the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Ashika Pillay
Do you sometimes feel that, just like your computer, you have too many tabs open? A sense of frazzle - neither here nor there. Too much needing to be done - now! As the year comes to a close, a collective sigh can be felt echoing through our communities. It’s been a tough year or rather couple of years. Change has happened at a fast pace, and many of us have needed to adapt swiftly and move quickly on all fronts - home, work, communities.
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by Felicity Cowie, The Media Relations Coach
In my earlier blog for LoA, 'What Exactly is Media Relations?', I said there are at least eight mega benefits of media relations for any business to consider…
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by Laura Camacho
There are conflicting statistics about how many emails people receive at work every day. It’s at least 100 emails. While we’re not sure how many we get each day on average, what we can agree on is that we get too many. Because emails tend to reach larger audiences than texts and phone conversations, rethinking the way you respond to an email is a good investment of your brain power. It’s a way to contribute more value to your company.
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by Sharon Castle - Lifestyle and Wellness Coach
At the time of writing this blog, I had recently experienced my 64th birthday. I say experienced because it really wasn’t a celebration. My attention and focus were on making myself available for my niece and her family to enjoy her time in South Africa while celebrating her 50th birthday and the very important task of sifting through her late mother’s belongings (my sister). My sister passed 2.5 years ago and Covid prevented her daughter from attending the memorial service or visiting to complete the difficult task of deciding what to do with her belongings. Therefore, my birthday was just another day and all my energy was around holding space for my family.
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Book Review
The SOS - A Survival Guide for Women at Work is a new book currently being co-authored by four inspirational women, Chantal Korteweg, Marijn Wiersma, Tessel van Willigen, and Lidewij Wiersma. This important book discusses topics such as impostor syndrome, female leadership, role models, networking, negotiating, conflict, guilt and parenting. Each of the four authors writes from their own personal experiences, combined with research on each of the topics, and interviews with global leaders. The book provides an SOS framework with solutions and suggestions for Self, Others and the System. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched for the book and can currently be found on Publishizer - the authors are asking women around the globe to show their support by pre-ordering the book to get it published on https://publishizer.com/sos-a-survival-guide-for-women-at-work/
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Lizl Naude
Lioness Launch
Cape Town Designer and founder of Lilly Loompa, Lizl Naude (from Paarl), is known far and wide for her quirky, upcycled décor items. But more than that, she is known for her purposeful and environmentally-consciousness approach to design. In 2020, during the pandemic, she launched her “My Africa Lap Desk” made with discarded, waste material. It is currently their most popular product. In November 2022, Lizl decided to make the evolution from wood to recycled plastic for the next generation of the desk and launched it to market.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
Last weekend we gave you some homework for the holiday period - to check up on and if necessary re-find your ‘WHY’. To give it a dust down, a service, to bring it back into the centre of your business, to never forget that it is the Soul upon which your business is built.
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by Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho
As 2023 approaches, Board Members, executives and founders like you are usually busy with strategizing and planning for the new year…and one area that needs close attention is your organisation’s brand. Bella Ikeme and I recently hosted a Masterclass titled How to Build Brands for High Performance and Sustainability — which focused on strategic brand building, common brand challenges and how to get your brand ready for 2023.
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by Anja van Beek
Many South Africans are currently concerned about the energy crisis and the impact of load shedding on the economy. An even bigger concern is the global trend of exhaustion and low energy levels of the workforce. When I speak to leaders and managers, there are a few words that continue to be mentioned in conversations and they are: “fatigue / exhaustion / burnout”. This isn’t surprising.
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by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie
As we move through the month of December and begin to wrap up 2022, now is a great time to take a moment to pause and reflect on the year that was. It’s something we can easily skip over in the busyness that typically descends on us this time of year, but I encourage you to create some space for yourself to reflect on what went well, what you achieved, what you want to celebrate, and what you want to release before you begin 2023.
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by Lori Milner
You don't manage time; all you can do is manage your decisions about how you spend your time and the headspace you experience this time in. A time warrior stays focused, calm and present during challenges, chaos and overwhelm. They do not let distractions and sabotaging habits like multitasking, procrastination or overwhelm derail them from their task.
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Georgina de Kock, founder, Munch Innovation (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)
Startup Story
Georgina de Kock is the founder, product developer and a director of Munch Innovation (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. She is a seasoned entrepreneur who has won many awards and she is a devoted business leader. Georgina was a financial advisor and owned a photographic, design and screen-printing business, Georgi 'D". She made a career change to follow her passion to something she believed in which is to help disrupt plastic waste to help save our environment making a difference that matters. Today, her business also employs 7 people, creating local green jobs.
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Monica Kabui, founder and managing director, TreeAgama (Kenya)
Startup Story
Monica Kabui is the founder and managing director of TreeAgama in Kenya. She is a marketing specialist and an expert in brand building and training. Her business focuses on using marketing as a tool to empower businesses to be the best version of themselves and as a tool to solve business challenges innovatively. TreeAgama is homegrown in Kenya and has been in operation since it launched in 2013 and now has 5 employees. Monica's experience spans 12 years working in three different advertising and marketing agencies and her last stint was design department head leading experiential marketing agencies in the country. TreeAgama is passionate about building brands.
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Nara Cardoso Nunes
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Paradise Saudável, a business focused on providing healthy and flavoursome eating experiences in Angola
Nara Cardoso Nunes is the founder of Paradise Saudável, one of the first healthy food bars, located in the heart of the Angolan Capital in Luanda. Nara is a leading entrepreneur in Angola when it comes to offering fast, healthy, natural flavoursome juices, smoothies and a variety of healthy dishes to suit all consumer needs. Nara’s business is focused on using locally produced fruits and vegetables to create tasty and healthy 100% fruit juices, smoothies, detox drinks, salads, soups, burgers, dried fruits foods, all freshly produced in-house.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
And so with little or no fanfare, December ’22 arrives. Where did the year go, indeed where did the last 2 years go from early 2020 when we had to look on a map to find this new place Wuhan, to now, Covid; PPE issues; the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez; Supply Chain issues; a war; grain, sunflower oil and gas problems; to inflation and interest rates rising, all having been deep in our lives for the past 24 months. We could be forgiven for just finding a calm corner of our warehouse and falling asleep for a month in an effort to regain some energy for the battles ahead in 2023.
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Bethany Meadows
Book Review
If you are a Mompreneur, constantly juggling all aspects of your business and personal life, then Bethany Meadows’ new book, The Juggle is Real, will both resonate and inspire. She helps mompreneurs find success at home and in business, so they can achieve fulfillment and balance in both.
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by Josefa Massinga
Many have heard that "entrepreneurship is a calling." Every human being has or seeks a calling; a specific purpose to live, but it takes focus and understanding to discover that purpose. We often wonder, what is the secret of the most successful entrepreneurs? Simple. The most successful entrepreneurs simply discovered their purpose, found their entrepreneurial spirit, and remained faithful to their calling.
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by Felicity Cowie, author of Exposure
In my earlier blog for LoA, What Exactly is Media Relations, I said there are at least eight mega benefits of media relations for any business to consider:
Gain exposure with zero to low financial investment
Build credibility
Build pipeline faster
Get highly valuable shareable content
Find product-market fit
Become a thought leader and ‘category queen’
Get funding and more funding
Gain external validation
In this series of blogs, I give you more detail and tools to gain each of these benefits.
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by Jenny Reid
As we approach December in Southern Africa, we are reminded of the vast difference in how annual holidays are celebrated in the different hemispheres of the world. Here in South Africa, we are preparing for our “long” annual holiday and much celebration over Christmas.
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Nokuphila Dlamini, founder, Visibility Graphics (Eswatini)
Startup Story
Nokuphila Dlamini is the founder of Visibility Graphics in Eswatini, an e-commerce business that offers graphic design services to Small and Medium Enterprises in the country. She currently lives in Mankayane, Eswatini and holds a Bachelor's degree in Arts of Journalism and Mass Communication, majoring in Advertising and Public Relations. She also has a Certificate in Digital Marketing.
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