Lana de Klerk, a South African entrepreneur turning her passion for marketing into a specialist corporate gifting business

September 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Lana de Klerk, founder of Prestige Marketing (South Africa) — **Lana de Klerk**, founder of Prestige Marketing (South Africa)

Most entrepreneurs know from experience that the journey to building a business can be tough, with many hurdles to overcome along the way - determination and self-belief are key. In the case of Lana de Klerk and her business, Prestige Marketing, she knows only too well how important these two traits are. She has displayed both over the years to get to where she is today, building a successful business and brand and with great ambitions for the future.

Tariro Makina, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur providing virtual assistant solutions to clients across the world

September 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Tariro Makina, founder of Twenty47 Virtual Assistant (Zimbabwe) — **Tariro Makina,** founder of Twenty47 Virtual Assistant (Zimbabwe)

For many small to medium sized businesses, getting ahead can be challenging when you don’t have the resources in-house at your disposal. Recognising this challenge, Zimbabwean entrepreneur Tariro Makina, was keen to find a solution, and her business today, Twenty47 Virtual Assistant, is helping clients to streamline their business processes by providing a range of virtual business solutions.

Julie Cassidy, a South African entrepreneur with a passion for creating high quality HR and accounting solutions for small businesses

September 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Julie Cassidy, co-founder of ProFlex People (South Africa) — **Julie Cassidy**, co-founder of ProFlex People (South Africa)

They say that a business is only as good as its people, and for South African entrepreneur Julie Cassidy and her company ProFlex People, those words were the inspiration needed to create an innovative and highly flexible resourcing solution tailor-made for small businesses.

Mumbi Muturi-Muli, a Kenyan entrepreneur harvesting Africa’s natural ingredients to create a new hair and body product range

September 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Mumbi Muturi-Muli, founder of Harvest of Sunshine (Kenya) — **Mumbi Muturi-Muli**, founder of Harvest of Sunshine (Kenya)

The world is becoming much more attuned to the health and wellbeing benefits of natural ingredients that are harnessed from the local environment and transformed into world-class products. With her proudly African brand, Harvest of Sunshine, Kenyan entrepreneur Mumbi Muturi-Muli is embracing the best of the continent’s raw materials and creating a company that puts local and natural at the heart of its ethos.

Fatuma Abdullah, a Kenyan born entrepreneur and passionate advocate of entrenching a positive image of the African child amongst children

September 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Fatuma Abdullah, founder of Akiki Dolls (South Africa) — **Fatuma Abdullah**, founder of Akiki Dolls (South Africa)

Many companies are inspired by a dream or a vision to make a difference in some way. For company founder, Fatuma Abdullah, the visionary behind Akiki Distributors, aka Akiki Dolls, that dream came in the form of storytelling and creating dolls that embodied her vision of a new normal in Africa.

ENTREPRENEUR SMARTS: Don't Be the Squirrel!

September 10, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Many startups become isolated and insular, focusing on their product to the exclusion of all else - like the squirrel in Ice Age, who is so preoccupied with his nut that he never really interacts with any of the other animals. This is not good, or healthy. These startups are cut off from the support, camaraderie, flow of ideas, and connections that can prove so vital to a product’s success, and from a vital source of ideas for new offerings.

Quote of the Day by Njeri Rionge

September 9, 2016 Melanie Hawken

"Africa is the next economic frontier. There is a huge opportunity ahead for family business and for existing businesses that have been around a long time. Let’s create a work culture; let’s have integrity in our processes; let’s be passionate about doing it right the first time; and Africa will enjoy the fruits of our labour."

- Njeri Rionge is one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs and one of the very few women pioneers in the ICT sector on the African continent. She has co-founded internet service provider Wananchi Online, Ignite Consulting, Insite Limited, Business Lounge, and Njeri Rionge Business Consulting Inc. These days Njeri describes herself as a global citizen cross-pollinating her business interests in Africa, North America and Europe. She 'telecommutes' and regularly travels between her offices in Nairobi and Toronto.

Quote of the Day by Angela Dick

September 8, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Angela Dick, founder and ceo of Transman, South Africa — **Angela Dick**, founder and ceo of Transman, South Africa

"...don’t let anyone tell you that you are not good enough because you are."

- Angela Dick is founder and CEO of Transman, the largest privately owned, temporary employment service provider in South Africa. Since the company’s inception in 1983, Angela and her team have been responsible for finding employment for and recruiting and placing between 7,000 to 10,000 temporary and contract staff daily into the workplace, with a focus on previously disadvantaged individuals. She has driven her company’s revenue from R85 000 in 1983 to R640 million today. Angela was the inaugural winner of the South Africa Business Woman of the Year Award - Entrepreneurial category in 2006.

Entrepreneur Advice from Mimi Shodeinde: Be a master of your craft

September 8, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Mimi Shodeinde, founder of Miminat Designs (UK) — **Mimi Shodeinde**, founder of Miminat Designs (UK)

Be a master of your craft....

"The art world is fast moving and competitive, so I’ve learnt that the only way to succeed is always be at the top of my game. I want to always create fresh and innovative content that strikes a chord with my buyers. Design is an expression of many contradictions; it is simple, yet complex, it considers form and function whilst possessing timeless quality that continually pushes design boundaries. So my only advice will be stay on TOP of your game, be a master of your craft."

- Mimi Shodeinde is the founder of Miminat Designs in the UK, a company that specialises in furniture and product design for commercial and residential projects both in the UK and internationally. Mimi's philosophy is simple: to constantly innovate and explore and push the boundaries of the furniture and design world. Mimi's work exploits a combination of quality materials and textures to develop avant-garde pieces using methods of construction enriched with history.

Entrepreneur Advice from Alison Barnard: Take baby steps to grow

September 7, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Alison Barnard, founder of African Kaleidoscope Events (South Africa) — **Alison Barnard**, founder of African Kaleidoscope Events (South Africa)

Take baby steps to grow....

"If your gut is telling you to startup in business, you should listen to it and go for it - take baby steps and grow slowly so that you can feel the success, and build up the finances and confidence in yourself and in your customers."

- Alison Barnard is the founder of African Kaleidoscope Events in South Africa, a specialist event management company. Alison has been providing event management services for the past 13 years to Government, Corporate and Private Individuals. She was a finalist in the SMME Category of the Top Women Awards in 2010.

Entrepreneur Advice from Heather Cresswel: Have a vision that you can hold onto

September 6, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Heather Cresswell (L) & Savannah Sefor (R), founders of Firebrand (South Africa) — **Heather Cresswell (L) & Savannah Sefor (R),** founders of Firebrand (South Africa)

Have a vision that you can hold onto....

"Find a friend who loves and supports you on your worst days and who believes in you when you doubt. Surround yourself with good people. Most importantly, I think it’s essential to have a vision that you can hold onto and focus on during those challenging days."

- Heather Cresswell is the co-founder of Firebrand in South Africa, a consulting company that creates strategic, bespoke organisational transformation programmes for its corporate clients. Heather is a qualified Facilitator and Coach in the Thinking Environment, and has spent the past 20 years working in the field of personal, team and leadership development. As a successful entrepreneur she knows the challenges faced by leaders and teams in business during these uncertain times. She’s passionate about what it takes to create workable relationships and believes your relationship to yourself, others and life largely determines your level of joy, fulfillment and happiness.

Entrepreneur Advice from Adenah Bayoh: You have to put the work in

September 5, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Adenah Bayoh, serial entrepreneur (United States)

You have to put the work in....

“There is no substitute for hard work. You have to put the work in if you want to be successful. My grandmother would always say: ‘You have to wake up before everyone else gets up and do more than everyone else.’ I watched my grandmother navigate her way through almost any challenge because of her willingness to put in the work.”

- Adenah Bayoh is a very successful real estate entrepreneur in the United States. She embodies the American dream. At age 13, she escaped the civil war in her native country of Liberia, immigrated to the United States and is now one of the most successful entrepreneurs in her home state of New Jersey. Adenah is the founder and CEO of Adenah Bayoh and Companies, which is the parent corporation that owns IHOP franchises in Paterson and Irvington, New Jersey and a real estate development portfolio with over $225 million in urban redevelopment projects. Because of the success of her flagship IHOP in Irvington, she is the second largest employer in the area. Next year, Adenah will launch Cornbread, her signature line of fast casual, farm-to-table, soul food restaurants.

Quote of the Day by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu

September 5, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder of soleRebels and Republic of Leather — Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder of soleRebels and Republic of Leather

“I wanted to show that it is possible to be a local person, in Ethiopia and in Africa, and to be globally successful.... It is possible to deploy local resources while creating a market-leading global brand, and to do it all from scratch.”

- Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is founder and Managing Director of soleRebels, the world's fastest-growing African footwear brand and the only Fair Trade-certified footwear company in the world. Growing up in a poor suburb of Addis Ababa, Bethlehem decided that there was only one way to defeat poverty – use local craftsmanship to make products that can compete in the global marketplace. She decided on footwear and today 70,000 pairs of shoes leave her factory every year. soleRebels has been expanding rapidly and has 18 stores around the world, including in Silicon Valley (USA), Japan, Singapore, Austria, Greece, Spain and Switzerland, along with an aggressive e-commerce marketing strategy. It expects to open another 50 to 60 stores in next 18 to 36 months. In 2015, Bethlehem launched an new venture, Republic of Leather, offering bespoke, hand crafted leather wear and accessories.

Mentoring could provide the turbocharge your business needs

September 4, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Mentors are invaluable to entrepreneurs - why? Because so often as entrepreneurs we need to get counsel on a specific business challenge or bounce an idea off someone who has a wealth of experience and the capability to take a birds-eye view of our business - and then be really honest with the feedback. It's what helps entrepreneurs to grow and thrive.

In Focus: Meet Africa's leading women-led artisan enterprises

September 4, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Almost exactly one year ago, the #ChooseArtisan campaign was launched by the prestigious Aspen Institute and the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise in the US. The aim was to get the world to recognise the real importance and value of artisan enterprise in contributing to global economic development, poverty alleviation and women's economic empowerment. The campaign certainly got people talking, and rightly so, about the incredible work being done by forward-thinking women artisan entrepreneurs, particularly in places such as Africa, where traditional crafts are being elevated today to a whole new status.

Mimi Shodeinde, a Nigerian entrepreneur pushing the boundaries of the furniture and design world globally

September 4, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Many global consumers have a traditional concept of African design, but creative entrepreneur, Mimi Shodeinde, founder of Miminat Designs, is looking to change all that with her contemporary design outlook. She is demonstrating that African design is not only exciting in a minimal context, particularly when it comes to furniture design, but can also celebrate the best of tradition and technological innovation.

Essential Read: The Great Escape - The Successful Woman's Guide to Escaping the 9 to 5 by Amy Mewborn

September 4, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Amy Mewborn, author and serial entrepreneur — **Amy Mewborn**, author and serial entrepreneur

This new book by author Amy Mewborn is written for the woman who either wants to start a business or is new to business and wants to be successful! She gives great advice on building the essential foundations of a new business including how to hire the best staff, how to build the best team of professionals, how to read a Profit and Loss Statement, and importantly, how to create balance between your business and your life.

Alison Barnard, a South African entrepreneur bringing creativity and flair to the world of eventing

September 3, 2016 Melanie Hawken

For many companies and organisations, planning events can be a challenge and often a headache. But for event planner Alison Barnard and her company African Kaleidoscope Events, she embraces that challenge with enthusiasm, a great eye for detail, and an established track record of high quality event delivery. She is on a mission to bring events to life for her growing list of clients.

Heather Cresswell and Savannah Sefor, two entrepreneurs on a mission to ignite the hearts and minds of employees

September 3, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Heather Cresswell & Savannah Sefor, founders of Firebrand (South Africa) — **Heather Cresswell & Savannah Sefor,** founders of Firebrand (South Africa)

Firebrand is a South African business that lives up to its name when it comes to employee engagement, literally firing up their minds and imaginations and getting them to work differently. The company is the brainchild of business partners Heather Cresswell and Savannah Sefor who have been co-facilitating personal development programmes for years, but who are now taking their work to the next level through their company Firebrand.