Koni Maliehe, a South African wine entrepreneur building her own private label

September 19, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Koni Maliehe, founder, Koni Wines (South Africa)

Startup Story

Koni Maliehe is the founding wine entrepreneur leading the Koni Wines brand in Cape Town, South Africa. The company was established in 2015 when Koni left her corporate job to become a business owner. It is now 5 years later, the Koni Wine brand is slowly gaining momentum and attracting a solid client base and exposure. Koni Wine will feature on a DSTV TV advert as one of the chosen SMEs by sponsor, Hollard Insurance. It is a 6 months campaign to boost selected SMEs in South Africa due to impact of COVID-19.

Fatim Marina Keita, an entrepreneur and accessory designer from Cote d’Ivoire combining modern and traditional design

September 19, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Aya Keita, founder and CEO, Aya K Design (Cote d’Ivoire)

Startup Story

Aya Keita is the founder and CEO of Aya K Design in Cote d’Ivoire. An entrepreneur and seasoned designer, her activity is focused on the creation of high quality traditional-modern accessory for the international and pan-African market. She founded the company almost 4 years ago and now employs 10 people.

Nabou Fall, an inspirational communications leader with a passion for coaching

September 19, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Vizeo, an advertising agency in Cote d’Ivoire helping companies get strategic about communications in Africa.

Nabou Fall is the CEO of Vizeo an advertising agency in Cote d’Ivoire which helps companies implement strategic publicity and public relations in Africa. She started her career as an executive board member for 15 years, as Sales and Marketing Director, Deputy Managing Director and Managing Director in Telecom companies such as MTN (Ivory Coast and Congo Republic), 2XTCOM Vodacom in DRC. She is a public speaker, personal development coach, and a coach of youth and women entrepreneurship, leadership and happiness. Nabou is a TEDx speaker, author and mentor in various empowerment NGOs, the President of Wimnet (NGO involved in women and youth empowerment ), and was recently appointed to be the president of the Women Investment Club in Ivory Coast. She is also the cofounder of Impact Hub Abidjan.

Lioness Launch / Hope Distillery in South Africa launches its new Hope Rhum Agricole, its own unique take on a rum

September 19, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Launch

Hope Distillery is a small South African distillery in the heart of urban Cape Town. Established by Lucy Beard and her husband, Leigh Lisk, seven years ago as a small-batch gin distillery, Hope Distillery has grown into one of the leaders of the artisanal liquor scene, having grown from distilling its own boutique gin to launching various other spirits and distilling for a multitude of other craft brands. It has just launched its new Hope Rhum Agricole – their take on a rum.

Marta Vânia Uetela, founder of BioMec Mozambique, recognized with the Commonwealth Point of Light 193 award

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Awards and Accolades

Marta Vânia Uetela is the founder of BioMec in Mozambique, an organisation that produces high performance prostheses made of recycled plastic from the ocean. Her inspirational work has garnered her global attention, and she has just been recognized with the Commonwealth Point of Light 193 Award, presented to her on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Fearless Entrepreneurs by Lynda Sunshine West

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Author Lynda Sunshine West, whose new book The Fearless Entrepreneurs points out that entrepreneurship can be scary, says nothing is set in stone and you either make it or you don't. There's no guarantee. She points to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. With those odds, why do people even start a business? The odds are stacked against you right from the beginning.

Labels, don’t you just love them!

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

By Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

Sadly we are not talking of the amazing FemiHandbags; Ruff ’n’ Tumble; House of Tara; Lilly Alfonso; SuzieBeauty and the many other thousands of incredible brands from Lionesses, the labels that just scream quality, trust and passion. Here we look at the labels and the generalizations that then attach themselves especially to women and attempt to drag us down.

Maximize Present Circumstances And See What is Possible Today

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Mbalenhle Ndaba

The statement that the grass is greener on the other side is a nice line, but it fails to define what is over on the other side once we get there. Those greener pastures may not be as we thought, especially when we no longer have the tools of perspective or experience, we have on the previous side. So, we end up in a new thing with old and new baggage, and a whole host of new challenges we are experiencing, most of which are exactly like the ones we left on the original side.

Self Knowledge. Embracing the new.

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Elizandra dos Santos

From a busy life to a new way of living with a lot of calm, we are invited daily to embrace the new. This new is so uncertain that it makes us stop to reflect and rethink issues that before were not considered a priority due to the excess of work and the hectic life we led. And now what to do with this excess of time if before we complained about not having it?

How to Discover Your Unique Abilities. Dare to be different!

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Thuli Zikalala

Discovering your unique abilities is one of the most liberating experiences. It never feels like hard work and exciting opportunities of making a positive impact in society keep unfolding. Through self-awareness and introspection of who I am as a person first; l am able to apply the same intrinsic truths across every area of my life – including my career.

Digital fatigue. The real culprit: Zoom

September 18, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Liz Creates

The majority of the world is sitting at home. No more cubicles. We can’t check in physically with colleagues. Now we are glued to screens in the comfort of our own homes. Our boundaries between work and home have disappeared somewhat. Enter: digital fatigue, a state of dis-ease many of us have experienced over the last year during Covid-19. Is digital fatigue the latest buzz-phrase, or is it a real illness shared by the collective currently?

Lioness Launch / South Africa’s Champions Uncovered, launches a new wellbeing personal coaching solution for women entrepreneurs

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Launch

Champions Uncovered Pty Ltd is a personal leadership development company founded by Carla Wasserfall in South Africa. The vision is to encourage and to inspire people into becoming their best selves. Be it inspirational podcasts, wellbeing coaching, the online learning academy (launching soon), wellness solutions for business to keep you moving! Champions Uncovered believe an inspired growth mindset leads to you move with intentional action, and so is launching a new wellbeing personal coaching service.

Adama Ndjol Kouyaté, an entrepreneur bringing management consulting expertise to Morocco

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Adama Ndjol Kouyaté, founder, Farafina Consulting (Morocco)

Startup Story

For those businesses and organizations looking to expand onto the African continent and in need of strategic and organisational support, Farafina Consulting, founded by Adama Ndjol Kouyaté, is there with the right advice. Her specialist consulting expertise is also helping to grow a new generation of business leaders on the African continent and globally.

Dare To Think Purple: A Survival Guide for Women in Social Entrepreneurship by Danielle Kristine Toussaint

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Dare to Think Purple: A Survival Guide for Women in Social Entrepreneurship by Danielle Kristine Toussaint, is the ultimate survival guide for women and new majority founders on a mission to make money and make a difference. It provides an honest look at what it takes to survive the first five years and beyond in social entrepreneurship.

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, a champion for girls’ education in the Democratic Republic of Congo

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Malaika, a high impact social enterprise educating and empowering girls in their communities in DRC

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is a Congolese/Cypriot philanthropist, an international model, and the Founder & CEO of Malaika. Founded in 2007, Malaika is a grassroots non-profit that educates and empowers girls and their communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a school, a community centre, and a comprehensive clean water program. A unique and fearless spokesperson and the face of leading beauty and fashion campaigns across the globe, Noëlla is a voice for the power of girls’ education worldwide. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums spanning the World Economic Forum in Davos to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and MIT. She is an Ambassador for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an Advisor at Concordia, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Segal Family Foundation.

‘Scaling Up’ takes time - but you are halfway there already!

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

Following on from our recent articles, you have tightened up your structure and processes, you have a decent team around you that understands and appreciates the direction you are taking the company. You have invested time and energy in training to motivate and keep your staff. You have ‘controlled the controllables”, and you have mitigated in part your un-controllables through partnerships or closer relationships in your supply chain. You have made it through the last two years with a mixture of grit, determination, self sacrifice and (yes) a bit of luck (to reread those articles, please visit our website here). You went online and now have an ever increasing demand for your products or services, not just from your local community, or your state, but from your wider country and even beyond (who knew that someone would find your website and click ‘Buy Now’ whilst sitting in Sweden!). You wake up one morning and realize that the time is right to ‘scale up’ and ride this wave!

Digital Marketing Tips for Professional Services

September 11, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho

Most companies that provide professional services typically do one of two things. They think that social media or any form of digital marketing offers no results and therefore do not embrace it; or attempt to, but are extremely inconsistent and in turn see less than optimal results.

How to Get Money Savvy – Tip 5: Understanding What You Value

September 11, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Kathryn Main

The first time I ever did a value exercise I was 38 years old. It was an interesting experience because I had no idea what I valued in life or in my financial life. My top value at the time was family. What was scary was I was not living up to my core value in any way, shape, or form.

How Creatives Can Turn Any Negotiations Into Collaborations

September 11, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Robyn Keet

As a big-hearted Creative, I would run from negotiations. It’s made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable. To avoid this feeling I would take what was offered to me as “fair” instead of facing the throw-down that negotiations can bring. All I want to do was to create and deliver great work. Sound familiar?

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