As South Africa continues to grapple with persistently high unemployment, entrepreneurship has moved beyond choice – it is a critical driver of income, opportunity, and economic survival.
Against this backdrop, Taryn Hunter Sharman has been named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2026 Woman of Stature Awards South Africa, recognised for building a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable business model that reflects the realities of doing business in a challenging economy.
“Entrepreneurship in South Africa is no longer just about ambition – it’s about survival, purpose, inclusivity, and success,” says Hunter Sharman.
She is the co-founder and Managing Director of Faith & Fear, a Johannesburg-based advertising and communications consultancy that partners with leading South African brands while intentionally creating opportunities for women-owned businesses and independent specialists through a distributed operating model.
Rather than a traditional high-overhead agency structure, Faith & Fear operates as a flexible ecosystem of independent talent. This model enables growth while expanding access to income-generating opportunities for other entrepreneurs.
Under her leadership, Faith & Fear has gained recognition for both creative excellence and social impact, including a Gold SABRE Award and a Silver Loerie for the Profmed finDR campaign – an initiative connecting unemployed junior doctors with understaffed healthcare facilities. The work reflects her belief that business must respond directly to real economic challenges.
Alongside Faith & Fear, Hunter Sharman founded The Brave Collective, a women’s empowerment platform built on three pillars: self-worth, net worth, and network. The platform includes large-scale events, a vodcast series, a magazine, and practical tools designed to support women in building financial independence and leadership capability.
She is also the author of Fearocious, a framework that reframes fear as a catalyst for growth, and a sought-after keynote speaker on entrepreneurship, leadership, and resilience.
“I’ve spent a long time thinking about what it means to build something that lasts,” she says. “Not just a business that performs, but a model that opens doors for others. I believe you can be commercially successful and genuinely purposeful.”
Her approach is rooted in the realities of South Africa’s economic environment, where adaptability and efficiency are essential. “You can’t build a business here expecting easy conditions,” she explains. “You have to stay flexible, keep costs lean, and be ready to adjust quickly when circumstances change.”
For Hunter Sharman, business structure is as important as business output. Her distributed model is a deliberate choice to create income-driven opportunities for other professionals and entrepreneurs.
“I’ve never been interested in building something that works for me alone. I want to build models that continue creating opportunities long after I’m no longer in the room.”
She is a strong advocate for entrepreneurship as a practical response to South Africa’s unemployment crisis.
“Every business has the potential to create opportunity, even at a small scale. That’s how we begin to shift unemployment – one sustainable business at a time.”
As South Africa continues to search for solutions to unemployment, Hunter Sharman’s work offers a blueprint for how entrepreneurship can translate into practical, inclusive economic impact.
About Taryn Hunter Sharman:
Taryn Hunter Sharman is the CEO and co-founder of Faith & Fear, an award-winning, women-owned creative consultancy redefining the traditional agency model through insight-led, impact-driven work. She is also co-founder of The Brave Collective, a women’s empowerment platform focused on leadership, financial literacy, and personal growth. With over 20 years’ experience across leading brands and agencies, Taryn is known for her fearless strategy, commercial results, and commitment to building businesses that drive both profit and purpose.
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