{"product_id":"forged-in-grit-an-entrepreneur-s-rise-fall-and-reckoning","title":"Forged in Grit: An Entrepreneur’s Rise, Fall and Reckoning","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the sawdust floors of Krugersdorp to the boardrooms of Johannesburg, Forged in Grit is the extraordinary true story of Barry Philip Lok, founder of William Tell — a company that rose from a small joinery in the 1970s to a publicly listed manufacturing empire. Told with unflinching honesty and remarkable detail, this memoir traces three decades of vision, innovation, and hard-won success — and the devastating collapse that followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is a story of triumph and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, and one man’s relentless pursuit of independence against the forces of big business and corporate power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLok takes readers deep into the heart of South African manufacturing, revealing the high-stakes world of chipboard plants, industrial innovation, and the brutal realities of business survival during the global financial crisis. Yet at its core, Forged in Grit is not about defeat — it is about endurance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter losing everything, Lok found himself again — not in the boardroom, but among the hills of Izinduli and the quiet freedom of the bushveld. His story is one of resilience, reflection, and redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The empire was gone, but the man who built it was still alive — and that, I would learn, was enough to begin again.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reach Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45471806062768,"sku":"9781997493679","price":395.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/ForgedinGrit.png?v=1784636492","url":"https:\/\/www.mzansibooks.co.za\/products\/forged-in-grit-an-entrepreneur-s-rise-fall-and-reckoning","provider":"Mzansi Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}