Stephanie M E Sandler

Olympian.

First South

African rhythmic gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games, in Athens 2004. Longest serving member of the South African Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team, from 2000 to 2011. Finance and operations professional with experience in assistant financial management, financial operations, internal controls, group structuring support, assurance, internal audit, stakeholder coordination, and executive support reporting.

Strong background in day-to-day business support, reconciliations, month-end processes, process setup, KPI analysis, and cross-functional execution within growing organisations. Combines analytical discipline with strong emotional intelligence, professionalism, and people-centered communication.

Accountant / Assistant Financial Manager to Financial Director at Action Distribution (Pty) Ltd / Thor Holdings group (2024-01 – Present)

• Supported group company formation and structuring during a key growth period.
• Contributed to setting up systems, financial processes, and internal controls across the group.
• Supported systems design and implementation to strengthen effective internal controls and improve operational flow.
• Worked across financial and operational functions in a highly hands-on role.
• Supported month-end activities, transactional processing, and reconciliations including bank and intercompany loans.
• Liaised with customers, potential clients, directors, executives, and internal stakeholders.
• Prepared analytics and research in the form of reports or presentations for, to, and on behalf of the executive team.
• Supported KPI analysis and related reporting to assist management decision-making.
• Researched and applied appropriate software and systems integration opportunities to improve flow-through and efficiencies across departments and divisions.
• Contributed to the research, use, and implementation of tools designed to enhance business performance.
• Provided staff training to a small team when new software tools or features were implemented in the group.
• Handled sensitive information with professionalism, integrity, and confidentiality.
• Worked with high-net-worth individuals, both local and foreign, in a professional and service-oriented capacity.

SAICA Trainee at Moore Inc. Stellenbosch (2018-01 – 2020-09)

• Completed 22 months of SAICA articles.
• Worked on assurance and non-assurance engagements for SMEs.
• Participated in internal audit work for a listed multinational entity.
• Served as senior on transfer pricing compliance audit work in 2018.

Rhythmic Gymnastics Coach, Choreographer, Judge, Training Camp Facilitator / Coordinator at Independent (2009-01 – Present)

• More than 15 years of coaching, mentoring, choreography, judging, and training camp coordination experience.
• Specialised in high-performance coaching and athlete development.
• Key focus in 2024 - 2025 was on highly talented and capable youth who had become disillusioned by National Championship competition results in 2023 and 2024 and wanted to end their participation in the sport.
• Took on the role of restructuring training plans and monitoring athlete progression and recovery during the season, despite limited scientific support structures available in smaller sports in South Africa.
• Progressively loaded athletes with pressure points during training and competition seasons to help them develop emotional resilience, adaptability, self-confidence, and the ability to manage unexpected circumstances in and out of competition environments.
• Athlete performance objectives were achieved at the 2025 South African National Championships. Specific example: an athlete under my training and mentorship won her age group category by a significant margin. The athlete was also able to perform without my being physically present at competitions. Key objectives in my approach were to develop athletes who could regulate themselves, perform independently, recover quickly from mistakes, and execute effectively across varied environments with an embedded sense of self-structure, self-assuredness, and self-confidence.
• Mentor and performance coach to several athletes in multiple capacities, including high-performance athletes preparing to qualify for the National Team in the near future.
• Involved with facilitating non-profit initiatives and small projects, including fundraising, within the local gymnastics community.
• Very comfortable working with individuals and teams from different cultural and professional backgrounds, supported by broad exposure to countries and cultures worldwide.

Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Taxation – University of Cape Town (2017 – 2017)

PGDA – Milpark Education CAconnect (2019 – 2021)

Bachelor of Commerce – University of Stellenbosch (2010 – 2014)