Simon Wilkes is probably one of the most genuine, warm and engaging people I have ever met and every time I see him, I am taken back to so many happy childhood memories together. Having grown up on neighbouring local sugar farms, I have seen Simon grow from a lanky kid into such an amazing guy who spreads so much love and good vibes wherever he goes. He leads an unbelievable Media Team at Linc Church which is his absolute love and passion and I can feel so tangibly how much he enjoys his work there. It has always been in his heart to mentor young people, and he has found an amazing platform to do so with Linc’s extensive Intern program. This is such a great example of how Business and the way we do it is changing dynamically and becoming a lot more geared towards empowering young people.
In his role as Media Director at the church, Simon is in charge of various different, multi-skilled teams. He has  an incredible capacity for leadership and facilitates Linc’s impressive online presence, as well as co-ordinating the band and music team, broadcast studio and live production of weekly services. On a Sunday, these three elements have to work seamlessly together and Simon is tasked with facilitating multiple online systems to expand their message over every platform that’s available to him.
In a personal capacity, he runs his own media / film company and loves being able to shoot at least one big video project every other month, which he’s really enjoying as a different stream of creation and revenue. He is fascinated with experiencing and learning more about different aspects of the media landscape such as lighting and creative direction and is constantly looking for new and different ways of expanding his creative knowledge.
In his spare time, Simon is an avid paddler, and after training for only 6 months completed the Duzi canoe race (January of this year!)Â which really speaks to the determination, endurance and commitment of this incredible young dude. He has recently joined the newly formed Dolphin Coast Paddling group which is growing at a rapid pace, and is so enjoying training regularly with such a cool team of like-minded people. For more information or to join the club, please click HERE.
Simon has a deep love for the local Ballito community – he believes in it so strongly and would like to see a new wave of fresh energy in people coming through as more and more young people choose to live and build their lives here. If there was one thing he’d like to see more of, it would have to be more local talent being supported here and I feel that it will not be long before we start to see just that. As fellow young business owners in Ballito, it is apparent to me that there is so much we can learn from each other and being able to sit together, reflect on the past and share a vision for the future is such a generative time for me as I am able to observe the direction other young people’s lives have taken. As we bounce ideas around, I can’t help but feel so inspired for the future of Durban and Ballito! To be able to find ourselves in a space where young creatives, entrepreneurs and visionaries can come together, co-create and collaborate in a way we’ve never really been able to before. Times they are a-changing and being part of creating the change is a thrill I can hardly describe.
