About Liana
25+ years of building success stories. One decision at a time.
The thread
Most decisions fail before they start.
Not because the data wasn't there. Because no one could explain what it meant. I have been in that room — watching a decision unravel not from lack of information, but from the inability to turn it into something anyone could act on.
That moment redirected me. I went back to the source — asking harder questions, digging deeper into the evidence before drawing conclusions. I built frameworks that made complexity navigable. I challenged those frameworks against real clients, real markets, real regulatory environments — until they held. And then I put them to work.
That arc — from raw data to reasoned decision — is the thread running through everything I do.
The journey
GMT — Co-founder & Director
Before data strategy, there was the laboratory. As co-founder of GMT, I built and managed a technology business from the ground up — leading research, development, and production of micro devices. This is where scientific rigour met business discipline.
Marcus Consultant — Consultant
From engineering to strategy. At Marcus Consultant I applied research methodology to complex business decisions — conducting due diligence, feasibility studies, and contributing to the listing of a company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Liberty — Financial Planner
Every independent practice needs a foundation. Mine was built at Liberty — one of South Africa's most established financial services institutions — where technical discipline met the human reality of financial planning.
Ahrens Teixeira & Associates — Founder & Director
The first firm. Financial planning and consulting, including work for Nedbank. The lessons learned here directly shaped what LPJ became.
LPJ Group — Founder
Three entities. One philosophy. Data → Strategy → Growth.
Credentials
- CFP® — Certified Financial Planner
- MSc, Solid State Physics — University of the Free State
- Higher Diploma in Education (Postgraduate)
- Member, Financial Planning Institute of South Africa (since 2001)
- Member, International Institute of Business Analysis
- Board Member, IIBA South Africa
- Lead Data Analyst, Centra Sul DAO
Today I operate at the intersection of
I write weekly on AI, Blockchain, Governance, Financial Planning, Foreign Exchange, Leadership, and Business Analysis.