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#WomensMonth | Women need to stop holding one another back

As general manager of Field Force, Carmen Brown manages one of Provantage's largest and most geographically distributed teams; a role that demands presence, authority and an almost inexhaustible reserves of energy. She will tell you, with characteristic directness, that the energy comes from loving the work. Everything else is built from there.

Issued by Provantage

28 Aug 2026

Carmen Brown, general manager of Field Force.

Her leadership style has evolved over time. Early in her career, she defaulted to being hard and driven, finding it difficult to claim space in rooms that were not always ready to make space for her. As she has grown into herself, the approach has softened. Empathy, she has found, is not a concession but rather the one thing that makes a difference.

"A softer touch, and being authentically yourself, is what we as women add because we often bring a different context to the table."

Two mentors shaped her trajectory: one who gave her access to C-suite thinking early; another who walked her through the operational detail until she understood the granular why behind every account. That combination is what makes her a generalist, and generalists, she believes, are what complex businesses need most.

On the question of women supporting women, Brown is unflinching: "We don't support each other enough”.

Provantage is one of the largest and most innovative end-to-end integrated marketing solutions and media businesses in Africa, extended over multiple key consumer touchpoints and covering a range of environments and audience segments. Operating across the MEA region, Provantage offers a comprehensive range of products, services, and integrated solutions, including brand activation, in-store and trade media services, field sales and compliance auditing, transit media, mall media, billboards, street furniture, golf course media and airport advertising. The company is a Black-owned, B-BBEE level 1 contributor, and proud member of the ACI, DPAA, OAAA, WOOHO, OMC and POPAI.