Six years ago, Taryn Hunter Sharman and Perri King put 40 women in a room and called it The Brave Collective. Today the community reaches over 4000 women. This year, at the founders’ 8th event, they say the room is filling with an unusually large cohort of women from South Africa’s advertising, marketing, production and creative industries.
Also see: Perri is King at Forty Under 40 South Africa
Fortune Favours the Brave. Own It. returns to The Forum in Bryanston on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, with Nedbank as headline sponsor and a programme shaped around leadership, brand-building, financial confidence and personal reinvention.
“The women in our room are already good at meeting each other,” says Hunter Sharman, co-founder of The Brave Collective and Managing Director of Faith & Fear. “What they are less practised at is talking honestly about money, about worth, and about the numbers on their contracts and their bank statements. That is the conversation we built The Brave Collective to have.”
The 2026 line-up
Khensani Nobanda, Nedbank Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs, will speak on leadership at scale, influence and stepping into decision-making with clarity.
Lihle Ngxokolo-Nqini, Managing Director of MaXhosa Africa, will speak on building a heritage-led brand into a global business and what ownership looks like in the creative economy.
Rachel Kolisi will share “Falling Forward”, a personal talk on how women rebuild and redefine themselves in life’s hardest chapters. Her Falling Forward foundation continues that work off-stage.
Carla Venter, founder of Money With Carla, will deliver a 60-minute masterclass on financial confidence and long-term independence.
The programme closes with a Greatest Fears Share Session, a facilitated moment in which attendees name aloud the fears they typically carry silently. It is a signature ritual of every Brave Collective event.
A short, recent legal history
The Brave Collective is built around three pillars: Self-Worth, Network and Net Worth. Its founding thesis is that the three cannot be built separately, and its programming is designed accordingly.
For most of the twentieth century, married women in South Africa could not open bank accounts, sign contracts or hold property in their own names without a husband’s consent. It was not until 1998 that women married under customary law in this country were fully recognised as legal adults.
Also see: Nedbank Partners with The Brave Collective as Headline Sponsor for 2025 Flagship Event
“That legal history is not distant,” says Hunter Sharman. “Every woman in our room is, at most, one generation removed from it. And the industries most of them work in, ours included, have their own catching up to do.”
Sponsors
Nedbank returns as headline sponsor, reinforcing the bank’s ongoing commitment to women’s financial literacy, leadership and economic participation. Confirmed supporting partners include Biogen, Estée Lauder, Curious Tom, Pop Up Sisters, Profmed and Chapters.
Event details
Event: Fortune Favours the Brave. Own It.
Host: The Brave Collective
Headline sponsor: Nedbank
Venue: The Forum, Bryanston, Johannesburg
Date: Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Doors: 07:30
Programme: 09:00 to 13:00, followed by lunch
Expected attendance: 400+
Tickets: Available via Howler
https://www.howler.co.za/events/brave-collective-fortune-favours-the-brave-own-it-ea93
About The Brave Collective
The Brave Collective is a South African women’s community and event platform co-founded by Taryn Hunter Sharman and Perri King. The community is built on three pillars: Self-Worth, Network and Net Worth. Since its first gathering of 40 women, The Brave Collective has grown to a subscriber community of over 4000 women, hosting eight events across the last six years.
(Featured Image: Taryn Hunter Sharman/Supplied)
Also see: Taryn Hunter Sharman wins Woman of Stature Award for Entrepreneur of the Year
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