Startup Story

Ashalia Maharajh is the founder of Sivuka Youth in South Africa, a business founded in 2018 and employing 7 people. She harnesses her energetic nature, love for learning and motivation, her solid experience and knowledge to enable and motivate young minds and nurture an individual’s drive for deeper purpose and motivation. With South Africa’s high strategic focus on Equity for Youth and Black Empowerment, Ashalia is driven to provide companies with the in-depth training needed for their young talent at this critical stage of their careers. She leads with a powerful blend of logic and intuition and has designed programmes that make a positive impact. Her talks and training sessions are inspirational and moving. Her positive, enthusiastic nature and innate ability to discover the strengths within others, helps her unleash potential and purpose within others.

Ashalia holds a Bachelor of Social Science and Honours Degrees in Psychology. She is a certified ICF/Beautiful You Academy Life Coach and also a SACDA Professional and Insights Accredited Practitioner. As an L&D professional, she has just over 17 years of experience within HR and Executive Education and is extremely passionate about a purpose driven life, neuroscience and mindful living. Clients include Hollard, GIBS, SAIPA, SACAP, GroupM, TBWA and Discovery. Beyond her career, she is a wife to a wonderful husband and mom to 3 young girls in Centurion.

LoA spoke to Ashalia Maharajh to learn more about her purpose-driven business and her ambitions for the future.

What does your company do?

We are an Accredited Training Provider that specializes in mastery of Self for greater career sustainability for Youth and Leaders in Africa and Globally! Our work is to support the Recruitment, Training and Coaching Youth (aged 18 - 35) to better acclimatize to the working world. This assists the young person in truly learning the ropes of their new role and world, with the correct support. Our work is to identify the skills and developmental gaps in organisations to enrich the support systems of youth too. Developing Mentors, Coaches, Managers, and HR Teams forms part of our holistic approach in enhancing the Youth Experience in the workplace.

“My personal journey has always brought me back to Self-Awareness and Healing in order to have a fully balanced life. I was always drawn to finding fulfilment in my jobs and serving my purpose in the world.”

What inspired you to start your company?

My personal journey has always brought me back to Self-Awareness and Healing in order to have a fully balanced life. I was always drawn to finding fulfilment in my jobs and serving my purpose in the world. I had many questions but not as many answers for many years. When I began working after studying Psychology at University, I worked with Matriculants in Schools as a Student Advisor and found a deep sense of fulfilment in supporting young people find their way. This love has always remained in me and as I grew in my own career I noticed a lack of Emotional support in the early years of one's career, when we are still finding our way in environments that are not always supportive for a young person. And at this stage of life, a young person is navigating an abundance of stress (Financial, Mental, Emotional and Social) - the need brought me to begin Teaching, Mentoring and Volunteering to support young women of colour in the later years of my career...which led to more projects that would eventually call me to resign and begin this beautiful body of work that is now Sivuka Youth! It was truly a journey that called me to follow my inner voice at all points of my career.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

We sprinkle what we like to call the "Sivuka Magic '' in everything we do.

“We truly walk the talk in our team by leading with empathy and working together for the greater good of the impact we bring.”

Tell us a little about your team

Our team is made of mainly women of colour that are deeply passionate about growing and supporting our Youth. They themselves are young and this brings to life the concept of our work. We support each other through the same mechanisms we use to teach (Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, Coaching and Mentoring). . We also have more experienced specialists that bring in the richness of wisdom and knowledge to our Learning Interventions. We truly walk the talk in our team by leading with empathy and working together for the greater good of the impact we bring.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I was always entrepreneurial...when I was little I would always find a gap that needed to be served. When I was as young as 5 years old, I would sell flowers outside my home to make a small profit, that would later be saved to purchase the latest trending stickers at school to sell to my friends. I quickly realised that if you could bring a service/product to people that they appreciated from a quality and proximity perspective - you could charge for this and earn a profit. Learning to see these opportunities came naturally to me, but also the eagerness to try no matter the outcome served me well! I learned a great deal about relationships from my father, he was a single income earner in our home and was in Sales. He showed me the value of treating your clients with care, compassion and understanding - besides helping you stay close to the market changes and needs, this helps you provide top-tier service to your clients always. I learned that the client is the focus, not your sales targets, not your goals - but your clients...when you truly serve a client's needs you are ultimately ensuring a value-driven relationship that is rooted in humanity and service as opposed to transaction. In my career and many others, I have seen the great value of this!

“When you truly serve a client's needs you are ultimately ensuring a value-driven relationship that is rooted in humanity and service as opposed to transaction. In my career and many others, I have seen the great value of this!”

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

We hope to continue our growth through research, resourcing, capacity, and market exposure consistently as we have done over the past 5 years. We aim to increase our reach and grow our impact across Africa and Globally.

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

This work is a body of work that has been built on passion and purposeful aligned action. I LOVE the beauty of an idea brought to life that serves others in a positive way and also brings financial abundance! When we can create much needed Social Interventions that uplifts all involved - I feel deeply content. This gives me great joy when we are able to empower those for their own financial well-being whether it be through training Coaches and Trainers to create an additional revenue stream or the delegates we teach that will ultimately have financial stability through the tools we help them uncover! I will continue to allow the business to grow and thrive in a way that serves the purpose of upliftment, healing and growth of Youth.

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

Do what you can with what you have. Too often I see women doubting their capability due to the perceived restrictions around them e.g. lack of financing, support, resources, etc. If you find the service/product that is needed in the market and you can provide it - give it a try. Find the gap, do the research, use the tools that are freely available online and with your current network...and just try. Perfection is not needed as an entrepreneur, just the willingness to try and start small, where you are with what you have! You never know where it will lead :)

Contact or follow Sivuka Youth

Why LoA loves it…

To speak to Ashalia Maharajh is to experience empathy and passion in equal quantities. She is very client centric, and truly passionate in her belief that with the right training, support and networks, it is possible for a young person to steer their own path to success - whatever success looks like for them. Her work at Sivuka Youth is making a real impact and changing lives, and the world needs more like her. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa