then attended Otjiwarongo High School. “That’s where I reinvented myself and found a world much bigger than I had anticipated,” she recalls. By the time she finished high school, her parents had already retired. While her peers went on to study at the finest South African universities, she had to do her first degree at the University of Namibia where she studied law. That wasn’t something she had envisioned doing, but she registered anyway and never looked back. Mercia went on to add other qualifications to her CV, and is now a qualified lawyer, banker and businesswoman.

Her current role as CE of Standard Bank Namibia was not something she ever imagined for herself either, but it is a task that she strives to do exceptionally well. On what the best part of her job is, she says: “Doing what I do everyday to the best of my ability, giving it my best and having no regrets, whatever the outcome is.”

FINDING PASSION OUTSIDE THE BOARDROOM

“I’ve always had side hustles from the start of my career and even now I have side hustles,” says the enterprising Mercia. Her very first side hustle, she says, was to moderate exam papers at the then Polytechnic of Namibia. As her career progressed, she started sitting on company boards. But the more she climbed up the corporate ladder, the more she longed for a side hustle that was, in her words, “kinder” than her day job. This is why she eventually got into vegetable and dairy farming, a passion that she indulges in outside the boardroom.

“I also encourage all my employees to have a side hustle because it broadens your horizons and helps you to have intelligent conversations with your clients. If you just come to work and don’t have any other perspective in life, how do you really contribute to conversations and how do you influence?”

A PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE

Mercia is a purpose-driven woman, living by her personal purpose to make an impact in the lives of others. She is also highly inspired by the Standard Bank purpose: “Namibia is our home and we drive her growth”. As the executive behind one of Namibia’s biggest banks, Mercia is proud of the work that they are doing. “We are very cognisant of the communities in which we operate and the needs which they have and our responsibility to support these communities,” she says. She also mentions the key impact areas in which the bank strives to continue having a sustainable impact including housing, healthcare and climate change.

“What we set out to do is to set aside part of our profits to reinvest in our communities to make sure that money can buy quality of life in our communities.” On top of that, Standard Bank aims to take its employees along on the journey of its purpose, giving them proper, future-ready skills.

Her advice to any young women aspiring to succeed in the corporate space is to believe in themselves and keep going.

“You can do it. If I can do it, so can you - but ten times better. You just need to believe in yourself, go out there with a mindset of possibility and do it!”

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