ANGELIQUE BAULCH: Automotive Competency Centre Manager
#AutomotiveAllies: Angelique Baulch, nominated by Shivani Singh, is the DHL Automotive Competency Centre Manager.
In Angelique’s 32 years of employment, she has either been directly or indirectly involved in the Automotive Industry. Her journey started out in a 20Foot Container as a Vehicle Administrator at a Used Car Lot, to moving through the ranks of Mercedes Benz of South Africa as a single mother with an eventual tenure of 19 years. Angelique’s time at Mercedes Benz of South Africa afforded her the opportunity to experience the full life cycle of a vehicle from Production to Despatch – Hands-On. Her greatest memory is being the first woman to spot weld brackets onto panels in A & H-Plant, and being able to work side by side with the workers as they passionately created the vehicles we drive today.
Angelique then followed the vehicle through its life-cycle by working at a Mercedes Benz Dealership in order to fully understand the journey of a vehicle after it leaves the production facility. Her last position within the organisation was being part of a dynamic team in Component Exports when the MIDP was implemented.
Angelique then stepped out of her comfort zone, by experiencing the opportunities and challenges that come with doing business in Africa. All the time, she kept on thinking of how Africa’s Growth will impact Automotive in South Africa and the immense opportunities that this could offer the local industry.
This ultimately led her home to DHL Global Forwarding – Angelique had found her tribe. Today she is part of a passionate team of automotive specialists who are the driving force behind the DHL Automotive Competency Centre in South Africa.
Angelique’s advice to her younger self, #ThingsIWishIKnew:
- Be Authentic – there is no better version than you.
- Setbacks are tools you will use when you Level Up.
- Just because it has always been done that way, does not mean that it should be.
- Use your passion for Automotive to turbo you through the times when it feels like your battery is flat
- A calm mind finds solutions, be cautious with knee-jerk reactions to a crises situation, Not all action is action.
How Angelique and her team at DHL Global Forwarding plan to empower other women in the sector:
Being part of the big red and yellow machine, called DHL Global Forwarding, means that there is a collective support group of World Class Female Role Models. These women are ready to empower other women in Industry and send the Elevator Down. The platform that DHL Global Forwarding has provided through the creation of the Automotive Competence Centre, will enable us to share our collective experiences within Auto-Mobility. We will leverage off each other’s strengths and experiences in order to support Women in Automotive where it’s needed.