MENTHER MAGAZINE JUNE 2022 - WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY, DESIGNING OUR FUTURE

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YOUTH MONTH

JUNE 2022

#06

BEAUTY, RETAIL &

BLOCKCHAIN

WOMEN

&

TECHNOLOGY DESIGNING OUR FUTURE

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Publisher’s LETTER

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY, DESIGNING OUR FUTURE

W

Publisher MentHer

Founding Editor Ntsiki Mkhize

Production M e D 8 M e d i a ( P T Y ) LT D

Contributors Alice Dlamini Candice Pillay Faiza Mallick Janine Starkey Kelebogile Molopyane Kholeka Mkhize Mona Willis Ve n n e s s a M a b o p h a M a t h e b u l a

#01

e’ve heard the saying “art imitates life” and some have often asked is it an imitation or a creation of life? I think the same is true with technology, that civilizations have often risen and fallen on the back of their technological innovations and advancements and their use thereof and ability to subsist on technology in that era. The 20th and 21st Centuries have had the greatest advancements in technology, with new developments and adaptations happening over shorter spans of time and often, with our socio-economic base trailing behind.

Technology doesn’t only offer the opportunity to advance, it also offers a platform for everyone to play and be integrated in a greater eco-system as never before. But in order for that to be true, we need to ensure women and youth are represented in the rooms of research and development, ideation, implementation and senior decision making so that we are indeed creating and utilising technology in a manner that is reflective of society.

According to Small Business Trends (2018), only 20% of jobs in the technology industry are held by women. Research indicates that gender inequality and the lack of female mentors are some of the reasons young girls lose interest in getting

jobs in this space. According to Girl Scouts Research Institute, 81% of girls indicate an interest in pursuing STEM careers, with only 13% saying it’s their first choice. A more recent study by DataProt (2022) highlighted that in Africa, 24% of jobs in computing are held by women, with 19% of STEM graduates being female and once in the industry, women leave at a 45% higher rate than their male counterparts. This points to the fact that women in tech is not only a question of interest and education, but one of environment and leadership in the space. It’s another arena where women are capable and are needed to help steer the ship as technology influences daily life in unprecedented ways.

In this issue we spotlight women making waves and leading in the tech space and share some trends, advice, innovation and resources that I hope will inspire you as well as point you in a direction where you can begin to do research on how and where you can play in the space. As advanced as technology may seem, we still have so much adaptation ahead, so pick up that smart phone, dial up and game – a world awaits.

Purposefully Yours

N t s i k i M k h iz e

Founding Editor

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TA B L E O F

Contents 5

MENTHER MAGAZINE Social Impact Founders Club membership

6

LEADERSHIP Women are Equally Capable

by Alice Dlamini

9

BOOK CLUB The Rise of the Sharing Economy Kevin Govender

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STRATEGY Building High Performance Teams

by Candice Pillay

33

TECHNOLOGY Shaping Leadership with Tech

by Kelebogile Molopyane

36

WELLNESS Fast Life, Fast Food

by Kholeka Mkhize

39

SYLING Shaping the Future of Fashion

by Mona Willis

10

BUSINESS The endless benefits of technologycial advancements

by Venessa Mabophe Mathebula

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WEALTH Tech Bridging Finance MentHer Magazine

42

The Future of tech in Fashion

by Janine Starkey

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COVER FEATURE Beauty, Retail & Blockchain with Pretty Kubyane, Founder of Coronet

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19

Phumi Körber Founder of WISIOI

RESOURCE Pivot or Perish How Entrepreneurs overcome Lockdown uncertainty in RSA Townships

42

21

Melissa Slaymaker Country Director SA for Women-in-Tech

Innovation at the Forefront

by Start Wise

43

25

SUSTAINABILITY Post-Pandemic Future

by Faiza Mallick

A 360 Degree view on Advising Small Business

by Growth Wheel

44

27

PODCAST A-Z of Social Entrepreneurship

by MentHer

CONTRIBUTORS Thank you to our contributors

EDITION COVER FEATURE EDITION

MentHer Set Available Journal, Pen & Face mask R200 Delivery R99 (RSA only) Whatsapp: +27 67 676 5404 sales@menther.co.za

JUNE WOMEN AND TECH

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Photo by Polina Kovaleva

MENTHER LEADERSHIP

WOMEN ARE EQUALLY CAPABLE

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God has blessed a woman with an innate gift to work hard, assimilate and prosper in what she does.

n every corner of the planet, women are constantly facing discrimination. History tells us that women are repetitively having to prove their value, worth, abilities and capabilities and in most cases they are never even given the platform to perform.

They are discriminated against or forced into silence.

Why this is so, no one can ever really answer. But there is one proof that even

pre-BC, women have been extremely resilient, industrious, innovative and creative. Proverbs 31 establishes that God has blessed a woman with an innate gift to work hard, assimilate and prosper in what she does.

A woman has true grit in the face of adversity and beauty flows from the works of her hands. Proverbs 31 states that; She is like a merchant’s ship bringing her wool from afar. She is energetic, strong and a hard worker.

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She considers a field and buys it. Her hands are busy spinning thread and her fingers twisting fiber. What a woman puts her mind to, she will work at it and prosper.

We live in a society that is very divided and women are always the ones who are constantly on the receiving end of being sidelined in many sectors, and the tech industry is one of them.

Cultural divides, religious beliefs, poverty, gender discrimination, gender stereotypes, literacy and growing exponentially is genderbased violence, are forcing women to be left behind as the global workforce increasingly uses digital tools in many sectors. Lin Taylor from Thomson Reuters Foundation said that the so-called “digital divide” has traditionally referred to the gap between those who have access to computers and the internet, and those with limited or no access.

Africa is increasingly showing a high gender education inequality and the gap in SubSaharan African is said to get worse.

According to UNESCO, across the African region, 9 million girls between the ages of about 6 and 11 will never go to school at all, compared to 6 million boys. Their disadvantage starts early; 23% of girls are out of primary school compared to 19% of boys. By the

time they become adolescents, the exclusion rate for girls is 36% compared to 32% for boys.

When we look at the alarming statistics, add to that the lack of access to technology, it seems as though the war has been lost for women before it has even begun. However, we have to look up to see the rainbow and not bow our heads in despair and accept defeat. There are many women who are making strides in the tech industry with the many challenges thrown at them and its time we support them, learn from them and grow with them.

Some of these celebrated African women in the technology space are; Odunayo Eweniyi(Nigeria), Blessing Abeng(Nigeria), Rebecca Enonchong(Cameroon), Maya Horgan Famodu(Nigeria), Judith Owigar(Kenya), Yanmo Omoregbe (Nigeria), Nneile Nkholise(South Africa), Zandile Keebine(South Africa), Betelhem Dessie(Ethiopia), and Fara Ashiru

Jituboh(Nigeria).

What makes these women stand out? What has made them successful? Their tenacity and the will to push through in an industry that is dominated by men. The hunger and drive to succeed regardless of the difficulties.

I set out to find women in my network and in the streets of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs to better understand how they use technology to shape their future either as home executives (a.k.a stay-at-home-mom), professionals, athletes, teachers, street vendors, hair salon owners, church elders, NGO CEOs, social-media influencers, tertiary students, unemployed graduate, gardeners and home renovations, electrical maintenance or even a beekeeper like myself.

All these women, regardless of how big or small their businesses were, agreed that in the past 3 years, their reliance on technology has grown and so has their need to understand and learn more about technology and how it can be a tool and a solution to grow their business and expand their reach. It’s definitely important for them to know the advantages that technology has in their businesses.

Most have agreed to experiencing positive results from spending more time using the many technological gadgets or tools available in the market.

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MENTHER LEADERSHIP These were some of the results they had in common:

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Access to the latest information and other tools to be able to work better.

They have increased their staff complement, because productivity has gone up.

Knowing which tools to use and how to use those tools is important and this has been supported by:

1. Online training and Online meetings thus acquiring new clients.

They have been able to train their staff 2. The ability to pull and work better as a team because research and articles everyone is showing a willingness to learn immediately. and they see the positive difference in 3. Saving time reaching their self-confidence. more audience - there is no driving around especially if There has been a shift in what women transport is an issue.

4. Increase speed at which are now capable of doing and how work is done and saving on they are advancing especially in the fuel especially in the wake film industry. Women doing what they of sustainability and global never studied nor specialized in, yet are change. excelling at it.

5. Reaching doctors and getting assessed online by They have more reach outside of specialists. their immediate customers and are 6. Everything is instant. expanding their network.

7. By being able to separate the good from the bad, one Expanding their product and service doesn’t waste time travelling offering and finding new ways to and meeting people and repurpose waste and redesign some businesses you don’t need. elements.

You select what you need and you can select the One person said: “Another man’s trash is a woman’s treasure”. Women relevancy to your particular sector and interest. making furniture and light fixtures and 8. Always use technology for looking at introducing a new line of good, because it can also apparel and luggage through use of hold your business back if technology of turning waste into clothing you are not familiar or don’t and bags. have enough information.

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There are many scammers in the cyber world praying on innocent victims. If skills, aptitude, and security systems are not available it could severely hurt individuals, corporates and organisations.

9. Application derivatives can be implemented to cater to different needs in terms of sourcing, marketing, training, financial management, education, and sports. Most of these technologies require funding and knowing which systems application is suitable and best serve the needs of the individual, business and organisation is imperative.

10. Technology should be used in a sustainable manner that does not harm the environment, people, flora and animals.

11. Technology has increased the competitiveness in all industries. No one is operating in a “closed economy”, because the reach and the availability of information, products and services is on a grand scale.

Customers and consumers are becoming more and better educated from the products that are sold, the quality, value and cost.

As women we need to keep advancing the education of women and girls alike. Women can no longer be sidelined and given ‘soft tasks’, because “that’s what they can handle”. When the right tool is given to a woman, she will use it to build a society – and those around her will benefit.

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MENTHER BOOK CLUB

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The Rise of the Sharing Economy

n 2011, the sharing economy was dubbed by Time magazine as one of the ‘Ten ideas that will change the world’ and it has been widely hailed as a major growth sector, by sources ranging from Fortune magazine, to the World Economic Forum, to former President Obama.

The sharing economy is a new economic model that focuses on access to assets or resources, instead of ownership. It has exploded in popularity over recent years and has disrupted a significant number of mature industries such as accommodation, automotive, and entertainment. The total value of the global sharing economy is estimated to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025.

With limited resources, the desire to become more environmentally conscious, the high cost and burdens of ownership, and a rapidly growing population, living increasingly in densely populated cities, consumers are faced with greater challenges

Access is the New Ownership

and opportunities to fill their consumption needs.

People are experiencing a significant value shift with a desire to reconnect with products and services in a more meaningful way, are becoming more cost and environmentally conscious, and are prioritising experience over ownership. An organisation’s ability to reimagine and reinvent its business model to offer unique

opportunities for humanising technology and developing innovative sharing platforms, such as Uber and Airbnb, would be a game changer for them.

While the Fourth Industrial Revolution and COVID-19 pandemic are influencing and changing consumer behaviour, organisations are facing a dilemma that is affecting the future of their profitability, existence, and sustainability.

In The Rise of the Sharing Economy, Kevin Govender shares his insights and expertise on the evolution of the sharing economy, consumer behaviour, and alternative business models, and empowers consumers to rediscover and realise the enormous benefits of access over ownership, and the potential savings in time, money, space and the opportunity. Access is a cultural and socio-economic phenomenon that is transforming businesses, consumers, the way we live, work, learn, consume, commute and play.

Access is the new ownership.

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MENTHER BUSINESS

The endless benefits of technological advancements

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The goal is to turn data into inforamtion and information to insight - Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP

magine if you were told that you could no longer use your muchloved washing machine to do your weekly laundry.

How would that make you feel? Not only would this prospect require notable time commitment, but the effort also required would be substantial. By the time you recover from the hard labour, your weekend would be gone, leaving you feeling that there should certainly be better ways to spend your muchdeserved weekend.

Washing machines are a great example of how technology continues to simplify our modern lives, thereby allowing us to be more efficient with our time and efforts. Relating this to business, such characteristics

are essential. When it comes to business, time is indeed money. Every second you

spend nursing an inefficient process equates to Rands lost in revenue. It is, therefore, paramount to invest in efficient processes and technology is one of the best tools to do this.

Similar to how a washing machine allows one to complete a daunting task with just a click of a button, in the financial markets industry, the automation of otherwise time intensive activities has brought about notable efficiencies to the way business is done.

Tasks that would normally demand substantial time commitment each day and effort can now be programmatically scheduled to independently run at a given

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MENTHER BUSINESS time each day.

Thereby ensuring that even if you are not physically available, the show still goes on. As a quantitative analyst within the financial markets space, I have learned to appreciate the importance of technology in the decisionmaking process.

However, technology alone means nothing without reputable data to analyse and thereby base the decision-making process on. Essentially, data is king when it comes to decision making. Aside from traditional data sets, alternative data such as satellite imaging and social media activity of individuals has become a notable commodity. Once one has access to reputable data, technological advancements such as computer programs allow us to put this ample data to good use, thereby deriving key insights from the assessed data. In fact, the availability of data continues being the hindrance to the next best performing investment strategy.

Interestingly, we are all naïve participants to the new age of doing business. For instance, each moment we spend on our smart phones, the alternative data databases gain more data points. Not only are we creating data by posting on social media, but each time we view a post, react to it or share it, we have unknowingly created valuable data insights.

Ever wondered why you mostly get random adverts for things you actually have an interest in? Well, that is the power of machine learning - a sophisticated computer system that is based on statistical models and algorithms where the models analyse and learn from patterns thereby adapting to new information

without following any explicit instructions.

Businesses track our interest/ habits online, thereby allowing them to increase their sales by matching the product to the right individuals - smart, right?

Bringing it back to financial markets, technology has revolutionalised the industry in many ways. By now you might have heard of the term ‘big data’ which refers to large sets of data that can be analysed computationally to derive inferences such as trends and patterns. For instance, investment strategies are based on indicators. These indicators would inform the fund manager about the key drivers of a given economy or asset class. Though some indicators are based on traditional data, such as the unemployment rate of a given economy and the Price Earnings ratio (PE) of a given

company, some require more alternative sources of data.

A good example is the sentiment indicator of the average investor that can be tracked though social media activities of a given population. Of course, it is not a straightforward task collecting this form of data and transforming it to a format where investment insights can be derived. This is where machine learning and artificial intelligence – which refers to using “machines and computers in order to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind” (IBM) - come in.

Thanks to these tools, fund managers are now able to construct investment strategies that are based on solid processes that are informed by data. Not only has this reduced risk by ensuring that human biases have no room in the decision-making process, but these have further led to more accurate return forecasts. Finally, efficiencies have improved thereby ensuring that costs are kept to a minimum. It is clear that technological advancements play a significant role in our modern day lives. As reliance on technological systems increase, it is important to understand that no system will ever be smarter than a human.

After all, the same system was programmed by humans. We should, therefore, understand that technology is merely there to improve our day-to-day lives, but we are still running the show.

We should, therefore, continue to learn and evolve so that we are not left one day fearing for our lives, with the thought that robots are taking over the world like in a classic apocalypse sci-fi movie.

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MENTHER WEALTH

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TECH BRIDGING FINANCE

he evolution of money since the days B.C has been revolutionary in each century. We’re all familiar with the system of trading and bartering, which was common place for millennia.

Around 5000 B.C. commodities included; salt, cattle or grain; as early as 2000 B.C. we see evidence of the spice route and the silk route later in 130 B.C. where spice and silk were the currency of the day. In the times of Abraham, he was noted to be an excellent water merchant and in later years

we see the introduction of gold and silver become common place with Mesopotamia minting some of the first coins around 650 B.C. Throughout different regions and different eras people agreed and made common place as a means of trade what was rare or valuable. In the financial system as we now know it, currencies were initially backed by the gold standard before the quick jumps from actual gold and silver coins to paper currency, bank cards, smart pay and now

cryptocurrencies.

As technology has developed, so has our ability to trade and the various forms in which we can trade. Once one had a note that was written and guaranteed with the seal of a regent or noble person which could be taken with to trade in far off places at popular markets between cosmopolitan cities.

Now, at a click of a button you can trade on any global market (stock exchange) or shop any product with any retailer anywhere in the

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MENTHER WEALTH world, with the convenience of a digital wallet that can easily and quickly convert currency.

The ability and ease of moving money and trading on these platforms has brought with it fantastic innovations such as the use of M-PESA which is most popular in Kenya, a mobile based money transfer, payment and micro-financing service; EcoCash which is used in Zimbabwe, allowing user to complete payments via their mobile phones and PayPal which is popular in the states and in addition to paying into people’s accounts is also accepted by various store merchants, even outside of the USA. Taking this to the next level was the introduction of cryptocurrencies and wallets allowing trades to take place over blockchain, presenting us with the world of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Coinbase, just to name a few. Just as we thought we might wrap our minds around this nexus of money and code, most recently the introduction of non-fungible tokens or NFT’s, which combines digital data stored in a blockchain with a distributed ledger to create financial security and ownership which can be traded.

In this space we’re seeing a number of future thinking individuals who are innovating for impact and creating community currencies focused around

social good.

Innovations in this space include the likes of; Makkie, a time banking currency in the Netherlands that allows local citizens to earn Makkies by volunteering in community projects then spending them on a range of goods, products, and services; or E-portemonnee, a digital e-wallet which gives credits for environmentally friendly behavior.

It’s a whole world of exploration, it can be scary and overwhelming, but we are seeing great opportunities springing forth presenting new

options for trade, new markets and creating access for those who were previously unbanked or who have been financially excluded.

Through our phones allowing us to trade without having a bank account, it means micro-businesses and entrepreneurs everywhere can be economically active in ways there weren’t able to before, and not only that, they can track their business trades which can be helpful when looking for funding or to raise capital.

Innovations from The Peoples Fund, which allows the community to buy into a startup to raise capital; Live Stock Wealth, that allows one to own a portion of a cow or produce; or SV Capital which has extended its product offering to include an iLobola fund allowing people to invest in their wedding long before the date arrives.

These and many other innovations are creating a new way of investing and sourcing funding to startups, allowing consumers and communities to get involved and taking into account impact from the very beginning.

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MENTHER WEALTH Meeting us here are various organisations who know that the tide is turning and are putting their money behind innovation and seeing more women in technology, and making sure women aren’t left out of the FinTech space.

A world of opportunity awaits, where you don’t have to be an expert to create or participate, but can connect with other likeminded people ready and willing to innovate and disrupt the norm to create a different kind of future, one with decentralised currencies and markets, one where the value of money has to include and reflect the value of people, community and the environment, one where you can decide today what matters most tomorrow.

CLICK Rising Tide Africa www.risingtideafrica.com Africa Trust Group www.africatrustgroup.com Graça Machel Trust Investment Fund www.gracamacheltrust.org She Leads Africa www.sheleadsafrica.org Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator www.womenintech.co.ke African Women’s Development Fund www.awdf.org

HERE ARE SOME OPPORTUNITES YOU CAN LOOK AT: IFundWomen is the go-to funding marketplace for women-owned businesses and the people who want to support them with access to capital, coaching, and connections. www. ifundwomen.com

The Tory Burch Foundation empowers women andwomen entrepreneurs by providing access to capital, education and digital resources www.toryburchfoundation.org Women Who Tech is nonprofit organization building a culture and inclusive economy to accelerate women tech entrepreneurs and close the funding gap. www.womenwhotech.org The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. Founded in 2006, the program is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact. www.cartierwomensinitiative.com Seed South Capital is an organization built for the times, today’s societal demands call for pragmatic solutions to address the widespread economic inequality. We cannot and should not admire the problem anymore. www.seedsouth.com Dazzle Angels is a female focused angel fund, that is led and funded by experienced business women. Our angels not only invest their money, but also invest their time, skills and networks, which is where the real value lies. www.seedsouth.com

The African Women Leadership Fund www.competitions. potential.com

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY MENTHER COVER FEATURE

Women in Technology

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE

Beauty, Retail & Blockchain Talk to us a little bit about your study background, what the early stages of the career that you designed for yourself looked like before you decided to venture off into entrepreneurship?

My career started very early, I was born into a family business and that’s when I started working. My first job was as a mechanic assistant because my father had a car fixing business. My parents also ran a wood cutting business, where they would source wood and then sell it for commercial catering, butchers, funeral houses and domestic consumption as well.

In a way, they ran as a social enterprise, because it was during the time where there was a mass migration of people from villages and other areas into mining towns like Johannesburg and other areas to go and work, leaving no manpower in the village. You’d have those houses where there’s an elderly

woman or a young bride who’s just had a child, and they can’t go out to source wood, so my parents would give them wood for free. There was an apprenticeship program as well, where boys on the street would come and work with my dad and gain employable skills. So both that social way of doing things and business form a very solid foundation into my entrepreneurship journey.

I worked in male dominated

industries from a young age and I was always in overalls so everyone in my village thought I was a boy and that influenced me later to go and study fashion.

I then studied PR and then from there I went and worked for social corporate investments, something that has nothing to do with what I actually studied.

But it is connected to the heart and soul of the businesses I was exposed to from a very young age.

Did you go into your studies with the intention of using them to create your own business or were you looking to create a safety net outside of entrepreneurship?

I figured out what I want to do very early, I knew that I want to be in business, I didn’t really know what business that was going to be. I knew I wanted to work in a family business, because I wanted to be married to somebody I can be in business with because I knew I’m a workaholic. I

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE

also wanted to be in a kind of business where I can create impact not just for me, but for the people that are around me. I didn’t want something that was going to finance my lifestyle.

From there you combined your love for fashion and creating impact and figured out how to apply blockchain in a beauty retail space. How does that come together and you end up running Coronet Blockchain?

I started working with my now husband in a consulting firm, whenever there was people launching new things we would assist with what’s called mass adoption of those products into the market. While in that space one of our colleagues sold beauty products on the side, which became her main business after she got retrenched. She’d built a community of about 6000 followers across social media and people were actually buying hair extensions consistently.

There was more demand than there were suppliers of her product and she then came to us asking that we help her put systems in place. Fast forward

36 months after we have taken the brand that was started with R 5 000, it was now bringing R 30 million every year, employing 14 people and with branches in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, and two of them were inside five star hotels because we wanted to increase brand equity in order to franchise or sell it to investors.

Around this time we had enquiries from brands across Africa who wanted more sustainability in their business, including large retail stores that wanted to carry reputable beauty products. At this time growth questions and mainstream questions started coming in as they wanted to know how we can prove the authenticity of the hair as 100% Peruvian or Brazilian.

In the same way they can put a tag on something to say it’s genuine leather, because there’s a certification process, same with items that are 100% cotton, Kosher or Halal, we can prove it.

would have to fly to China every two weeks and be there themselves to guarantee that what they were buying was legit.

We realized we’d be solving a problem for not just small businesses, but big retailers as well. That’s how we ended up with the blockchain technology because the company that financed us happened to have done a similar thing in the food sector to speed up compliance, safety and quality of food going onto mainstream markets.

Technologies like blockchain allow one to authenticate production from the source, locate batches, recall poor stock, track stock across the supply chain and report what’s happening at every stage.

So the question became how do we do that with beauty products, and hair in particular?

Blockchain and most technologies are really understood in its implementation and the impact is able to make to make. It is a set of digital records of transactions or data that has

It used to be that retailers

Simply put, how would you define blockchain and its application in the context that you’ve been able to use it?

What does that look like on a day to day tangible basis?

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE been captured in the process.

So, any beauty product or makeup, for example, where the ingredients come from or when they are out in, that information will be recorded there and then and there will be a digital paper trail of everything that happened before that makeup actually reaches me. The second thing about blockchain is that because it’s decentralised, meaning that we’re all on the same page or singing from the same hymn, looking at the same information. The supply chain is more transparent when running on blockchain, all the participants are able to see exactly what you put on, what you are doing, every activity.

And it’s immutable, it remains permanent, so what I wrote that I put in there, I can’t go back and change it and I can’t lie on an audit or only present “the good stuff”. It also has the benefit that when things go wrong and nobody wants to take the blame, if it happens over the blockchain, we would know exactly what happened when and where, what condition the product was in at what stage and have accountability.

What are some of the challenges that you have experienced in introducing blockchain technology as part of your retail process?

I think most of the problems were not even about the technology, but they were more on human behavior. The people who are supposed to buy the technology, the buying center - which is the

people that make the decision as to whether or not they need this technology, is it going to help us – didn’t understand it. We had to explain the why and how it impacts the bottomline and help them see how it could be linked to their KPIs. It’s also important that we can communicate to entrepreneurs in terms of what they value. People start businesses because they want their lifestyle to change, they’ve got business goals they want to achieve.

So that for me was a wakeup call to say there was different KPIs at play and we were achieving the same thing, but it was more important to her that she create the kind of jobs where her employees can buy houses and have a medical aid and have a car insurance than to say “oh look, we are now an eight figure business”. So when we take technologies into market, we need an understanding of why.

What kind of business goals is this technology going to help me achieve? Is it going to increase?

My revenue is going to help? Is it going to help me cut the costs?

Is it going to help me achieve investor requirement? Is it going to help me achieve a ridiculous requirement? When you don’t know that, then you could have a very good technology, but you don’t sell. It proved beneficial for us as business and not technical founders, to show that we understand the business problems. We have started businesses ourselves.

So whenever we spoke to business people, they felt like we are one of them and then

whatever technology we bring, they knew that we are not selling it from a technical perspective.

We are selling it from the business perspective to achieve certain business goals that we have a superior understanding compared to people that only have a technical background.

For a woman who wants to play in the space, whether it’s blockchain, whether it’s beauty, whether it’s retail or just, you know, even a woman who’s like, I’ve got this great idea, but I’m hesitant about getting started. What words of advice or wisdom and encouragement could you share with them?

First and foremost, people need to understand that everything starts with education. Secondly, one of my favorite concepts is reverse engineering. Finding out when people that have already succeeded where they did and then begin with the end in mind as to where you actually want to go. So those are one of the things that they must educate themselves.

Get into an ecosystem of people that are actually doing big things that make you think like, Oh, I thought that if I have a business that is a $1 million, it’s like a big thing. And then there’s a lady who come from some village in India. She’s running a unicorn.

Like you have no idea how helpful it is to actually be in ecosystems like that of people that are doing great things.

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE

Women in E-Commerce Phumi Körber, Founder of WISIOI

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE

E-Commerece & Fashion Phumi Korber - Founder of WISIOI

How did you get into eCommerce?

My background is brick & mortar retail buying, and 10 years ago, I got approached to be a lead buyer for an eCommerce store.

This was when online retail was very tiny and I got hooked into the future (now current) of shopping from the palm of your hand.

What does running an eCommerce based business entail?

Testing, Analytics, Implementation, more testing, analytics & implementation

What are some of your biggest challenges?

We run a peer to peer marketplace where you have 2 customers, the buyer (sales) & the seller (stock). The biggest challenge is finding a balance in

customer acquisition, meaning we need to find the right kind of stock in the right sizes for the right shopper profile.

What are some of the tech/eCommerce trends you see that all female entrepreneurs should take advantage of?

Fintech and niche marketplaces are the fastest growing tech businesses currently in South Africa. Less than 10% of these businesses are founded by females. There is definitely room for us to occupy this space.

How can other women break into the space?

I think women should embrace technology, we need to teach

our girls to be excited about the tech space and the possibility of teaching them to code from a young age. There are so many free /affordable channels of education available on the internet that you don’t even need to go to an expensive university to learn the tech arena. Google for example has an online academy that teaches tech skills such as UX/UI, Analytics, SEO, engineering etc. There are also multiple initiatives that are specifically designed to help women embrace tech such as Women in Tech.

How to sign up or shop with WISIOI? Simply download our app from the App Store or Google Play Store and upload the items you’d like to sell and literally turn clothes you no longer wear into cash.

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE

Non-Profits in Technology What does Women-in-Tech do as an organisation and what is your specific focus?

Women-in-Tech (WIT) is a global non-forprofit organisation established four and a half years ago by the CEO, Aoki. She is based in Paris and started it with this mission of empowering women and girls, and frustrated after decades of campaigning to get more women in

technology, the gap wasn’t actually getting any smaller, the gender inequality gap was in fact increasing. It’s still increasing regardless of all the work that’s being done. And so it’s actually saying, hang on, what? How can we do it differently?

How can we make it accountable? How can we take action, drive, change, not just talk about this problem? Because a lot of things are being said in summits and events and there’s

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE great conversations going on, but nothing was being done to physically drive that change.

Back in 2020, we launched the Africa chapter, virtually due to the pandemic. It was part of the 24-hour world tour and it offered a great opportunity to showcase that South Africa also has incredible women in technology and so does Africa. It also offered the platform to be part of this global movement, elevating women and showcasing their talents on a global stage.

Two years later, we now have ten official volunteers that work for the Women-in-Tech South Africa chapter. Globally, we’ve got 245 ambassadors, all volunteers that work globally for the movement, and they are currently 25 chapters over six continents and we are almost about 190,000 members globally. So the women’s movement has grown considerably in the last four years into real movement where we have got women that actually actively drive change. All this educational programmes with various universities, we work

with various corporate sponsors, we’ve got our own curriculum to educate women in technology.

We also partner with companies to incorporate and learning more about blockchain technologies.

We also have an Agile Academy, we have mentorship programs, workshops and events to help uplift people through education and to make tech learning accessible.

If we had to do a temperature check of where women in technology are across the African continent.

Where are we as a continent when it comes to representing women in the tech sector?

WIT has two other active African chapters. One is in Zambia and the other in Nigeria, and we’re hoping to open more chapters across Africa. We’re looking at Kenya as a hub where we can get some more tech talent from, with opening a WIT chapter in each country being our ultimate

goal.

In terms of Africa, it’s obviously not one big country, and we have so many different cultures and are so diverse, Africa is also geographically one of the largest continents. So the potential for talent is huge, if you look at age levels, Africa has the highest amount of youth being represented and about 52% of that youth is women. So if you want to upskill a continent, not excluding all men - we have many male allies - but if you focus on uplifting women, especially on the African continent, I mean, our future is going to be bright.

We have to start with our youth and give them access to education, resources that they need so that they can be on the same level playing field as first world countries, and that we can then really uplift the whole ecosystem, the whole of the continent.

Access to the Internet, date and electricity remain a challenge.

We need to consider our programmes in the context

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE of rural areas not having any connection to WiFi or getting devices to poor areas.

with the University of the Western Cape on this journey over four months.

An example of how the South Africa chapter has set out to address this is through our location at Philippi Village, Cape Town. We created an IT learning center for the children of the village to have a safe space where they can come, they can learn basic skills. They can learn how to create an email address, use word and Excel documents, and then teaching them eventually coding robotics, teaching them I.T. skills that they can then take with them in their

You come from a STEM field study background and people often think that to be a tech entrepreneur, you have to come from one of the STEM fields of study.

Can you speak to some of the opportunities that do exist in the tech space for people who are “tech illiterate”?

journey and not be left behind in this digital evolution.

We also work with women and girls that are entering the world of work. And this is where my sort of recruitment experience comes into play. We teach them how to put a CV together, how to put your LinkedIn profile so that you can be found for jobs. We do mock interviews with them and teach them how do you present yourself in an interview, and we do a lot of confidence building on how to become your own when you see the value in your own unique self. We are doing our third cohort of the program, which is called the CME, which this year is sponsored by Sanlam and we work together

I always say, like every single industry, doesn’t matter if you’re in retail, health care, legal, whether you are in banking, you know, whatever, doesn’t matter. You’ve got technology that is the enabler in all of those industries.

So don’t be fooled. Technology’s everywhere. The other thing is also technology isn’t just jobs in coding. Technology is enabling our everyday jobs. So whether you’re in design and analysis, if you’re a manager, if you’re on the shop floor and working with electronic point of sale systems and you’re integrating data and your analyzing it, there’s so many jobs and ways of working in technology. It’s beginning to become more important for everyone to be educated and have access to technology, not just for people who plan to be a

CTO or developers.

I’ve come from a science background and I didn’t want to work in a lab. So I started doing recruitment just because I thought it would be to speak to people all day, which is what I love doing.

I started to fall in love with technology, the pace of the change and all the interesting things, so I learnt about technology and from finding talent and now upskilling myself and learning to code by myself.

All this training is available online. I’m also learning about NFTs and how to get sorted with a NFT wallet. So you can see, there are so many opportunities in technology, whether it’s leadership, whether it’s business analysis or design, UI, UX design, web3 or it could be something that’s more data related or from a management perspective, anything - we’re all somewhere in our space. All women in tech.

How can people partner with you?

How can people join?

How can people support the work that Women-inTech is doing?

You can go to our website and see how you can become a member, which will allow you to be added to our newsletters and be notified of any events happening in your region. And then if you want to be part of a chapter, you can also just write

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MENTHER COVER FEATURE us. There’s a submission page where you can get in touch with us or notify us if you’d like to open a chapter - if there isn’t a chapter in your country. You can become a sponsor; create educational content; work with us on our talent hub, which is getting your jobs on our talent hub job boards to showcase that your company is hiring talent and ideally talented women and diversity in your company. There are many ways to engage with Women-in-Tech.

We also have events and one of our future events is on the 23rd of September. We are hosting the Women-in-Tech Africa Awards, which will be held in Cape Town, and we will be then highlighting some amazing talents in seven different categories, which includes; most inspiring team based startup; leadership award; lifetime achievement award; best ally award; most disruptive awards as well a high impact award.

There’s lots of different ways that we can celebrate women, whether they work in an NGO, in universities, working for corporate, a startup, or even a team, we want to recognise all sort of levels of women across the kind of life journey and put a spotlight on great African talent. The winner of each category will then go to the global awards, which will be held in Lisbon on the 2nd of November.

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MENTHER SUSTAINABILITY

Post-Pandemic Future

Innovating entrepreneurship to marry profit

S

ocial innovation is transforming entrepreneurship.

Profit-led businesses are realising that it no longer makes business sense to do business without a purpose and purpose-led nonprofits are realising that their reliance on funding just isn’t sustainable. The happy medium is social entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurs solve societal problems by carefully and skilfully crafting

businesses that marry their purpose-driven social ventures with profit-led bottom lines

to create social impact, with sustainable models to build more inclusive economies.

In more ways than one, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a crushing crisis for many small business owners. However, it’s during times of crisis that there are more opportunities for businesses to implement the necessary changes needed.

There’s a canvas to paint on and an opportunity to implement innovative solutions to solve the many social problems we face.

Social entrepreneurs are critical in our response to, and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and

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MENTHER SUSTAINABILITY

its countless socioeconomic effects.

While all entrepreneurs need to be innovative in their thinking, social entrepreneurs particularly, need to ensure that their ventures, while profitable, are also socially aligned to fix a societal issue without reliance on funding like grants and donations.

It makes sense then, that a social entrepreneurial mind-set requires ongoing innovation to generate both social value (measurable impact) and economic value (revenue). By applying business solutions to social problems, the funding model that social innovators use will be one that allows them to financially support their ventures so that they can generate ongoing revenue.

According to the United Nations University, the economic fallout of the pandemic is set to take global development progress back by as many as three decades and is set to push an estimated half a billion people into poverty, primarily in emerging economies like South Africa. It’s therefore critical that our post-pandemic entrepreneurial ventures focus on driving movements that work toward sustainable development in the form of improved access to

education, gender equality, health, and sustainable energy among other initiatives to improve and enhance livelihoods. Social entrepreneurs drive social innovation and transformation in various fields including education, health, the creative arts, the environment, and enterprise development.

Not only do we need social entrepreneurs as our safety net to survive the effects of the pandemic, but we also need them to pave the way for a new way of doing entrepreneurship. We need social entrepreneurial ventures to be the new normal when it comes to entrepreneurship so that we do business right in addition to doing business well. We can no longer afford to have social impact as something we do on the side as a form of corporate social responsibility.

The current economic climate requires that social impact becomes the core of what we do as businesses in South Africa.

Collectively, we can and will make

the difference we need to entrench equality and access, but we do need to become agents of change for ourselves and others so we can rise together and prosper for a better post-pandemic future for all. With their knowledge, experience and expertise, social entrepreneurs will be the catalysts for social solutions that will pave the way forward to a strengthened and more inclusive and equitable post-pandemic future.

Are you passionate about a social problem that you’d like to solve? The Gordon Institute of Business Science’s Entrepreneurship Development Academy will run its Social Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) for the 15th year in 2022.

The sought-after course takes excellence in business innovation thinking and applies it to the social development space.

Over 700 social entrepreneurs have already been equipped with technical, creative, strategic and management skills, as well as strategic networks to address various social and economic challenges while ensuring financial stability.

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY

A-Z

of Social Entrepreneurship

Sustainable Development Goals

Values

Threats

5Ws

USP & UVP

Theory X & Y

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MENTHER STRATEGY

BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS Happy and engaged employees lead to optimum productivity

H

ave you ever hired the best individuals in your business and then struggled to get them to deliver? Or have you had team members who don’t seem to understand their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – who are good at delivering coffee, but fail to deliver their reports on time? Or do you sometimes feel that your team is pulling in every direction except forward? After some time, it may seem like a visit to HR might be the best (and only) solution.

Candice Pillay | Director Norton Rose Fulbright SA But before you consider resorting to drastic solutions like replacing individuals who are not working well in your team, consider implementing a good management tool that will enable you to understand your team and work to their strengths. The leadership development model developed by psychologist Bruce Tuckman in 1965 theorised that there are four necessary and inevitable phases that a team will need to grow through to face challenges, find solutions, plan work and deliver results.

The first phase is the FORMING phase.

Every team must come together as a collective unit. However, every time a new member joins the team, the group identity will change and a so-called ‘new’ group or team is formed each time. In this phase, it becomes evident that the team members are independent individuals, who bring new thoughts and ideas on how to deliver on team goals and on their own responsibilities, to the collective unit. At every meeting, the entrepreneur will be able to

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MENTHER STRATEGY

identify the independent thinkers, the group leaders, the delegators and the executers.

While initial sessions of a new project are stimulating and exploding with ideas, there must come a time for decisions to be made and the project to start moving in a chosen direction. To grow from this stage, it is important that team members must be willing to let go of established positions (and hierarchies) and deal with conflict.

This then leads to the next phase: STORMING This is a vital step in the growth of the team that, ironically, builds trust. As personalities clash with each other, confrontation and disputes are inevitable. How these disputes are resolved will give the entrepreneur a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. The integrity of the individuals will also be tested and the commitment to

acting in the best interest of the team or the business will also be confirmed.

However, it is important, that disputes are resolved timeously and efficiently to create the boundaries that team members require in order to move forward with each other in a common direction.

This is the phase that can also be the most exhausting for the entrepreneur and if not dealt with correctly, can lead to the loss of very good candidates to other job opportunities and/or deplete morale in the team.

NORMING is the phase and process when team members establish and respect boundaries, recognise each other’s strengths and weaknesses and begin to work collaboratively.

This process will reflect a lot of camaraderie, team building and goodwill. It may well be that at this point, the team is in the process of finalising their projects and every member is making their contribution. The danger in this phase is that the team may now be getting along so well that there

is no longer the robust debate or testing of ideas that existed during the earlier phases, for fear of losing the relationships built.

The final phase of team development is known as the PERFORMING phase. This occurs when the team can now work together as a high-performing homogenous group. In the performing phase, the team understands their mandate, as well as the quality of work expected from them. By this stage, the team has acquired the requisite skillset to meet its deliverables consistently. In the performing phase, team members will take on established roles and the team will perform at a high level, requiring little supervision from the entrepreneur.

This is not the end of the story.

There will be times when the team may revert to the storming stage over new projects. However, this is part of the leadership development process and must be managed properly.

It’s important to remember that a new team is effectively created whenever a new team member, leader or manager enters the fray.

Most conflict that arises when new members join the team stems from the fact that they struggle to fit into the existing team structure.

Therefore, it is important for the team to grow through the four phases, whenever a new member joins the team.

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MENTHER STRATEGY

What can you do as an entrepreneur when building a workforce or a team to support your business?

In a start-up, team growth is organic. Let’s consider a hypothetical example: an entrepreneur starts her business alone and over time, acquires the assistance of a family member or friend who becomes her ‘trusted’ business ally. By the time she is ready to take on her first paid employee, a ‘team’ has already been established between her and the trusted ally. When the new employee is hired, their entrance creates a new team, as well as a new team identity and thus, the entrepreneur must identify the four phases for the team to grow through together. Considering that this process is repeated every time the entrepreneur takes on a new team member, she needs to be an effective ‘change manager’ in that team.

What can the entrepreneur do to ensure that each phase is managed correctly?

In the forming phase, an entrepreneur must understand that she is dealing with a new team. She must have faith that she has employed the best people from diverse backgrounds and she must be open to explore the team’s differences in building her business. Her team members must also be given the space to grow,

as well as a platform to express themselves. This is also a time to enforce the ground rules and KPIs that she expects from each of her team members. This is pivotal to team success – while it is important to have team goals, it is more important that there are individual goals that team members are held accountable to.

individuals can resolve conflict on their own, whilst others can’t and will more often appeal to a more confident team member (or to the entrepreneur directly) to resolve conflict for them. Ultimately, the goal is to enable the conflicting team members to work together.

In the storming phase, there is likely to be a lot of confrontation, raised voices and dissenting opinions between team members.

In the norming phase, the entrepreneur has little more to do, but supervise and give strategic direction to her team, from time to time. This is the phase where she will receive the greatest return on

Remember that individuals need to have a platform to express themselves; however, it is the entrepreneur’s responsibility to facilitate a safe and respectful environment for dialogue.

The entrepreneur must spend time observing and noting character developments in her team members, as well as how individuals respond to conflict and to dispute resolution. Some

her investments in the individual team members, as they make decisions and work together.

While the temptation at this point is to focus on other projects or other areas of her business (or even take some personal time off) because the team is now working independently, it is important to remember that she ought to remain connected to her team in order to keep them focused on her goals.

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MENTHER STRATEGY During this phase, the entrepreneur must avail herself to connect with each team member, to offer mentorship and to identify individuals that she wants to grow in her business. In essence, the entrepreneur must be the ‘glue’ that holds the team together.

In the performing phase, the entrepreneur can be truly proud of what she has achieved.

Once the team is achieving at its optimum level, and understands her business and vision, she is then free to grow her business or expand into other ventures. At this point, the entrepreneur can also focus on the growth of the individuals in her team that have shown great promise to propel her business forward.

Ultimately, happy and engaged employees lead to optimum productivity, so a little effort to understanding how the team dynamic is changing can be a huge investment in the business’s future.

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“

MENTHER TECHNOLOGY

Innovation is the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage.

- Dr Ken Hudson

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY

SHAPING LEADERSHIP WITH TECH

I

nnovation and technology are two terms that have become tied at the hip making it almost impossible to mention one without the other. While technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, innovation may be expressed as something new/transformed/different.

My favourite definition of innovation is by Dr Ken Hudson; “Innovation is the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage.”

Keeping our focus on innovation and technology, we keep challenging the status quo and ask about

the women who have used the space to shape the future of the spaces they occupy.

According to Elaine Montilla (founder of 5xminority, Assistant Vice President and CIO for information technology at The Graduate Center, CUNY and an AMA Women’s

Leadership Center presenter) we need more women in technology. No arguments from me there, in fact, I advocate for the cause. By now, we all hopefully acknowledge the gender divide where technology is concerned. In one of the articles I read by Ms Montilla, she highlights that with more women in the space there comes diversity which encourages more revenue, a different way of thinking and a greater pool of role models.

There is a common saying that “when you educate a woman, you educate a nation”. I couldn’t help but think of a few women that I have found to be movers and shakers in the spaces they occupy, shaping and challenging the norm, while making room for other women to follow suite.

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY One such woman is Dr Puleng Makhoalibe who is the founder of Alchemy Inspiration. Dr Makhoalibe has a background in Computer Science and Statistics. As an academic, she spent the last decade exploring, researching, writing, speaking, and engaging with this open-minded world and hopes to spend the rest of her

life unleashing the creativity of Africans and other emerging economies.

Above all, Dr Makhoalibe specialises in Design Thinking, Creativity, Facilitation and Training, Project Management, Innovation, Creative Problem Solving, IT Management and Strategy.

Dr Puleng Makhoalibe Then there was the inspirational Ms Portia Mngomezulu (passionately known for her PortiaM brand) who started from humble beginnings in 2011 and has now become a brand to be reconned with. Ms Mngomezulu is a former IT medical engineer at Siemens.

Between the support of her family and establishments such as The Innovation Hub

and SEDA, Ms Mngomezulu has created beauty products that are distributed in more than 20 chain stores and in different countries as well.

Her business started from her kitchen and thanks to technology and innovation, has now boomed to huge factories that create employment and turns over sustainable income.

Ms Portia Mngomezulu Technology has become a very powerful tool to promote/ influence a lot of ideas. I was really impressed with the way that the Obama administration was able to use technology and the social media platforms to drive their campaign and create an echoning wave of “Yes We Can”. A beacon of hope for Americans. This had me thinking about Dr Mamphela Ramphele who in 2013 had the guts to start a political party called Agang SA. Dr Ramphele is an activist, physician, academic, businesswoman, and political leader known for her activism efforts for the rights of black South Africans and her fight against South Africa’s discriminatory policies of apartheid. An innovative and gutsy move to create a political

party as a woman in a young democratic country it was.

Her wave may have not been long lived, but felt like an earthquake and shall remain in the history books. I can’t help but think that perhaps technology and innovation were not optimised in support of her efforts.

How different things may have been if our use of social media was the same then as it is now?

Just as Ms Montilla indicated, with more women in the technology space a lot can be achieved. Looking at these three women who have shaped and influenced the way of thinking, become role models, and created jobs and revenue, the world would really be a better place with more women in tech.

Innovation and technology is exciting as it cuts across all industries and knows no boundaries. We celebrate these women and many others across the globe who continue to push boundaries.

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MENTHER WELLNESS

FAST LIFE , FAST FOOD

T

When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use.

When diet is correct, medicine is of no need .

Kholeka Mkhize - Dietitian

echnology has become part and parcel of every woman’s lifestyle; there’s basically nothing we do without technology these days.

Tech has contributed to many efficiencies in life, but has also made life more fast paced. This even in the way we order and consume food all the way up the production chain to how food is made (grown and processed).

Conventional food production has quickly been replaced by advanced technological use of more precise robotic machinery to better our lives

and improve convenience.

These modern methods of food production have also slowly replaced human labour in the industry and lead to job losses that have affected lots of household’s employment and income of the older generation.

On the other hand, it has created a new category of employment in the technology industry which supports the new generation and

progression of lifestyle. It has made life easier for women as carers of the family especially with household chores such as; cleaning, washing and cooking which through automation have become quicker, more effective and time saving, so one can spend more time with family.

However, the downside of technology is that it interferes with that family time, as more people spend their time on social media and barely communicate with people physically around them.

HOW HAS TECNOLOGY AFFECTED NUTRIENT INTAKE Food technology is part of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control, research and development of food products. The modern industry is participating in more research to improve the quality

and shelf life of food, however some of the preservatives, colouring and additives end up contributing to illnesses.

Food eaten in this tech era is more processed and increased

processing also affects the nutritional value of the food.

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MENTHER WELLNESS Most people prefer ready-made meals and take-away food compared to home cooked meals. We may enjoy the convenience of this efficiency, but we don’t often ask about the associated costs (i.e. the new risks presented).

Processing methods present an increased risk of cancer, posed by cooking methods such as grilling, broiling, barbecuing and smoking of meat, which most processed foods undergo.

Several investigations have shown the presence of mutagenic activity in food after frying and charcoal broiling.

HERE ARE SOME CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CHOOSING TO EAT FAST

1

Most ready-made food contains a lot of salt, sugar, fat and has less fibre content.

2

High salt intake may contribute to high blood pressure and renal diseases.

3

High sugar intake may contribute to type 2 diabetes and obesity.

4

Fat contributes to a lot of ailments seen today, including non-communicable diseases.

5

The lack of fibre in food may contribute to digestive issues, cancers and immune diseases.

6

Most people live a sedentary lifestyle currently, because of technology and that has escalated the rate of lifestyle disease than ever seen before - even affecting children. The electronic gadgets that are used during these lazy time e.g. cellphones, tablets, computers etc. has been shown to be the main source of brain exposure to radiation, increased sleep disorders and memory impairments, which can also be attributed to microwave radiation.

7

Cooking using microwave stoves has become very useful and convenient in this lifetime, bearing in mind that microwave stoves also use radiation, which can be absorbed by organisms like human beings and has been associated with a series of physiological and functional changes. Many intricate electrical activities occur in the central nervous system, which are vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation.

The skill (and art) of cooking is slowly lost as more and more people rely on ready-made food.

It is still crucial to teach the young generation and children the conventional way of life to ensure survival in cases of emergencies e.g. lock-down, uncontrolled load-shedding, unforeseen life threatening situations and good old clean living.

NUTRITIONAL RECOMMENDATION IN THIS TECHNOLOGICAL PERIOD

8

It has become a norm and easy way out of cooking to order food that is delivered at our door-step.

This method of a food chain can pose a lot of health risks as there are no proper environmental protocols put in place for house-hold food deliveries by the Department of Environmental Health, e.g. proper hand washing before collection of food from restaurants by drivers; cleaning of the food carrier box on the motor-cycle and issues of contamination during transportation.

• • • • • • •

Choose a diet rich in a variety of plant-based foods.

Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active.

Drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all.

Select food low in salt and fat.

Prepare and store food safely.

Consider healthier alternatives in food preparation such as; boiling, poaching, steaming, braising, baking and roasting.

Choose food wisely for health’s sake and longevity.

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MARCH 2021

LAUNCH EDITION

JUNE 2021

YOUTH MONTH EDITION

OCTOBER 2021

MENTAL HEALTH EDITION

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#04

DECEMBER 2021

DECEMBER 2021

SOCIAL IMPACT EDITION

MARCH 2022

LEADING & SHAPING EDITION

MENTHER STYLING

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF FASHION

We have been given the power to create the future we want to see

T

he democratisation of fashion. The invention of the Little Black Dress. The rise of e-commerce. Fashion has always mirrored what is happening in society. Fashion is always forward-looking. It is always cyclical.

I’m almost always “that practical girl” when it comes to fashion and getting dressed. I just can’t get away from the desire to leave

You know, I thought about what I would write about in this column.

I could easily take the approach of analysing the future of fashion and commerce, exploring the different ways in which women and tech are revolutionising the fashion industry. Although informative, I think it would be quite boring for most of us!

you with some super practical tips to help YOU shape the future of our society. So that’s just what we’re going to do today.

There’s three major fashion consumer trends that I want to briefly unpack. Understanding these trends and allowing them to shape our fashion choices, will allow us to partner with the future!

These trends are:

1 2 3

The Trend Towards Transparency The Rapid Change in Consumer Behaviour.

Resale is Taking Over the Fashion Stage

Virtual Stylist

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MENTHER STYLING

The trend towards Transparency It’s no secret that the fashion industry has done some major damage to our planet. The greater concern is not that thousands of factories across the world are polluting the earth or underpaying and mistreating their workers. The concern is that they continue to do so, because there is a DEMAND for what they are producing. Cheap, accessible, trendy pieces that might not even last you one season.

How do we partner with the future?

Consumers are becoming smarter and more informed than ever before. We are more aware of sustainability and the negative effects that fast-fashion has on the environment.

How do we partner with the future?

- If and when you can, invest in high quality, core and statement garments that last longer in your wardrobe. These items should be styled with different looks. This reduces fashion waste as the product life span is increased with

- Plan your wardrobe and outfits.

Only buy an item that you know can be used with what you already have in your cupboard.

- Before you buy something, ask yourself: Do I know where this was made? Will I wear this more than once?

- Wherever possible, buy local.

Some of my favourite local and international brands are: Me&B (south Africa), Hannah Lavery (South Africa), Patagonia (International) and Everlane (USA).

wardrobe changes and updates sitting at a lower rate.

Here are some of my top core statement pieces: - Pair of Linen/linen-like fitted trousers - Basic Collared Button Through Shirt - Leather mules - Biker leather jacket.

These are all pieces that you will use in- and out of season. They are basic pieces that will outlast trends and you’ll be able to utilize them for years to come.

Resale is Taking Over the Fashion Stage Now this one is something I’m still trying to get some of my clients hooked on. The art of thrifting.

I totally understand that not everyone wants to go to some dingey

shop that reeks of moth balls!

However, we have to understand the importance of circular fashion and all do our part to invest in the future of fashion.

How do we partner with the future?

- Visit the second-hand shops in your area. Take a friend and go on an adventure to find some one-of-a-kind pieces.

- There are so many online stores that specialise in these kinds of items!

One of my favorite South African online brands that specialise in pre-loved items is Maven Sustainable www.mavencollection.co.za and one where you can become your own reseller is WISI-OI www.wisioi.com

Some of these trends might be totally new to you or you might be practicing some of these principles already. We have been given the power to create the future we want to see. I believe that as we partner with these powerful slow-fashion principles, we will not only find the joy in getting dressed, but also partner with good, solid change and shape the future we want to see in fashion! If getting dressed or shopping is something you find challenging, reach out to me over Instagram @moh_nah_ or email and we can chat!

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY

Train The Trainer Mentoring Program WOMEN IN FASHION

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MENTHER STYLING

The future of tech in Fashion Our style should grow and change with us, as our bodies and careers and life demands change

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few years ago, I heard that Hugo Boss international was installing a ‘walk through measurement system’ – walk through a device and the device scans and documents and stores the size of all your proportions as you deign to go through it. I’m all about the Boss, but let’s be real, unless you are built like a vintage Kardashian, this is not the future device that most of us want to go through.

Since then, I learnt that tech was being built so when you walked in a store, the store application would open, you could see their current in store collection, each piece, the size, the colours available and clickclick-click, and all the clothing you choose would be waiting for you to try, click-click-click again

and pay online, then collect at the sales counter. Now, who knows if that ever came to pass, but it does sound fabulous.

I honestly can only speak to my business and how technology is going to change my future, the future of my brand and how I am building the future of my

business.

One of my favourite clients is an actuary named K, let’s call him K, and possibly one of the most introverted men I have ever met.

Through our conversations over the last 4 years, I have gotten to know him, understand him and know exactly how he likes his trousers to fit. The reason I mention K, is because besides numbers, fashion, style and the women in his life, the man has one other passion – AI (Artificial Intelligence). He left South Africa about 3 years ago, studied at Carnegie Melon and now is one of SA’s foremost authority on the subject.

Knowing nothing about technology, algorithms, or API’s was and understanding that I needed to know about all this tech to build my new enterprise,

CEO of Tweak n Style

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it was K that I went to. He was amazing, he dumbed it all down for me, literally allowed me to ask as many questions as I needed to and not feel like a complete idiot.

Over coffee we chatted through the in’s and out’s of the tech that was going to make me, the flesh – working in fashion and styling, obsolete. How exciting, how revolutionary, how mind-blowing and a little scary. Long gone are the days where we look at the moon and wonder how it ever was that man landed on it or how we ever read a page-by-page map book to get to where we were going or how I could ever let my mother know I was on my way home. Now nothing is out of the question anymore, nothing is classified as impossible.

The question was – how is tech shaping our future as women?

At a click of a button, we can book a holiday, watch a film that has not yet aired, have real time conferences from anywhere in the world and learn about anything at any time.

We are more knowledgeable, time efficient and open to possibilities and that does make me smile. Truth be told, no one knows exactly what’s next, we will adapt as technology expands and tech will adapt to our needs and wants as it learns more about us. What I do know, is that we should each stay true to self as we keep innovating.

In my world as an image consultant, a stylist and personal shopper, I’m often asked; where did you find those pieces, why can I not ever find things like that?

And my answer is simple, “we shop with blinders on, picking up the same stuff every time we shop, from the same stores and the same labels”, sometimes all because someone once said we looked good in “yellow” or we just got comfortable in that trend – that same safe trend we’ve had since whenever. We buy

the same colours over and over again, the same cuts, shapes and styles – patterns or materials, never mind that we look half dead in it. It can be scary to move out of comfortable, but our style should grow and change with us, as our bodies and careers and life demands change.

The challenge is to be consciously open. It was my business partner that poked the bear (me the bear) in fact, I was about to rip his face off when he challenged me to expand our brand into tech, I smiled, left him with the bill and accepted the challenge.

Tech is revolutionising my future and the future of my brand and is finally opening new doors, which would never have been a possibility, if it wasn’t for technology in my business.

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MENTHER RESOURCE

PIVOT or PERISH How Entrepreneurs Overcame Lockdown Uncertainty in South Africa’s Townships

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s Covid-19 came crashing down on entrepreneurs and hit SMMEs like a baseball to the back of the head, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) turned the crisis into a research opportunity. A team of academics were able to collect real-time data from township entrepreneurs enrolled in a two-year programme, capturing their responses while South Africa was under lockdown. The findings provide valuable insight into the thinking and behaviour of these entrepreneurs as they steered their township enterprises through uncertainty,

risk, and fear – fighting for the survival of their businesses and themselves. The research, which received substantial grant funding from the Walmart Foundation, was recently published in the working paper ‘Pivot or Perish: How Entrepreneurs Overcame Lockdown Uncertainty in South Africa’s Townships’. The authors intend to release a detailed white paper and peer-reviewed journal article in the near future.

Professor Kerrin Myres, Professor Anastacia Mamabolo and Senior Research Manager Sean Smith, all from the GIBS Entrepreneurship

Development Academy (EDA), interviewed a sample from their entrepreneurial development programme. Sponsored by the Walmart Foundation, the programme targets township entrepreneurs from the retail sector and has already graduated 360 participants over the past four years. Their work builds on Myres and Smith’s 2020 study on ‘capacitating entrepreneurs for a sustainable township economy’. This field of research is significant because it addresses an often overlooked yet essential segment of the entrepreneurial population.

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MENTHER RESOURCE

Township Economy Just how crucial township entrepreneurs are, becomes clear when considering the driving role their small businesses play in the economy and especially for job creation.

SMMEs are such an economic force, that the World Bank believes the key to South Africa’s Covid recovery lies in stimulating entrepreneurship toward the establishment of new ventures.

Granted that the majority (86%) of the country’s SMMEs belong to the informal sector – which in turn accounts for 27% of all employment and contributes 8% of national GDP – there’s urgency in filling the data gap so that this segment can get the support that it needs to thrive.

The pandemic’s crushing blow left SMMEs on the canvas. A report by the Department of Small Business Development and Finfind revealed that 76.2% of surveyed businesses experienced a significant decrease in revenue during the first five months of lockdown (which started on 28 March 2020). 42.7% were forced to close, citing existing debt, lack of cash reserves, outdated financials, no access to relief funding, and an inability to operate during the lockdown.

The GIBS EDA continued to run entrepreneurial development programmes in townships in all but the earliest stages of lockdown. ‘Our experiences in classrooms and mentoring sessions led us to believe that despite these dire statistics,

some entrepreneurs seemed to be thriving, making their businesses work in the most difficult of circumstances,’ say the ‘Pivot or Perish’ authors, who embarked on their study to understand how this was happening. These are their findings: The Shock of Sudden Stoppage The shock of the total lockdown reverberated through the township economy. Just as entrepreneurs struggled to make sense of the regulations and the Covid threat to their health, business stopped. Some took a while to realise that there would be no income at all. Many did not re-open after lockdown, but those that did, found it difficult to operate as they had before the outbreak. Entrepreneurs were being challenged to change.

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MENTHER RESOURCE Keep Going in Spite of Business Unusual Businesses that continued to operate during Covid were required to change the way they operated, either to be compliant with lockdown regulations or to meet the changed needs of customers and the altered operations of suppliers, as well as more intense competition. ‘We were forced to sanitise, wear a mask and clean the environment, and now people were starting to get scared,’ says one survey participant, who lost customers because they wanted the reassurance of large retailers in terms of hygiene protocols.

Another entrepreneur describes having to sell her car to pay staff salaries, seeing they had to feed their own families, but eventually having to let her staff go. The research team was surprised by the level of persistence and resilience, given the limited resources that most township entrepreneurs could bring to the survival process.

Strategising for Survival To ensure the survival of their businesses and themselves during Covid, township entrepreneurs strategised in a fascinating blend of careful

planning and urgent action.

They were both cautious and creative in their efforts to change direction, sometimes dramatically, while limiting risk.

One participant initially tried to do things the old way, but says, ‘I started to figure out what else can I go into? Is this still viable?

Can I add something else? I had to think on my feet and do it

planning and would alter the long-term future of the business (for instance migrating to digital platforms). The second one was more opportunistic and shortterm, and sometimes unrelated to the core operation (for example companies responding to the shortage of surgical facemasks). Here the former was more likely to be successful

now.’

than the latter, but it was found that any action yielded superior results to inaction.

Pivots Good and Bad The surviving township entrepreneurs adopted the art of the pivot; they broadly fell into two different camps. The first one involved changes to the core business operations, which were fundamental, required deep

Covid Hurt (but also Helped) the Business Some entrepreneurs noted that the experience of doing business during the pandemic had changed the way they

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MENTHER RESOURCE pick myself up again, saying no matter what you do, it’s part of life. It’s just temporary, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.’

Lessons for the Future

thought about their business – by challenging them to think more creatively ‘outside the box’ about opportunities and growing their existing business into the future. These optimists might be in the minority, but they emerged stronger in both the personal and business sense.

Personal Stress and Resilience Overall, township entrepreneurs faced immense uncertainty, a risky environment and upheaval from their personal lives to the macro-level contexts in which they operated. In most cases, the individual business owners had few people to rely on other than themselves when it came to ensuring the survival of their existing businesses or the sustainability of any pivots or new ventures. Inevitably then, personal resilience, fortitude and agency were all major assets in overcoming the stress placed on both self and business. In many respects, it was those who held optimism and resilience who conquered the stress and fear. As one entrepreneur puts it, ‘It was bad, but I learnt to

It’s evident that the following behaviours and strategies are key to overcoming uncertainty, especially when the nature and arrangement of the future cannot be predicted, modelled, delineated, or compartmentalised in any useful way.

Diversity of income streams: those reliant on a single income stream were hardest hit. Uncertain circumstances can strike at any time (beyond pandemics) and it’s safer to have diverse income streams where possible to mitigate against any unforeseen problems.

Perseverance: was a key attribute in overcoming the troubles that the lockdowns brought. Those who continued to seek opportunities, who were agile and willing to alter their business models, also experienced better outcomes.

Strategy and agency:

those who began to form strategies early on when facing the unknown, generally fared better – especially when coupled with an ‘agentic’ or pro-active approach. Essentially, forming a strategy and pursuing it

experimentally is much better than doing nothing.

Uncertainty as an opportunity: township entrepreneurs should regard uncertainty itself as an opportunity. Those who did so, who made tactical shifts to try and meet the opportunities that were created by Covid and the lockdowns, often prospered. This prosperity was sometimes only a short-term outcome; however, it did assist in building a bridge over the uncertainty and added some sustainability.

Resilience: those entrepreneurs who were less intimidated by the unfolding events and able to rest on their resilience, enjoyed better outcomes for themselves and their businesses. While the disease itself was traumatic for many, the effects on their businesses and families added emotional stress. The capacity to recover quickly and robustly from difficulties proved invaluable.

While Covid came as a shock that SMME owners could not have foreseen or prepared for, it allowed the GIBS EDA team to identify the behaviours and strategies necessary for overcoming uncertainty and growing informal businesses.

These findings may spark further research and play a role in entrepreneurial development, because ultimately, South African township entrepreneurs with multiple income streams and timeously devised personal and business strategies are more likely to pivot than perish in the next crisis.

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A 360º View on Advising Small Businesses The Business Counseling Platform For Advisors And Business Owners

INNOVATION AT THE FOREFRONT

Support local and grow sme’s in south africa our journey to making south africa great with an on-demand business consultation platform Startwise was founded by serial entrepreneur, Velly Bosega, in 2021 and the first on-demand business consulting platform to be released in South Africa.

An important element for strategic growth is empowering yourself with knowledge. Formal education is a costly investment and often the barrier to professionals reaching their maximum potential in the business world. To bridge the gap that exists in South Africa, Startwise enables entrepreneurs, SME business owners and any professional to connect with mentors and business coaches.

Startwise recruits’ mentors across all fields and industries, with over 10 years’ experience in their respective fields. These mentors have worked with wellknown brands and proven success in their roles. The platform instantly connects mentors and mentees to give them the development advice needed to grow their business.

It’s clear Velly has a passion for SME’s, growth and embracing the diverse entrepreneurial spirit of South Africans. He knows the struggles of starting and growing your SME and the power of leveraging business networks. Click to connect

The GrowthWheel Framework is a simple checklist which helps small business advisors and their clients have conversations about growing a business.

The visual tool helps to quickly identify the most important Focus Areas and define decisions and actions the business should be working on. Advisors just have to add their own expertise.

For business advisors GrowthWheel becomes a language which supports a better dialogue with clients, helps avoid blind spots, and help advisors advice with confidence.

Click to connect

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Expand your business knowlege and build a sustainable business with the HerVenture App

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Our master classes are crafted for entrepreneurs with an idea or in the early stages of running their business. We have a great team of mentors who work in the field of their subject matter who will deliver dynamic and informative sessions to guide you on your journey of creating a business and life to drive social impact.

May Wed, 18 May

June Wed, 8 June

July

Navigating business challenges post pandemic

Professional Etiquette

6 July -Setting up your finances Precious Mvulane

Mentor Mathapelo Mantsho

Mentor Ayanda Ngalo

13 July – Creating Connections Vanessa Bluen 20 July – Alternative Business Model Micaela Mazzei

August Wed, 24 August

September

October

Creating meaningful strategy

Creating an exit strategy

EQ for positive performance

Mentor Dr Santie Von Below

Mentor Ralene Clarke

Mentor Wendy Chalmers Mill

Join our community today,

membership@menther.co.za

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Our Contributors Thank you for coming together to make this possible and for the work you do to support and empower women

Alice Dlamini (Leadership) International Speaker and women in leadership development consultant

Mona Willis (Styling) Virtual Stylist www.wearejona.com moh_nah

Candice Pillay (Strategy) SWOT YOURSELF - Finding your strength in every opportunity

Pretty Kubyane (Cover Feature) Co-Founder Coronet Blockchain

Faiza Mallick (Sustainability) Marketing Manager GIBS Entrepreneurship Development Academy

Phumi Korber (Cover Feature) Co-Founder Founder of WISIOI

Kelebogile Molopyane (Technology) Chief Executive @ AB4IR www.ab4ir.org @KelebogileMolopyane

Melissa Slaymaker (Cover Feature) Country Director and Talent Hub Director, Women-in-Tech, South Africa

Kholeka Mkhize (Wellness) Dietician / Nutritionist kholeka-mkhize

Venessa Mabophe Mathebula (Business) Quantitative Analyst at STANLIB

Janine Starkey (Styling) CEO of Tweak n Style www.tweaknstyle.co.za janine@tweaknstyle.co.za

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MENTHER TECHNOLOGY

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