Monika Amunyela

Glendyrr Bailey, a behind-the-scenes television legend, built her career from humble beginnings through courage, discipline and self-reflection. 

To explore her journey further, New Era’s Industry Loop podcast team invited her to the studio.

Bailey never imagined that she would take up a career in television.

After failing matric and lacking money for further studies, she found herself in the same space as Sebastian Kamungu, then executive producer at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). 

Seizing the opportunity, she boldly asked him for a job as a production assistant – despite having no experience.

Determined to prove herself after being called “incompetent”, she taught herself production skills, hard work and perfectionism. 

Often working weekends and even late nights, this became the foundation of Bailey’s strong work ethic.

Her career expanded beyond Namibia. 

She lived in Switzerland and then England, where she did some work for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

She later returned to work at NBC before moving to Johannesburg. 

On a spontaneous Monday, with no concrete plan, Bailey got on a truck with a friend and found herself in Johannesburg three days later. 

 She landed a production role within two days.

 In South Africa, she worked for major companies like RP Productions, Curious Pictures and Urban Brew, managing large-scale shows and earning a valuable wage before returning to NBC again.

The fast-paced industry taught Bailey that time management is key to maintaining budget discipline and to delivering pristine work.

She understood that her strict standards were seen as rudeness – but to her, it was never personal.  It was more about the final product.

Over time, she recognised that most of her rigour was fuelled by unaddressed insecurities. 

“I also treated people badly – and sometimes, I still do that. I’m like, I shouldn’t have done that, but now I acknowledge it and say sorry. There was an insecure little girl who didn’t believe in herself and didn’t know her worth,” said Bailey.

She once found herself suspended over a conflict of interest and misuse of company equipment, accused of hijacking tenders and deals meant for the broadcaster she worked for at the time.

 The 18-month suspension became a turning point for her. 

She was forced to sit down and confront her past. 

“There’s no time to talk to this little girl who met her dad when she was 16 years old for the first time. There was no time to talk about the fact that this little girl tried to kill herself and her stepfather – you forget about it. You go on with life. Then what life does is it throws these things back at you,” she narrated.

Through introspection, she dismantled the defensive persona she had built over the years. 

“My anger came through in the way I spoke to people. I realised that I’m taking it out on the wrong people. I learned that anger, while it got results, often harmed relationships. Opening up ‘the boxes’ of past pain brought me freedom and reshaped my working style,” Bailey added. 

“I had to be humiliated in public by men for God to humble me and get me back onto my knees to understand that he is the beginning and the end,” she said.

She believes in passing on skills and knowledge to aspiring storytellers freely, the same way they were given to her. 

Bailey said that Namibia’s creative sector still has a long way to go in building a thriving production environment. 

While she acknowledges the younger generation’s hunger to tell stories, she believes that many young professionals have gone soft and avoid tough lessons or strict criticism from mentors.

Today, Bailey continues to work in the creative industry as an acting commissioning editor and content acquisition manager at NBC.

He has the same passion and beliefs she began with, but now with deeper compassion for those around her. 

Her message is clear: remain teachable and humble, separate emotion from execution, and humility and honesty unlock growth, but pride and callousness hold you back.

“We were all put on this earth for a purpose. If you live within your purpose, you will eventually have a story that would make a difference because now your life has meaning,” Bailey remarked.

-monikaamunyela2@gmail.com