Solo Seal Territory
A team-sports kid until dance took over, then she went all the way through her ballet exams and on to a modern Solo Seal, the kind of top-of-the-syllabus territory most dancers only read about.
Some people are graceful, some are tough, and some spend their days quietly putting other people back together. Kerri is all three at once, which frankly seems like showing off. This corner of the internet is here to say so.
The Receipts
A short, entirely admiring dossier.
Prefect, Then OT
Matric prefect in Durban, then off to study occupational therapy: the profession that rebuilds people's daily lives after life has other plans. Later topped up with a completed OT master's.
The Bara Years
Practised OT at Chris Hani Baragwanath in Soweto from 2016 to 2019, one of the largest hospitals on Earth. If you can rehab patients at Bara, you can do it anywhere.
Sources: LinkedIn · Wikipedia (Bara) ↗The Discovery Years
Three years at Discovery (2019 to 2022) as a disability claims assessor and case management specialist, with a technical marketing stint too. A clinician's eye inside the paperwork machine.
Source: LinkedIn ↗YuLife's Giraffe Wrangler
Joined YuLife as a Customer Success Manager in August 2023, right as the London insurtech (the one with the giraffe) landed in South Africa. Wellbeing tech, with an actual clinician behind it.
Sources: The Org · Insurtech Insights ↗Health & Disability Consultant
Also consults at IDA Consulting (since 2021) on health and disability, because apparently one job's worth of helping people was never going to be enough.
Source: LinkedIn ↗Table Mountain, The Long Way
Ran the Table Mountain 35 at Ultra-trail Cape Town 2023: 34.3km with 2,090m of climbing, finishing 30th of 142 women. The ballet cardio, it turns out, transfers.
Source: UTMB index ↗Trail Marathon Club
Then the MUT Marathon by UTMB in the Outeniquas, May 2024: 43.9km and 2,437m of vert in 7:38. Same mountains, same weekend that a certain Brenden Taylor spent 20 hours on the 100.
Source: UTMB index ↗Joburg → Durban Original
Born in Johannesburg, raised on Durban's east-coast sunshine. Highveld grit plus coastal warmth is a strong combination, and she runs on both.
How She Got Here
Joburg → Durban → the studio → the wards → the trails.
JOBURG
Enters the world
Born in Johannesburg. The Highveld's loss is coming a few lines down.
DURBAN
Moves to the east coast
Grows up in Durban, in every team sport available, until dancing quietly takes over the schedule.
DANCE
Ballet exams done; modern Solo Seal
Sees the ballet syllabus through to the end and earns a modern Solo Seal. Discipline, memorised.
MATRIC
Prefect
The staffroom's verdict: the person everyone quietly relies on. A recurring theme.
OT
Studies occupational therapy
Picks the helping profession that hands people their daily lives back, one small victory at a time.
2016
Bara
OT at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, plus Catherine Alberti Occupational Therapy. Three years at the deep end of South African healthcare.
2019
Discovery
Disability claims assessor and case management specialist. The clinical brain moves into the system itself.
MASTER'S
Completes the OT master's
Goes back for the postgraduate stripe while the day jobs carry on. As one does. Apparently.
2023
YuLife, and Table Mountain
Joins YuLife as it launches in South Africa, then celebrates with 34.3km and 2,090m of Table Mountain in November.
2024
MUT Marathon
43.9km through the Outeniquas. The dancer's discipline, now measured in contour lines.
The Official Coolness Readout
Peer-reviewed by friends. Clinically assessed.
“Living life to its fullest.” — the occupational therapy profession's motto, and a fair summary of Kerri's whole CV
Sources
This is a fan page, but the facts are real. Uncited claims came from people who know her best.
- Kerri Howell on LinkedIn — OT at Catherine Alberti Occupational Therapy and Chris Hani Baragwanath (2016 to 2019); Discovery Limited (2019 to 2022, disability claims assessor, case management, technical marketing); IDA Consulting (2021 on); YuLife Customer Success Manager (August 2023 on).
- Kerri Howell on the UTMB index — Table Mountain 35, Ultra-trail Cape Town 2023: 34.3km, 2,090m+, 6:52:18, 30th of 142 women. Her second listing (as Kerri-Lee) has the MUT Marathon by UTMB 2024: 43.9km, 2,437m+, 7:38:26.
- Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital — the Soweto giant, one of the largest hospitals in the world.
- The Org: YuLife — Kerri Howell, Customer Success Manager since August 2023.
- Insurtech Insights — YuLife's 2023 launch into South Africa, the market she joined to serve.
- brenden.rouxtaccess.com — the friend who was on the same MUT weekend, for 20 hours longer.