Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng - Issue 4 - Successful Journals Wealth Magazine

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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

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CONTENTS Managing editor LONWABO MARELE COVER DESIGN MARK-UH-TING LAYOUT AND SUB EDITING LONWABO MARELE CONTRIBUTORS LIKHO MPAMA MASIBULELE LUNIKA NONI SOPHE ADVISORY NONTO NYONI

13 COVER STORY THE STORY BEHIND SOUTH AFRICA'S ILLUSTRIOUS PROFESSOR, MAMOKGETHI PHAKENG

"There is no limit to what we as women can accomplish."

6 EDITOR'S NOTE LONWABO MARELE 9 FIRE PIECE: SHARON MOATSHE HOW TO TURN A SETBACK INTO A FORTUNE WHILE BALANCING MOTHERHOOD 17 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PROF PHAKENG THE STORY BEHIND SOUTH AFRICA'S ILLUSTRIOUS PROFESSOR, MAMOKGETHI PHAKENG

28 TOP READ: RENEÉ THOMPSON DRIVING CHANGE THROUGH SOCIAL SERVICE AND PARLIAMENTARY WORK 34 BUSINESS TECH: BATSAMAYI CREATING OPPORTUNITY IN THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 39 ENTERTAINMENT: SIKELELWA VUYELENI THE INSIDE STORY OF A YOUNG, BLACK AND GIFTED FEMALE TV POWERHOUSE

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EDITOR'S NOTE SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS

HARD WORK AND CONSISTENCY This year we are doing everything in a smart and automated way.

As an entrepreneur, we have got a lot that we have to do to take up space in the industry.

This begins with us applying as much hard work, sacrifice, faith and consistency as possible.

In that process, we have to find a way to work smart.

Working smart means anything from living a healthy life, to being able to do twice as much work with less effort as possible (80/20 rule). So, whether you are creating automated systems, building structures or putting together a team, 2022 is our year, as entrepreneurs, for the taking.

The stories you are about to and leadership to transform your read, the people featured, are a journey. testament of leadership, Oh, yes, just before we get in transformation and industry to the reading, we would love to takeovers. The more you read up thank everyone for the support, on them, the more you will want messages and posts relating to to align your energy with their our TedX Talk in November 2021. energy. Take for instance, It was a long but educational Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, journey that we shared with the Vice Chancellor at the amazing thought leaders. The University of Cape Town. She is a video is available in March 2022 powerhouse. From her village of and is also available on the Ga-Rankuwa, many young girls Successful Journals website. were never expected to become God bless and enjoy. a big deal in the world. But she has gone against all odds to inspire that young girl in the village and everywhere else in the world. That, my friend, is the LONWABO MARELE FOUNDER & CEO power of using education SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS hello@successfuljournals.com www.successfuljournals.com

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FIRE PIECE

SHARON MOATSHE:

HOW TO TURN A SETBACK INTO A FORTUNE WHILE BALANCING MOTHERHOOD

By Likho Mpama

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HOW SHARON TURNED WHAT SEEMED LIKE A SETBACK INTO HER FORTUNE Sharon Moatshe is a 27 year old black business woman from Kagiso, a township situated in Krugersdorp West of Johannesburg.

From her humble beginnings of growing up in a shack, she was the only child. She attended public schools which many people do not want to believe, "they like we don’t believe you, which in fact I used to walk to school” she says.

In 2013 she studied Public Relations Management (PR) at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town. In her third year, she fell pregnant with a baby boy.

“I was afraid to go home when I realised I was pregnant. Going home eases a lot of things. Firstly, I was heavily embarrassed because I was expected to come home with a degree and I ended up going home with a degree with eyes (starring). Secondly, my mom is a Pastor. Thirdly, I had no job and the guy is older than me, so going home felt like I failed,” she says.

In everything Sharon Moatshe went through she has found ways to balance her life as a business woman and being a mother.

"I believe everyone has 24 hours and that might sound cliché you know, it’s literally about how you use your time but we choose to waste time watching a series. I had made a decision to cut watching tv, I only watch it once in a while just to reward myself,” she says.

She believes the body and the mind can reach maximum capacity and capability if we put our mind to it. She has a mission to see how far she can push herself in making her dreams and vision come through.

“I believe I have the ability to reach higher levels and be a CEO at the age of 30, have my PhD and balance motherhood and all that requires is time management,” she says.

What inspired her to become an entrepreneur was her dad and maternal grandfather, both were entrepreneurs in their own right. She deems it a calling to be an entrepreneur because it ran through the family. She opened up a company called Sharon Café and she explained how the company came about.

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“I started a coffee shop with nothing in my bank account. I was working at an NGO called the Bookary where I started my internship with a couple of years ago. There was a coffee shop down stairs from where I used to work and I used to go there and engage with people. One day the owner of the shop told me he was closing down. I saw an opportunity and I spoke with my business partner to rent the place from the owner along with his equipment and hire the stuff that worked for him. I took a leap of faith and went with it and never looked back,” she says.

In 2020 the country was in lockdown, she explained that the Café had to close down for 5-6 months which she decided to give back the keys to its owner because she couldn’t maintain the space anymore.

From there she had to start over and open her own restaurant in her name (Sharon's Café) and when she did that she did not get any funding to open her company but she did it with resilience, strength, loans here and there, credit score and belief. Through that journey she learnt that one needs to believe in their dream regardless how it happens.

In October 2020 Sharon and her team relaunched the company, through out that, lockdown made her re-evaluate her business, she could not depend only in selling coffee, she had to come up with different strategies of making her business better. "I had to change my offerings. I combined selling coffee, having meet and greet sessions and hosting events,” she says.

Sharon Moatshe is not only an entrepreneur, she is also a dedicated philanthropist. She runs an NGO which is really close to her heart, it’s her way of giving back, paying it forward to all the people who invested in her life.

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"I WANT TO INVEST IN START-UPS, I WANT TO PLANT SEEDS EVERYWHERE She started an NGO which helps libraries in public schools in three provinces. She then shifted her focus once she saw her NGO is doing well on its own to other areas that she is passionate about which are coding send robotics in public schools as well as writing where kids write their stories and she gets to publish them. She feels it is important that these stories are shared in the world because they reflect African stories.

She recently launched her website. She will be going across South Africa interviewing women who are entrepreneurs; she wants to tell and share their stories of how they made it. She will possibly be collaborating with a corporate company. Sharon Café will be hosting events which can be checked at www.sharoncafe.co.za, she will host different things from book clubs to Sunday soul sessions.

As much as it seems like Sharon Moatshe has a lot on her plate but she has other dreams that she wants to pursue that are long term investments.

“I want to invest in start-ups, I want to plant seeds everywhere and start-ups do not need a lot of money, it needs commitment,” she says.

She wants to encourage people or young women who are looking up to her to always know they are enough, to stay faithful in what they do and to not get pregnant at a young age.

“Being a mother is not easy especially at a young age, I don’t encourage such because I know how it feels, I was once in that position, I know what I’m talking about,” says Sharon. SJ JANUARY/FEBURARY 2022 | SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS

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“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.”

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“Entrepreneurs should always aim to play the long game. Instant gratification cannot build a legacy.”

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“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.“

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

The story behind south africa's illustrious professor, Mamokgethi Phakeng

By Lonwabo Marele

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HARD WORK, SHEER WILL AND DETERMINATION

Professor Phakeng's story from GaRankuwa, north west of Pretoria to Marapyane village in Mpumalanga, to travelling across the world through education is a testament of hard work, sheer will and determination against all odds. Her work has earned her a Grand Counsellor of the Baobab (Silver) from the President in 2016.

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IN THE PURSUIT OF SHAPING A JUST SOCIETY THROUGH EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP If you think growing up in a village is tricky, imagine being a black woman, from GaRankuwa, striving for a PhD in Mathemics Education, in an Apartheid ridden South Africa.

Professor Rosina Mamokgethi (Mmutlana) Phakeng's story is of sheer will, faith, hard work, social value, illustrious partnerships and inspiration to the world.

She is one of three children born to Wendy and Frank Mmutlana, in Ga-Rankuwa, in the north-west of Pretoria, in 1966.

Her mother was a professional teacher and her father was one of the first black radio announcers at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

Phakeng started school in 1972, at the Ikageleng Primary School, in Marapyane village (Mpumalanga) and then Ikageng Primary, in Ga-Rankuwa. She attended her higher primary education at Tsela-tshweu and at Tswelelang. She then went on to study at Thuto-Thebe Middle School and Odi High School, before completing her matric with a University Exemption at Hebron’s College of Education in 1983.

She achieved a BSc in pure mathematics from the University of Bophuthatswana (now a part of North-West University), and an MSc in mathematics education at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). She became the first black female South African to obtain a PhD in mathematics education, at Wits, in 2002.

From 1988 to 2007, Phakeng was married to Richard Setati and in 1990 they had a son, Tsholofelo. In 2012, she married Madimetja Lucky Phakeng, thereby adding the appendage "Phakeng" to her surname. Lucky Phakeng is an advocate currently heading the Takeover Regulation Panel.

“I grew up in a family where excellence was preached to us at a young age. My dad made us work very hard to get to university. I also had the desire to achieve excellence in what I do and the love I have for young people in development,” she says.

“If you want to create the future, if you want to shape the future, you have got to connect with young people. I could have been in corporate and making a lot of money but I would not be as happy if I had chosen that route. I would not be in a space to shape the minds of young people and influence positivity as higher education and the space of education as a whole is the magnet,” she says.

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IF YOU WANT TO CREATE THE FUTURE, IF YOU WANT TO SHAPE IT, YOU'VE GOT TO CONNECT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE. PROF MAMOKGETHI PHAKENG VICE CHANCELLOR AT UCT

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UCT ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN BASIC EDUCATION, UCT AND SOCIETY From 1989 to 2022, Phakeng has held numerous positions, as a mathematics lecturer, acting principal, founding director, associate professor, executive dean and vice principal, at esteemed institutions such as the University of South Africa, Wits University and the University of Cape Town.

In 2018 she spent 18 months as the deputy vice-chancellor at UCT where she initiated a funding programme for post-graduate students.

She is currently the vice-chancellor at the university and continues the fight for a just society through equal education.

But Phakeng’s social drive for a transformative Africa is something she has always had a passion for since a very young age. In 2004, she founded the non-profit organisation, Adopt-A-Learner, where they help to provide deserving lower-income learners with financial assistance.

And if that was not enough, last year Phakeng introduced the UCT Online High School with the goal of hitting multiple birds with the same stone.

The UCT Online High School is bridging the gap between basic education and the society; it gives pupils from lower income backgrounds access to quality teachers; it also pushes UCT’s mission of a massive transformative purpose.

“In the process of losing many learners, many of them are not getting accommodation in public schools because they are full. We thought, whilst the government is working on a solution to that problem — to build schools… It’s not possible for the government to build 1000 schools in a year, we’ve seen that it is not possible.

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Rather than being agitated, we can come in to assist, so we started the UCT Online High School — it is a part of our massive transformative purpose at UCT. It is to unleash human potential for a fair and just society — we cannot unleash that potential if we’re only looking at ourselves — we want to spread it to basic education and online high school is the best way,” she says.

Phakeng’s outstanding work in mathematics education and her leadership have been recognised once more by one of the UK’s top universities. In October last year, she became the first illustrious visiting professor at the University of Bristol.

The partnership connects the UK university with esteemed global research leaders and academics. Phakeng interacts with Bristol’s academic community on a regular basis through a series of public lectures shared online.

“It is an incredible honor. I guess it is because of their interest in the work that I do, their interest in my role in education, my passion with the transformative work I do at UCT and what I can bring to Bristol,” says Phakeng.

“Bristol is very similar to UCT, we both have a history of slavery. Some of our buildings were built on the graves of slaves. Bristol was funded by slave masters from funding that came from the slave trade. We brought down the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, they brought down the statue of Edward Colston and put up a statue of Henrietta Lacks,” she says.

Lacks was a black African American woman who had a unique condition where her cancer cells grew outside her body. Her cells were used for medical science to develop remedies, vaccines and cures. When she died in 1951, her family had no idea her cells were used for research. When they discovered this in 1975 they took legal advice. Last year, Bristol University was celebrating the 70th anniversary since her cells were used for research. Her bronze statue was created by another black woman, Helen WilsonRoe. Phakeng admires the idea of creating wealth in society. In her view, wealth creation is the pursuit of shaping a just society through education for the less fortunate while doing what you love.

“We create wealth not essentially for yourself but for generations to come after you and also to influence and shape the lives that are less fortunate.

"I don’t live my life with the purpose of pursuing wealth. Not because I don’t think it’s important, right, other people live their lives that way. Some people live their life that way. That is not my pursuit in life,” she says.

“My pursuit is to make a difference through education and development and many other ways I do. I believe that if I pursue my passion in that way I can create wealth and that wealth is not just for me, but for others who are less fortunate than me and generations after me. And, of course, it’s like I’m talking about money, but it can be knowledge, heritage and many other things. It shouldn’t be about you, it should be about others — it will be sustainable, it will outlive you to tell a story that is powerful,” she says.

Phakeng believes success is not a destination, because we never get there, but rather it is a purpose to society.

“Work hard and never undermine the value of working hard. Secondly, don’t apologise for who you are — be who you are. Thirdly, stay the course. If you jump the course, you’re making it difficult for those who come after you, that look like you. Stay the course,” says Phakeng. SJ

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"I DID MY POSTGRADUATE STUDIES AT WITS PART TIME WHILE WORKING FULL TIME AND RAISING A FAMILY. NO SOCIAL LIFE. IN 1998 I TOOK LEAVE WITHOUT PAY SO THAT I CAN HAVE A STRONG START TO MY PHD. IT WAS TOUGH FINANCIALLY AND PERSONALLY! IN THE END I WON!

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RENEÉ THOMPSON

TOP READ

HOW LOSING HER JOB IN PARLIAMENT PROPELLED HER TO REGISTER A BUSINESS - THE REST IS HISTORY

By Lonwabo Marele

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At Parliament, Thompson always worked contract jobs. One night, while she was on a long leave because of an injury she had sustained at work, the cabinet was reshuffled and minister she worked under lost their position. Her contract ended overnight.

She registered to do her Masters of Philosophy in Journalism and later a PhD focused on legislation on parliament processes.

Although she was quite skeptical about going back to working in Parliament, at the back of her mind, she knew her path would interlock again with the national assembly.

One of the members of Parliament who she had assisted many years back hit her up on the phone to meet up for coffee. They wanted advice from her about a particular topic she was quite aware about in the agriculture sector. They offered to pay her consulting work. She registered her business; Thompson Trust.

“You do not need a business plan. You just have to start working. There are seven females and two interns in the business. The plan is to take in graduates with no experience because, really, I was also given that chance,” she says.

Reneé Thompson is one of four girls raised by a single mother, in a rural place called Laingsburg, in the outskirts of the Western Cape province, in South Africa.

To make it big in the area, one usually has to leave around Standard 5 (Grade 7) to attend high school either in Worcester, Stellenbosch or Cape Town. Immediately after passing matric, she did a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at Stellenbosch University.

While at the university, Thompson worked three jobs; which included her working at the local library. While reshuffling the books, she came across a job post in the newspaper and she applied. A few weeks later she relocated to Cape Town to begin her contract work as a researcher for Parliament.

“Moving and working in Cape Town was the best decision for me. What I didn’t understand while at home and at Stellenbosch all made sense, politically, when I moved to Cape Town,” she says.

Thompson says in her life, she only saw her mother cry twice; when they found her fathers body after a week since he went missing and when she got diagnosed with cancer. Her strong will inspired the four sisters to take on the world.

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"YOU DO NOT NEED A BUSINESS PLAN. YOU JUST HAVE TO START WORKING. But with her success comes great responsibility to give back to society. When her sisters quit their jobs, together, they ad hoc work by assisting single mothers and women and girls who have a history of gender-based violence.

They then registered their non-profit organisation, Susters4Life where they collaborate with shelters across the Boland and West Coast areas. Their goal is to create an app that can be used as a speed dial for women in difficult situations, so they can immediately get help.

Susters4Life usually does sanitary drives where they distribute reusable pads to shelters and schools that can last up to three years.

“We think that a ladder needs to be someone of power or a politician, which isn’t the case. It can be anyone in society who has the passion and drive to uplift the rest of the community,” she says.

Thompson has received a lot of ‘no’s’ in her career, however, politics has given her a thick skin.

“Every no is closer to a yes,” says Thompson. SJ

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Experience the world like never before.

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Technology is best when it brings people together.

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BATSAMAYI

CREATING OPPORTUNITY IN THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

By Lonwabo Marele

In the modern day, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has increasingly changed the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human history.

For global software engineering company, BATSAMAYI, from

Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the shift to work remotely, as a result of the Covid19 pandemic, has been welcomed with open arms by their team.

Software Quality Engineer, Lereko Molefe, has had the best

time working from home in the past 20 months. She has been consistent and disciplined in terms of time and meeting deadlines.

“Living in the 4IR? My thoughts are, we need to catch up - be well informed and know as much content as you can that is related to your line of work.

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We have a lot of ground to cover as Africa, Compared to other continents. We need to take part in spaces that educate and train us to develop skills for emerging technologies,” she says.

Originally from Matatiele, Molefe wanted to become a quantity surveyor. The course offered by the Nelson Mandela University was full, so she opted for Information and Communications

Technology (ICT) instead. She spent time with like-minded people and attended ICT spaces, and has become one of the best in the industry.

Software Engineer, Siyamamkela Mafu says that with the world going digital, there is a greater need for more skilled software engineering professionals, especially women engineers in the industry.

Prior to the national lockdown, Mafu, from Peddie, Ngqushwa, in the Eastern Cape, spent almost two hours commuting to and from work per day. Now, he has more time to exercise and meditate while working from home.

When Mafu joined BATSAMAYI, the company did not yet have a Software Engineering division. He and his colleague started it, and developed their first successful project. They learnt new concepts and programming languages, worked on Android, APIs and decided which technologies to use for their projects.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to accomplish them - but I did. A famous tata Nelson Mandela quote says: ‘It always seems impossible until it is done’. And that is completely true,” says Mafu.

Former Collegiate Girls’ High School pupil and Nelson Mandela University IT graduate, Haanim Baboo, started working at BATSAMAYI in 2019.

Since Grade 5, when she received her first computer device, she fell in love with technology.

When she took Computer Applications Technology (CAT) as a subject in school, she learned to create websites in HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which triggered her curiosity to create more.

Baboo says working at BATSAMAYI has opened up so many opportunities for her to increase her knowledge and achieve certifications from the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) and Amazon Web Services (AWS), while enhancing her leadership skills.

Software Quality Engineer, Thandokazi Mdiniso, from Kariega (formerly known as Uitenhage), says BATSAMAYI offers graduates a chance to gain experience, and a vast impact on the personal development of its employees.

The Master of Technology graduate from the Nelson Mandela University has not yet had the opportunity to work from the office since she joined the company last year. The only thing she says she would change is the interaction with her colleagues - the office environment would have given her the opportunity to meet new people and develop closer working relationships.

She learned about the company in 2017, as the Managing Director, Cinga Nyangintsimbi was a lecturer at the time. She heard about the company through other students and joined in 2020. The feeling of contributing to a new project, working with different people and learning new skills excites.

The ability to inspire others keeps her going. SJ

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SIKELELWA VUYELENI

FILM AND DRAMA

THE INSIDE STORY OF A YOUNG, BLACK AND GIFTED FEMALE TV POWERHOUSE Her endurance, sacrifice and passion for acting and entrepreneurship is a driving force on her road to stardom.

By Likho Mpama

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SHE CHOSE FILM, BUT HER FIRST LOVE REMAINS IN DRAMA AND THEATRE Sikelelwa Vuyeleni is a young actress from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, originally before her family moved up to Cape Town, she stayed with both her parents.

Her stay in Cape Town opened up doors for her in the industry, she was exposed to friends who were on magazine catalogues. She describes meeting up with such friends as a blessing.

“I was interested in being in what they were doing but without anything to it. I got to know that for one to be on those magazine catalogues an agent needs to be gotten. A year went by in the agent, I got an audition and at the time I just started doing drama for real in Grade 10. I was blessed in doing drama and you know, magic was created and I got the role and that is where I got to find out that actually performance is my thing and I realised that this is the journey I will be taking,” she says.

After she finished high school, she planned to do drama given her growing love for it but could not apply for it at UCT, they did not accept her.

She decided to do film at CPUT and ended up doing film and her reason for choosing film was that she wanted to have some sort of connection to the industry, regardless of where it was.

Even though she chose film, her love for drama always creeped in because that is where the passion was rather than behind the camera.

She went through a small depression at some point in her first year of university and she wanted to just drop out and go to Johannesburg but because she was still under her parents roof, she could not make such drastic decisions. In her second year in university, in 2017, she got a small role but that did not do it for her.

A blessing in disguise came through at the end of that year, when she got an audition in Johannesburg which she ended up getting and moving to Johannesburg.

The job she got there was for 8 months and she describes that journey as very challenging because she left home and had to adapt to living alone. As much as it was difficult to leave home she says, “the biggest challenge was when the eight months of my job came to an end and reality kicked in because there was no monthly income but I had to adjust and live differently, approach life differently, look for gigs and connect with people”.

In 2019 she got an opportunity with Mzansi Magic but it was just for four days. She stayed with her friend for a month, she says, “I never thought I would tell a story that I used to stay at a friend’s place” but it paid off because she got an opportunity which she ended up getting and was able to move out of her friend’s place to find her own place.

She got the job through her voice over work.

2019 ended on a high for her because she had done a couple of gigs with Mzansi Magic and also done an advert for Standard Bank.

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"THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WAS WHEN THE EIGHT MONTHS OF MY JOB CAME TO AN END AND REALITY KICKED IN.

In 2020 Sikelelwa Vuyeleni decided to go back to university to finish her degree. In the middle of her studies another opportunity came for her to do dubbing (to add sound effects or new dialogue to a film) for a production company in Cape Town, which she saw as a blessing because she is versatile as an artist.

A couple of months down the line she came across a ‘post for a live audition on Instagram between the months of June and July that was done by Mandla Ngcongwane, a co-owner of Black Brain Pictures production company. She auditioned for a role and got the gig, which than meant she had to go back to Johannesburg. ”I had to tell a little white lie at school that I got an internship opportunity in Johannesburg at Black Brain Pictures to be part of their film crew but actually I was called there for an acting role. I spoke with the executive producer and said I am in this predicament, I am a third year film student and I was suppose to be doing my internship but I am here now and I would like to do both, is it possible to do my internship while doing my acting and he said it is fine, I can do both,” she says.

Everything panned out perfectly well.

Sikelelwa Vuyeleni finished her studies and then got a role as Owami on Mzansi Magic's soccer drama ‘Vula Vala’ which is produced by Black Brain Pictures. A year later, she joined with the cast of E.tv soap-drama, House of Zwide.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 | SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS

She sees herself not only as an actress but as a brand and as a business. She feels that most artists focus more on their craft and forget about other aspects of being a brand. For example, the financial side of being a brand, the importance of handling money, to name a few. She believe it is important to be aware of all aspects.

"I have seen the gap of how to manage money because I have seen how I mishandled money so many times. I have gotten gigs but I have nothing to show for it because I did not know how to handle my money. The environment I grow up in never preached how to manage money and how to invest but I have learnt how to handle my finances as time went by and I was forced to because I am in an industry where jobs come and goes,” she says.

Sikelelwa Vuyeleni trusts it is important to have multiple streams of income that way when rainy days comes you know you are financially stable. She has a business where she sells earrings because she wants to have as many income streams as possible.

She states young black people should get financial education and it should start from schools because that is where the foundation starts.

Sikelelwa Vuyeleni says school should inform young people about money and how to invest it and how to make smart choices.

She says her mother has been her inspiration in all elements of life, the way her mother raised her with the income she had is what has inspired her.

“My mom is a powerhouse, I know that sounds cliché but the things she had to overcome, I am a product of teenage pregnancy, but my mom has never made me feel like that is the case,” she says.

In her mentioning her mom, she has touched on other people that have inspired her. She mentioned Thuso Mbedu and AmaXhosa clothing brand and just young black people as a whole who are household names within the corporate world - breaking boundaries.

"I am my own inspiration, the things I have overcomed and the things I have achieved so far are amazing,” she says.

She wants to encourage people who look up to her to shot their shoot, put in the effort at all times, never give up, never stop putting in the work and never stop believing in themselves no matter what. SJ

"I AM MY OWN INSPIRATION, THE THINGS I HAVE OVERCOMED AND THE THINGS I HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR ARE AMAZING.

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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.

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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOWNSHIP WEALTH

THE DISPARITY IN WEALTH IS NOT ONLY A RESULT OF APARTHEID, BUT A LACK OF ECONOMIC AND WEALTH EDUCATION IN THE TOWNSHIPS. MR. LONWABO MARELE FOUNDER AND CEO: SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS

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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOWNSHIP WEALTH

Generational wealth creation is simpler than we realise in our society.

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

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SUCCESSFUL JOURNALS | TOWNSHIP WEALTH

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