Explosive energy, infectious enthusiasm and a whole lot to say, Sade Giliberti is an award winning TV presenter hailing from South Africa, who moved to London almost nine years ago to pursue her dream of international stardom. She’s worked with Kru Live since 2015, so we sat down with her to talk about some of her stand out moments and how the Kru community has supported the pursuit of her dreams.
Can you share your journey and experience as a presenter/performer, and how you came to be a part of Kru Live’s team?
Yes, of course. It’s quite a story! I started out in entertainment at three years old as a model. It catapulted me into the industry and I got my first presenting job at just seven years old. I can’t tell you how I got the job, I just remember doing it! From there, I ended up on the biggest youth show in South Africa at the time. It was BIG. I worked on the show for 10 years, so I grew up on screen in front of South Africa. Over that decade, we covered it all. We did so many different genres - magazine, interactive, live shows - I did my first live show at 16 years old, and I loved it! I knew it was the career for me.
Following that, I worked on South Africa’s ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, and MTV, I competed in South Africa’s Celebrity Masterchef, and hosted various corporate events. Then, I woke up one day and decided, I’m leaving! I’d given 23 years of my life to South African TV and I wanted to see where my career could take me elsewhere. It’s a big old world out there and I just thought, ’What has the rest of the world got to offer?’
I came to the UK thinking I’d sail into some work, but wow, it was hard. Despite all my experience, it was tough to crack the TV industry over here. I started working as an extra to survive, and at the end of 2015, a friend of mine who had been working for Kru Live recommended I join too. I did one field job before an opportunity to work in HQ came up, and I jumped at it. I went to the office and met SJ and the rest of the team, and I LOVED the vibe of the people there.
Can you describe how Kru Live has provided you with a supportive and flexible approach to work?
For three months, I worked in the Kru Live office, but quickly realised I needed flexibility to be able to head to auditions and pursue opportunities in acting and presenting. The nature of working in TV is that things pop up last minute, and I needed to be available. I said to the team, I will always be your field person, but I can’t work in the office anymore. Kru were really good about it - as they always are - and kept me on as a Brand Ambassador. I then moved up to Event Manager, which I still do in between gigs, auditions and working in TV production. Kru Live even go one step further and proactively put me forward for presenting gigs to fall in line with my skills and passion.
What has been your most memorable activation / event and why?
This is a tough one! I’ve done a lot of Google stuff - all of the Google campaigns have been my absolute favourites!
We staffed the Google Pixel prelaunch in the old record store in Piccadilly and there were all these amazing activations - it was SO immersive. It was so much fun that I actually ended up buying the phone. I consider that as being the ultimate brand ambassador!
More importantly though, I think one of the most memorable gigs I’ve done with Kru Live was over lockdown. It wasn’t a glossy, exciting campaign, but an event for the Government to share new haulage rules post Brexit. Important sure, but not particularly exciting! I just remember being so grateful for the job, and feeling that Kru Live really had my back by giving me an opportunity to earn money at such a terrible time.
Kru just shows up for you when you least expect it - and I will forever be grateful for that.
How does it feel to be part of this community?
The Kru Live community is like no other. I have met SO many amazing people through Kru Live. I’ve met actors, presenters, dancers and creatives with such inspirational stories and incredible talent. The energy and enthusiasm in the Kru Live team is something else, and collectively when we come together for campaigns, it is so fulfilling. From the Head Office to our team of Kru Champs, we all have a lot of respect for one another, the work we do for Kru and our roles outside. With the nature of what we all do, there will be times where we don’t work for Kru for quite some time, but we are always welcomed back when we’re available again. You know when you haven’t seen a friend for a while, and you see each other and just pick up? That’s the relationship I have with Kru, and I love it.
What’s a dream you have that you’ve yet to achieve?
I want to get back into presenting for international shows and stations! I feel really proud and fortunate to have achieved so much in South Africa, and I want to do the same for an international audience. I am deeply passionate about presenting. It’s one thing I know I can do with my eyes closed and I have not given up on that dream - somehow, some way, I am going to make it in that again. I would LOVE to have my own show, about everything I am passionate about. Food, culture, travel. I am not reinventing the wheel, these things have been done, just not by me.
Follow Sade on social here:
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