Amanda Cromhout is a tenured loyalty professional based in Cape Town, South Africa. She is an accomplished entrepreneur, having founded and operated her advisory agency Truth Loyalty for many years, and organized and hosted the South African Loyalty Awards, a fixture on the marketing calendar in South Africa. The 2023 edition of the awards event was the fifth in its history.
Earlier this year, Amanda published her first book, Blind Loyalty. The book was inspired by a personal journey for Amanda, a very difficult and testing time in 2022 when she was afflicted by fusarium keratitis. The condition persisted over three months, during which Amanda endured intense pain and was left temporarily blind in her right eye. To treat the condition, she received two emergency corneal transplants while under the treatment and care of Dr Michael Attenborough.
During this intense and painful experience, she realized this was something she would never want others who cannot afford healthcare to have to endure, especially without financial support. She wrote the book Blind Loyalty as a service to the loyalty marketing industry and created the Blind Loyalty Trust, whose sole purpose is to offer hope and clarity through essential ophthalmology procedures to under-privileged patients requiring corneal transplant surgery.
There has been lots of buzz on LinkedIn about Amanda’s journey, her book, and the contributions she is making to help others with ophthalmologic issues who don’t have the resources to obtain necessary treatments. The Blind Loyalty Challenge has been circulating as well and I was able to chat quickly with Amanda to hear her story and get the details about the “challenge”.
When you listen to this interview, you will likely be stunned, as I was, to hear the story of someone who turned tremendous physical hardship – and potential life changing circumstances – into a source of good for underserved people in her native country. Amanda’s story is incredible, and I have the greatest respect for what she has done.
