Lovable Dladla, a South African entrepreneur building a growing bakery and baby food business

March 10, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lovable Shiro Dladla, founder, Luvast emp (South Africa)

Startup Story

Lovable Shiro Dladla is the founder of Luvast emp in South Africa, the umbrella company for her two companies, Luvast Bakery and Luvast Baby Pureer. Luvast emp started in 2020 and has been growing ever since. Luvast bakery deals with baked goods and also teaches baking lessons and caters specifically for children’s events. Luvast baby food for now just deals with baby food puree, an organic baby food puree with no preservatives or sweeteners. The business makes its baby food in its most natural form, and is currently in the process of being approved.

Roxanne Campbell, a goldsmith and jewellery designer building a luxury goods business in South Africa

March 10, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Roxanne Campbell, founder, designer & creative director, Victoria Orpen Jewellers (South Africa)

Startup Story

Roxanne Campbell is the founder, designer, and creative director of Victoria Orpen Jewellers, a luxury goods manufacturer and sales business launched in 2015 in South Africa. As an entrepreneur in the jewellery design and manufacturing industry, she is a goldsmith by profession. Roxanne recently completed an enterprise development programme in diamond manufacture and processing. Her work experience extends beyond a jeweller and diamantaires bench, to international trade shows in Paris, Miami, and New York, to liaising with clients in Scotland, London, Denmark, New Jersey, and Chicago for new business development and sales within the luxury goods sector.

Amanda Etuk, a logistics management game-changer in Nigeria

March 10, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Messenger, a logistics platform that provides financing and aggregation for end-to-end logistics and supply chain operations in Nigeria

Amanda Etuk, co-founder of the Nigerian logistics solutions business, Messenger, is an accomplished, results-driven business management professional. She has a depth of experience in supply chain management, logistics and distribution, and sales and marketing. Amanda has a proven track record of business optimization. She has driven the competitiveness of organizations in the healthcare industry, the FMCG sector, e-commerce, and logistics, where her passion lies. In all her roles, she has delivered business and revenue growth and efficiency gains, and successfully strengthened client relationships.

Succeeding as a Solopreneur by Liz J Steblay

March 10, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Veteran solopreneur and nationally recognized mentor and advocate for self-employed professionals, Liz Steblay, knows what it takes to succeed in business. Her new book, Succeeding as a Solopreneur, is the definitive guide to launching and growing your own business as a self-employed professional. For current and aspiring solopreneurs, this book will help you master the critical steps for achieving success at every stage of your solopreneur journey, from determining if you’re ready to “go for it” to setting a marketing and pricing strategy to lowering your tax rate to keep more of what you earn.

Here's My Bulletproof Formula to Create Progress & Achieve Your Goals

March 9, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner

When my son was seven, he asked me for a guitar. I was elated because I thought he was tapping into some creative instinct, so I was happy to go along. He sat down with the guitar and then burst into tears a few minutes later because he had imagined he would pick up the guitar and instantly be able to play. He hadn't considered there would be lessons, hours of practice and feeling out of his depth in between. That's not what he signed up for. He wanted instant gratification! That's what TV and YouTube had sold him, and he wanted the dream. Now! He wanted the outcome without the messy process.

Arm's Length under the National Credit Act

March 9, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw | SchoemanLaw Inc | Specialist Technology, Commercial and Contract Law Attorney

Whether a loan agreement or acknowledgement of debt ("AOD") falls under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 ("NCA") and specifically meets the criteria of being at arm's length could be the line between enforcement of an agreement and it all falling apart.

5 Marketing Strategies for Launching Your Business During Cold Months

March 9, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Vuyelwa Gxakushe

Launching a business during the cold months can present unique challenges, but with the right marketing strategies, you can turn the chill into an opportunity for growth. As an AI-driven company specialising in Google Ads for small businesses, we understand the importance of leveraging technology and creativity to maximise your success. Here are five effective marketing strategies to help you thrive during the cold months.

5 Keys to Unlocking Resilience

March 9, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie

What enables some people to emerge from challenges with their lives recreated, and even strengthened, while others crumble in a crisis? This is such a vital question for anyone who is seeking a rewarding relationship with their career, leadership, loved ones, and life if general. We live in a world where things change at unprecedented speeds; and resilience and flexibility are becoming essential life skills, without which we never be able to live beyond our survival zones, let alone in our comfort zones.

Hang on Tight!: Learn to Love the Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurship by Suzanne Tregenza Moore

March 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

In her debut book, Hang On Tight!, Suzanne Tregenza Moore addresses one of the key challenges of being an entrepreneur - how to navigate the ups and downs of the business building journey. She reminds us all that, when we feel like we are riding a roller coaster with its highs and lows—financially, physically, and emotionally - we are not alone. Women entrepreneurs experience all these things and more while building a business and concurrently caring for loved ones. So Suzanne says, buckle in and learn to ride with arms stretched high as you yell, “Woohoo” instead of gripping the safety bar in terror.

The year 2024 must be pivotal…

March 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

As we reach the end of our four-parter look at the investing and funding world and how we can gain more of it, here, here, and here, so this weekend we dive into why collecting data on the jobs we have created, the wages we pay, the lives we have changed is so important, and why now is the best time to start.

Lwazikazi Kwaza, a South African entrepreneur designing and manufacturing luxury fragrances

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lwazikazi Kwaza, founder and CEO, The Melanin House (South Africa)

Startup Story

Lwazikazi Kwaza is the founder and CEO of The Melanin House in South Africa, an Afro-centric manufacturing powerhouse that currently designs and manufactures specialized luxury fragrances in all categories. The Melanin House was founded in 2020 with the aim to represent the elite African luxury market, where simplicity meets elegance, in an afro-centric, majestic, and fragrant way. The Melanin House manufactures utilizing the highest quality standards guidelines such as the SABS ISO:9001. This ensures high-quality fragrances are manufactured with sustainability in the process through the use of organic products. The Melanin House is committed to producing high-quality fragrances that tell fragrant and majestic African stories, which will remain in the charts of African-conscious business history, through memory.

Nuria Arbelo, a unique earring design brand builder in Mozambique

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Nuria Arbelo, founder, Brincadeira (Mozambique)

Startup Story

Nuria Arbelo is the founder of Brincadeira, a vibrant earrings brand with an exclusive design located in Maputo, Mozambique. Born in the Canary Islands, Nuria arrived in Mozambique for work in 2018. In 2021, she founded Brincadeira without knowing that, two years later, the brand would lead her to leave her profession as a project manager to become an entrepreneur dedicated to the design of unique earrings.

Sylvia Omina Otsieno, a Kenyan jewellery brand builder with impact

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Omina Otsieno, an innovative fashion brand in Kenya, renowned for its distinctive jewellery crafted from banana fibre.

Sylvia Omina Otsieno is the founder and creative director of Omina Otsieno, an innovative fashion brand in Kenya, renowned for its distinctive jewellery crafted from banana fibre. Born and raised between Nairobi and Busia, Sylvia's formative years in Busia ignited her passion for crafting, where she found abundant materials at her disposal. Inspired by her familial heritage of creativity, including her mother's adeptness at crocheting and her grandparents' tradition of weaving handcrafted baskets for livelihood, Sylvia began her journey of artistic expression. Driven by a steadfast commitment to social impact and artistic innovation, Sylvia continues to redefine the boundaries of fashion entrepreneurship, inspiring change not only in the lives of individuals but also within their communities. The business has created jobs for 17 local people.

How to Stop Saying Yes When You Want to Say No

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner

It's astounding how four simple words can simultaneously create so much anxiety, fear, excitement, and intrigue… What do you want? Most people don't know what they want because they have not spent time reflecting. Or they're too fearful of saying it out loud because what if it's wrong? Or they don't know what they want because they base their needs on what others want. Why does it matter knowing what you want? How do you know what to say no to without knowing what you are saying yes to first?

Understanding the Alter Ego of a Trust

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw | SchoemanLaw Inc | Specialist Technology, Commercial and Contract Law Attorney

A trust is a widely used legal entity for various purposes, including estate planning, asset protection, and the management of assets for the benefit of specific individuals or entities. Within the context of trusts, there exists a legal concept known as the "alter ego" of a Trust, which is an essential consideration for trustees, beneficiaries, and anyone involved in trust-related matters.

How does Supply Chain Management correlate with Personal and Professional Development?

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Blessed Agyemang

The field of supply chain management is constantly evolving, and professionals in this field need to continuously learn and adapt to stay current. There is a need for personal and professional development through training, certifications, and continuing education.

6 Ways to Optimise Your Well-being

March 2, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie

As I started writing the title to this post, I was merrily typing out the words “6 quick and easy ways to claim back your wellbeing”. As if by intuition, my pointing finger defiantly punched the backspace key. It doesn’t feel quick, and some of it is not easy. Essential, Yes! Very Definitely ‘Yes’. Quick and easy? Not when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed by never-ending to-do lists and people who seem to think you’re made of some marvellous stretchy substance that can get to everything. Creating and maintaining optimal well-being is a goal for the vast majority of people I know, and it is vital to recovering and staving off burnout. And yet, universally, in one way or the other, well-being is something we all struggle with most.

Who is the Hero of your story?

February 25, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“…give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” — Plato

As we continue our journey through the investment and finance world in our articles, making sense of the iniquities as we go, whilst creating some kind of ‘AH-HA!’ moment which will brighten the road ahead as we try to navigate our growth and cash flow needs vs our larger long term projects, we somehow need to also find the time to improve and turbocharge our approach to investors.

Raising The Baobab by Tsitsi Mutendi

February 25, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Embark on a journey of wealth discovery and legacy cultivation with "Raising the Baobab," a masterful guide authored by Tsitsi Mutendi and crafted for anyone passionate about building a future that lasts. A seasoned family business insider and a leading authority in family governance and succession planning, Tsitsi offers rich insights for a wide spectrum of readers.

6 Mindset Shifts To Personal Mastery

February 25, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner

Personal mastery is not a destination; it is a lifelong journey. It isn't one sweeping action that creates mastery; it's more like subtle brush strokes that bring the masterpiece together over time. It's not always new actions that bring about change but a new perspective. This palette of personal mastery advice comes from author Tony Robbins who continues to inspire me on my journey. Dip your brush in and see which resonates with you:

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