Book review: Work Diva – how to climb the corporate ladder without selling your soul

I’ve met a lot of divas in my time. Fashion divas, theatre divas, even PTA-mom divas, but never a work diva… until now. Thanks to Kim Meredith, we have a brand new diva in our midst, and this time she’s serious; serious about getting ahead, about achieving success, about climbing the corporate ladder, and all without selling her soul.

Kim Meredith’s new book, Work Diva – how to climb the corporate ladder without selling your soul, is designed for women who aren’t afraid to tone and shape their careers, whether they’re at the start, in the middle or at the peak of their profession.

Billed as a “practical but entertaining guide on how to cope with a wide range of work-related issues,” Meredith claims to impart gentle life lessons in the process. In her introduction, she dedicates this book to “the little girls within us adult women who still dare to dream their dreams.”

This struck a cord. How many of us release our long-held dreams when we become wives and mothers, working only to contribute our share and never realising the aspirations we nurtured on our journey leading up to this point? Meredith not only encourages women to continue to dream, but provides useful advice from the vantage point of one who has “been there, done that.”

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill business book and, even better, it’s written by a South African woman in business, making it all the more relevant to local readers.

Consider whether you’re a “diva or a doormat”, if you will “breed or not” and why communication is a diva’s best friend.

Published by Oshun Books, an imprint of Struik, Work Diva is on shelf now.

Author info: Cindy Moritz

Cindy Moritz is All4Women's contributing editor based in Cape Town. She spent ten years in magazine publishing, and was editor of fashion business title Pursuit for most of that time. She went on to edit popular parenting title Cape Town's Child, drawing on her own experience as mother of two young children. Deciding to practise what she preached, after a couple of years Cindy gave up the office job to pursue that fine balance of work and life which freelancing offers, and after having features published in a number of local magazines including Elle, Longevity, Femina and Strictly Business, she discovered www.all4women.co.za and online publishing. She's never looked back.