I am Nikki

Hello, my name is Veronique Naidoo. I am casually known as Nikki by my friends and family.

I was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and have lived in this beautiful coastal city my entire life. My education includes a National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Nelson Mandela University. My work experience was obtained within the automotive industry in the fields of Engineering and Marketing.

At the end of 2017, I decided to take a “Career break” to focus on starting a family. After numerous surgical procedures and treatments, our daughter was born in 2019. I have chosen to stay at home as her primary caregiver.

“Having kids - the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings - is the biggest job anyone can embark on.” - Maria Shriver

CV of veronique naidoo

I have worked for some amazing companies and people and have such fond memories of them all. My career began as a bright eyed Graduate - In - Training at Volkswagen South Africa. I was a Component Engineer in the Powertrain department of Product Engineering. The components I was responsible for included engines; gearboxes and exhaust systems for the infamous Citi Golf and Golf V.

During my time as an Engineer, I had started studying towards an MBA, and became more interested in understanding the other facets of business and how they all fit together to produce a product that ultimately the customer buys. An opportunity presented itself which allowed me to move into a Product Planning role in the Marketing department. Some highlights of this role includes Planning the run-out strategy for the Citi which coincided with the introduction of the Polo Vivo as the new entry-level vehicle for Volkswagen in the South African market. Another first, was planning the introduction of the Golf VI, which for the first time would be fully imported into South Africa.

At the beginning of 2010 I decided to give the self-employed gig a try. I started a business where I was selling and installing residential solar geysers. Studying towards an MBA encouraged me to explore what it entails to be an entrepreneur. I thought it was better to try and fail than to never try at all. In short after two years and many lessons learnt, I decided to close-up shop and return to corporate.

I then took up a role as project manager at a data company that serves as a supplier to the automotive industry. My role was to improve the data and overall knowledge of the automotive industry within my designated department. After three years, I decided to move on to a Product Planning role at General Motors South Africa. However my stint at the company was short-lived as General Motors divested from South Africa and Isuzu had acquired some portion of the assets.

At this point my husband and I decided that it would be the best time to pause and give it our best shot at starting a family. So here I am having achieved that monumental goal and looking ahead for the next part to my story…