Denise was born in Zimbabwe and lived there until 1989.

When she left school in 1974 she joined the then Rhodesia Railways as a clerk in the Permanent Way section of the Civil Engineering Department. The first years of her career were extremely interesting – she was even called upon to go for shooting lessons in case the need ever arose to ‘ride shotgun’ for her colleagues during the war years leading up to the new governmental elections in 1980.

During her years with the Railways, Denise worked her way up the ranks to the position of Administrative Assistant to the Chief Civil Engineer, responsible mainly for stock control and tenders and contracts in the Permanent Way section.

Denise moved to Durban in 1989. She began her career in insurance in the accounts department of Price Forbes and transferred to the marine department in April 1990 as a back-up in the Technical section. She was promoted to manager of the technical unit in 1999 and was responsible for the drafting of policy documents.

Denise officially joined Eikos Risk Applications on 1 December 2001 and is employed in the Claims Department.