Farewell to Tina

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Tina Monteiro, publisher of this magazine, has passed away.

Charleen Clarke, editorial director, recalls that she first met Tina about three decades ago. “Tina was selling the advertisements for a magazine called Transport Management, which closed down many years ago. I was contracted by its publishers to edit the magazine. When I met Tina, I was absolutely blown away by her prowess. I’d honestly never encountered a better salesperson!”

Two years later, Charleen stopped editing Transport Management because she was approached by the Road Freight Association. “They wanted me to edit their magazine, FOCUS. I took on the project. However, the understanding was that I would be able to buy FOCUS from the Road Freight Association. This made sense; the association was not a magazine publisher.”

Once the opportunity came up to buy the magazine, Charleen’s first call was to Tina. “I needed someone who could sell the advertisements. I am a journalist by nature. My area of expertise isn’t sales. However, it certainly was Tina’s!” she recalls. It is thus that the duo started working together, with Charleen running the creative team and Tina being responsible for sales.

The business grew – new staff were employed and soon Tina managed a team of salespeople. However, she always kept her eye on the ball. She loved the business of sales. Often, she would write the proposals for the sales team, and even go see clients with one of her team members.

Charmont Media Global, the publisher of FOCUS, started publishing a second magazine called SHEQ Management (SHEQ stands for safety, health, environment and quality). Like FOCUS, it was the leader in its market. Tina was, once again, responsible for selling the advertisements – along with her team. She did this with aplomb.