Founder of Faith & Fear and The Brave Collective recognised for building a purpose-driven business ecosystem that is reshaping how women lead, earn, and grow in South Africa.
Taryn Hunter Sharman, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and Founder and Managing Director of Faith & Fear (Pty) Ltd, has been named the winner of the Woman of Stature Award in the Entrepreneurship and Business category – an honour that reflects not just a career, but a deliberate approach to building businesses that create access for others.
Faith & Fear, the Johannesburg-based advertising and communications consultancy she co-founded, operates on a distributed model that deliberately creates opportunity for women-owned businesses and independent specialists. The agency works with some of South Africa’s most recognised brands – including Profmed Medical Scheme, Liberty, and RMB – and has built a reputation for work that is both commercially rigorous and culturally intelligent.
But Hunter Sharman’s impact extends beyond client work. In 2026, Faith & Fear won a Gold SABRE Award, and a silver Loerie for Profmed finDR – a platform connecting unemployed junior doctors to understaffed healthcare facilities – a campaign that demonstrated what happens when business strategy and social purpose are genuinely aligned.
Alongside Faith & Fear, Hunter Sharman founded The Brave Collective, a women’s empowerment platform built around three pillars: self-worth, net worth, and network. The platform has convened events of up to 450 women, produced a vodcast series, a magazine, and a growing library of tools designed to help women build financial independence and leadership confidence.
She is also the author of Fearocious – a framework that repositions fear not as an obstacle, but as a teacher. It is a philosophy she lives professionally and shares widely as a keynote speaker.
On receiving the award, Hunter Sharman said:
“I’ve spent a long time thinking about what it means to build something that lasts. Not just a business that performs but a model that opens doors for other people. This recognition affirms that those two things are not in conflict. You can be commercially excellent and genuinely purposeful. That’s the only kind of business I’m interested in building.”
The Woman of Stature Award joins a growing body of recognition for Hunter Sharman’s work, including the Standard Bank Top Women in Business Award (SMME category). As she continues to scale both Faith & Fear and The Brave Collective, her focus remains consistent: building platforms that work for more people than just herself.
“I’ve never been interested in building something that works for me alone. I want to build models that work for others – long after I’m no longer in the room.”
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