I hope that you are all out there participating in some events and forums that celebrate entrepreneurship this week!
I have been privileged to be part of 2 phenomenal workshops so far!
I attended the kick off event at GIBS, the usual corporate event with big sponsors telling their good stories. My big take away (I love takeaways) here was that the government is looking at entrepreneurs to create more than 5 million jobs as targeted in the NDP. The various government departments made it very clear that they are not hiring!
The Global Entrepreneurship Congress will be held in Johannesburg from 13-16 March 2017. 160 Countries and 5000 delegates are expected to be present. Use this nugget wisely and start planning!
I spent the second day at the Thinkroom. These are the unsung heroes, the guys doing all the work and are holding the hands of entrepreneurs in a tangible way. In less than 12 hours my entire tech business concept was panel beaten from the top (my state of mind, vision, leadership) to the bottom (tax, website, business cards) all at no cost.
I learnt the importance of having a team or adequate support when you embark on a journey. Some of the people will remain nameless, but the impact they had will speak for itself.
What have you guys been up to over this week? Anything you would like us to check out?
I want to start by thanking Mara Brock Akil for telling the stories of black girls in a way that is funny, real and celebrates our edges. She did phenomenal work with Girlfriends and now is back at it with Being Mary Jane!
Black Girls Rock!
When I tell people I love Mary Jane, they tend to respond with "yeah, but she doesn't have a man." Ummm, she has a pool, a Porsche, toyboy, wardrobe to die for, a thriving career, Le Creuset cookware and a beautiful home which are the things I would take over a man any day!!
Mary Jane knows her worth and she won't settle. She knows what she brings to the table and will accept nothing less than her equal- yet these things are all a problem for some women and most men. Yes, she is rude and mean spirited, but after a certain age I think some niceties can be done away with. Men are notorious for wasting the time of women with undefined goals and she wants to sift through the BS to get to the core issues.
Remember the dialogue with Sheldon regarding how he doesn't want to get married, yet he was very happy to date her knowing that she wanted to have a family. How many women do we know in this situation? You have to ask the hard questions early and risk being called crazy or you will go with the flow only to find yourself being a professional girlfriend 10 years later.
Mary Jane isn't perfect, she is far from it. She had an affair with a married man, she is selfish and wasn't the best friend she could have been to Lisa, she can take her mom for granted, she can be uppity towards other black people and very sassy to her co-workers. What I really like about MJ is that she learns from her mistakes and charts a path forward. She stopped the affair, (whats good Olivia???) She ended things with David when she saw there was no future there and she left Sheldon with his closet full of toothbrushes.
Beautifully flawed
Yes MJ wants a man and to start a family, but she is not obsessing over it! She is not letting that control her life- she has a vision for her life. She focused her energy on getting on Prime Time and now that's where she is. She is a fighter and determined to claw her way to the top, she works hard and she knows what she is doing for the most part. She can be quick on the tongue and at times ill prepared for the consequences, but who isn't?
She ain't though
In conclusion, Mary Jane is refreshing because she says to me "you are going to be alright." It may be a fictional show, but the story lines ring so true for me as single 27 year old attorney and entrepreneur in Johannesburg, South Africa.
MJ frightens the hell out of so many men and women - I think its because those people are not comfortable with a different truth.
One day, there will be a show called Being Lady Shakara :)
I personally believe all women are superheroes ok? And I'm not even trying to go all feminist on y'all with this one but hear me out.
It's a pretty well-known fact that women love to look good. All the time. Even if it's just walking to the supermarket to buy bread we want to look good (in a seemingly effortless way) , or in that long bank queue that you just joined and your uncomfortable heels make you want to wince in pain but no,baby, you put on your best 'I'm so comfortable in these six inch heels standing in this long queue' smile and brave it. And shall we mention how uncomfortable spanx/tights/waist trainers (for those that prefer to go that route) can be underneath that figure-hugging dress but we still manage to hold it together.
We put in so much effort to look our best, and most times we succeed but let's talk about the times we have failed and done so in public. Yes, wardrobe malfunctions. Either you're too embarrassed or too proud to admit it but we have all experienced this.
My experience just had to be at one of my friend's bachelorette party. All the bridesmaids were all on point, I mean to put it in modern day terms we were 'on fleek' .I was wearing a cute strapless black jumpsuit with those shoes I mentioned in my last blog here and I was feeling like Beyonce up in there.
So we're partying right and as nature would have it, occasionally one needs to use the bathroom and so first time I went to the bathroom and everything was all good, I mean I danced all the way to the bathroom. (FYI - the zip on my jumpsuit was at the back from under my arms to my derriere )
So anyway all is good, people having fun and it's time for nature call 2.0. I make my way to the bathroom aaaand this time my zip is behaving rather stubborn so me in my attempt to discipline the zip pulled a little too hard and was left holding part of the zipper in my hand. So in my true independent woman spirit, I thought 'Hey,I can fix this' . So now I'm attempting to unlock this zipper and mind you there's a long queue of girls waiting to answer the call of nature outside my stall so I was now getting impatient,almost aggressive knocks so I decided to leave the stall and fix this in the bathroom in front of fifteen strange girls. And there's nowhere to sit, I didn't even have safety pins on me to attempt to close it up. Just my luck. Long story short, I didn't fix it and now had to go back weaving my way through multitudes to my friends. The only way was against the wall with my back to the wall until I got there and I succeeded in doing that and had to end up borrowing a long cardigan to cover my mishap for the rest of the party but eish that ordeal was a very big ooops for me.
I've seen the occasional dragging of one leg due to a broken strap on a sandal, a ripped jean that's ripped in the wrong place, a broken heel..I've seen enough to know that all women at some point have had their clothes or shoes let them down at some point but what I love is that we find ways to work around the mishaps even if it means getting someone to sew you into a dress while you're wearing it.
So, for those brave enough to confess, what has been your most memorable wardrobe malfunction ? And how did you fix it or deal with it?
The last time I went to Baseline was in 2008. This weekend, I made it a point that I would get my friend to drive that graveyard shift because all I remembered was it being a seedy weedy part of town. However to my surprise we were ushered into a well lit basement parking garage and I must say Newtown has come up!
My friend and I left the house at 11:30 pm after completing the first draft of a service level agreement for a client. There was tension and sleepiness in the car on the drive, but we were cute and ready for whatever!
I am so proud of the overall performance of all the artists primarily because the show started as soon as we walked in! Plus we had prime real estate in terms of location- we were right at the foot of the stage and got to interact with some of the musicians.
I used stock pictures because I dont carry a phone with me in the evenings. I was able to use my friends phone and those pictures are on my instagram- the feed is at the bottom of the page :)
New Talent
Yes, its upside down
Meet Miss Patty Monroe, this girl is FIREE. We need to see and hear more of her, move over Nicki! She had such great energy, fierce persona and I loved her style- sufficiently sexy.
We also heard from a guy with great abs and a girl with really sexy strapy sandal boots. I missed their names, as you can see I was distracted!
I don't think Nadia Nakai is a new artist, but there a few more things that she can still do to become a household name. She is talented and I am really proud of the female emcees we are grooming locally. They need lots of support so lets show them love! I wanna see a female artist fill up FNB Stadium! Who accepts the challenge?
Live Performances
I will be honest, I did not have much of an expectation regarding the live elements of the concert. I have watched the MTV MAMA's, Channel O and Metro FM awards to have set the bar low- especially with hip hop artists. Lets be honest, there is a lot of alcohol breathlessness and missing of lyrics at award shows.
I was pleasantly stunned by the performances of Dream Team, Emmy Gee and Anathi! Those guys brought it! They were hype and I really think there has been a level change in the music industry- there is more professionalism. I salute each of those guys for a stellar performance!
Bucie
Bucie got me to like Black Coffee, I had no idea who he was until this song! She sang with a live band and her performance was beyond sultry. She is immensely gifted in singing and twerking! She hit the floor and my jaw followed- she is an incredible performer and anticipate to see more from her.
Patoranking
From Okada to Range Rover
Patoranking loves the Lord! He is a success story of how perseverance pays off -I read that he used to be a brick layer at some point in his life. He made a real connection with his fans, some even adorning him with their bracelets while he sang. He had grown men ready to trample us while shouting "WHAYASAY" at the top of their lungs. His live band was quite refreshing and authentic to his style of music, although I didn't know every song I was engaged through out. My friend almost blew my ear drum when "Girlie O" came on, excitement doesnt even begin to describe the pandemonium when he performed that song.
He sent us all home with a prayer and a declaration that "blessings follow you and police no go follow you."
When artists collaborate, it elevates the entire music industry and sends a strong message that says "Africa, we are one" to the rest of society, which is something politicians and business people cant relay without it looking disingenuous.
I look forward to more concerts like this and I want to send a huge shout out my girl Dzithe and her team who worked tirelessly to pull this off! Thank you mama, you did it!
When Cassie came on the scene circa 2005 I liked her immediately! Rihanna had the accent, voice and forehead which were hard to get used to, but now I'm #NavyorDie!(Rih-ly sorry).
Cassie was
cute, exotic, she danced and I could sing her songs in a tone not too far from
my own. Lets be honest, she didn't have the best vocals but she was banging!
Then along came Diddy, he huffed and he puffed and he blew her career down! Has anyone else noticed that
everyone's career that Diddy touches turns to dust! Really, where is
Craig Mack? While you are looking for him, please locate 112? The Lox? Lil Kim?
Shyne?
Killing careers since Biggie
Now Cassie is a nude model in Diddy's commercials and she doesn't even have her own Vevo channel.
When I saw this picture below, I felt like she is the only person here who has not explored her full potential. Even Kim is killing it with her game, video and show.
Kanye's hobo show
I'm not writing this to diss her, she is not my target audience. My view is, this girl is talented and
she could have had a place in history. We can point fingers at Diddy and whoever else for tanking her talent, but at the end of the day the decision lies with her.
Its the same in business, you can't blame anyone for your lack of growth especially when you know you have a great product or service. There is no way to scale your business without putting in the extra work and partnering with the right people. No company or brand is invincible in these fast changing times where start ups are giving a established brands a run for their money- AirBnB and hotels, or Uber and taxi cabs.
How are you keeping your brand, product or service relevant in these changing times?
Ok, I’ll go first: My routines are the
capstone of my singleness.
My top 3 routines I can't bear to have disturbed!
1) My Quiet Time
I made the decision to have a daily
quiet time earlier this year. It was something I had struggled with for a long
time- I just couldn’t find the time, so now I make the time. The quality of my
thoughts and inward life have improved, I don’t even know how I was living
without it! Robin Sharma refers to this as the Holy Hour which he says should be dedicated to self-mastery and
personal development. I personally take about 30-40 minutes a day each morning,
sit on the floor in my bedroom and read my devotion, Bible and a chapter of a
book – in that order. I also use the time to visualize some of the goals I want
to achieve in that day.
2)Friday Night Binges
I mean series binges! On Friday nights I put tools down at 6pm, make some dins and start indulging! I like to start with Quantico, then Being Mary Jane, onto Modern Family, Black-ish, Empire and top it off with Scandal. Its a 4 hour marathon that ends no later than midnight,plus I stop to watch Generations at 8 pm!
I would not be able to handle Friday Night date nights because I need my Friday nights for my series and its not the same watching them on Saturday morning!
Here is a bonus for all the online streamers: Google 'series cravings' and 'watch your series' for some good links to series and movies.
I Run Alone
Not a goal
I like this whole 'lone wolf' vibe, but it constantly alludes me. Besides that I hate it when people do normal activities in active wear, I am all for athleisure gear, eg wearing a dress and Nikes but that is as far as I go. Next things you are on a breakfast date in tights and trainers *shudders*.
Now, your turn! If you are single, or miss being single – what is
the sweetness of your solitude? Did your kids or partner elevated that aspect or completely demolished it?
Sorry to interrupt Fashion Friday, but I have a Public Service Announcement:
Yup, I lied
When I put out the Form and Function post, I underestimated how much time it would take to research, write and edit articles. I take about 1-2 hours on the 800 word posts and I frankly can't do that 3 times a week at this point. I love to write, but I love paying my bills even more.
Going forward, I am pausing the posts on Thursday until I can recommit to them. We will keep the Monday Madness (The Rant) , Trep Tuesday and Fabulous Friday. Cool?
I am currently obsessed with this song, the video and Justin Beiber in general. Plus, its totally appropriate in these circumstances. Enjoy the weekend :)
This weekend I had the pleasure of working along side a fellow entrepreneur, Tsikwe Molobye at a food market in Pretoria (South Africa). He is the founder of Stimela Brewing Company, that crafts premium beers.
Passion. Legacy. Excellence.
I see him at these markets regularly, but I did not know that he such an incredible story until I saw he had a videographer doing a biography on him! I was obviously interested and as soon as I saw the video I had to share it on this platform.
I hope you will see this and be inspired regardless of what your dream is. Be relentless and try again, through bad beers and late nights. Its part of an awesome journey!
If the video isn't playing directly, click here. Look out for Part 2 which is coming soon!
Ladies.. let's face it. We ALL have it. And have probably been
ashamed of it at some point, and have developed a perfectly
reasonable excuse to defend our choice. Yes...Each and every one of us
has that one item in their wardrobe, it could be a cute little black
dress, a pair of heels, a coat, maybe even a pair of earrings or
whatever fashionable item that you absolutely LOVE and cannot get
enough of. You love it so much you may have worn it on too many
occasions than you think you ought to have, so much that each time you
wear it you almost cross your fingers and hope the people you meet
won't recognize it from a prior day. Basically, the only reason you
wouldn't wear it is because it's dirty and is in the laundry basket.
Because that's just how much you love it. And if the poor thing could
protest or run away from you, it probably would have done so a long
time ago.
Look, I'm not saying you wear it everyday. But if you're going to a
special event and you start asking yourself what to wear, it's
usually the first thing you think of. I will be the first to plead
guilty and confess that for me, it has to be my favourite pair of
shoes. A suede black platform, peep-toe with a sling back with a copper
heel. I have tried to wear this shoe with basically everything in my
wardrobe from jumpsuits to cocktail dresses to leggings,and most times
it goes perfectly with the rest of the outfit but sometimes I have to
remove them with a heavy heart as they fail to blend with the outfit.
The pair of shoes that doubles as the love of my life!
I remember when I saw this shoe through the store window in a shopping
mall, I just walked in and headed straight for it and asked the shop
assistant if they had my size. That's probably the only time I've
experienced love at first sight haha ! I almost cringed the one
time when I met a guy at an event while I was wearing the shoe and
I bumped into him the following weekend at another event and lo and
behold I was wearing the same shoe! I almost kicked myself. I mean
this guy probably thought that was the only pair of shoes I have!
Nonetheless there will always be the little treasures in our
wardrobes, that have sentimental value to us and are undoubtedly our
favourite items. Essentially that one item you love so much you can't
see yourself ever giving it away.
Seeing as I've started the confession roll, it would be interesting
to hear from you ladies! What is your favourite (and most abused) item
in your wardrobe? Feel free to comment and tell us and if possible, any
funny story attached to this item.
Rumbidzai Ngwarai is a 27 year old fashion designer who owns the label Diella Reaux. You can check out her designs on www.diellareaux.com
Editors note: This piece was written in response to the Sony hack where millions of emails sent between top executives were published on the Wikileaks site.
Christmas came really early for bloggers, news stations and nosey people in general! I totally believe in the right to privacy and the protection thereof. However when something is in the general public, it would be folly not to look.
The juicy tidbits that I have been able to squeeze from these emails had me like:
Thanks Julian Assange
Naturally, I started by looking out for emails pertaining to black Hollywood and it was all interesting! The most important tone and message that I am learnt is that black artists, actors and personalities are waiting on white corporations to approve them. This is actually really sad. This includes the A listers like Jay and Bey, who are also gossiped about at Sony. Their value is only as far as their celebrity reach and ratings. Herewith the tea:
The Amazing Spiderman 2
They had an equally amazing discourse about
which artist to use for the soundtrack and even on the song!! The
first choice seemed to have been Rihanna or Lady Gaga (although it was felt she
may be lame after the Die Antwoord dissed her). Rihanna apparently decided
to pass on it and the next artists were as follows:
Lorde- "Shes cool"
Ellie Goulding- "Her fan base was
questionable"
Alicia Keys- one of the execs remarked that
she doesn’t “get AK” and they weren’t sure if "she is right for Spidey
though”.
Allegedly (as Aunty Wendy says), Jamie Foxx had
prepared a song for the soundtrack that wasn’t even listened to by Jay Brown.
Pharrell was then tasked with the song writing after the resounding success of
“Happy”, which is the soundtrack to Despicable Me 2 movie, so they expected an
encore with this one too.
There is so much shade researching, processing,
planning, discussion that goes on behind the scenes of the movies and songs we
enjoy so flippantly. I was personally taken aback about the comment
on Alicia Keys, is that why her career isn’t as big as I/ we think it should be? Is that what could be happening to other talented artists like Keisha
Cole? Monica? Brandy? Ciara? If a Sony executive doesn’t quite “get” you then
you get passed on?
I don’t know how they finally settled on
Alicia Keys, because it seems like Pharell was a done deal, I think Pharell
stood up for her and convinced them it would work with her and Kendrick. I am
personally not a fan of this song and I haven’t seen the movie, but at least
they got to cut a cheque! I would have loved to hear what Jamie Foxx prepared,
I love his music!
Destiny’s Child Film
On Jay Z’s birthday in 2013, illuminati Matthew Knowles approached Sony with the idea of a making a
Destiny’s Child film. He was going to see Universal too but he gave Sony the
first bite at the cherry as DC is under Sony. All the people in on the email
were in agreement.
Its not a secret that people would be
interested because of Beyonce and he proceeded to show exactly how much
interested in numbers and stats:
“1.8 million online
discussions about Beyonce alone in last 30 days and 72 percent positive.
She's still relevant and therefore the group's story can be.
Obviously a huge social media
aspect. Beyonce has 52 million social followers on Facebook and 12.9 million on
Twiitter.”
He also spoke about how
they can use the casting process as part of a marketing/ advertising process, similarly to how Channing’s wife judged an open casting call for dancers in a Step Up movie.
Uhmmm, Channing’s wife has a name! She is Jenna Dewan.
This frightens me because, then how would a Sony exec look at the average black person? It means in corporate America, there is no place for a lot of us. It also begins to clarify why some black celebrities don’t come out, publically, to support movements and campaigns in support of #blacklivesmatter. This may negatively affect their popularity across the board, reduce their ratings and that may mean going without a cheque. They are compromised. This also means we will never truly know these people because they are so guarded and every move must be calculated- unless they are decide to go the Dame Dash route!
There is a concern that it may be too early for the film, apparently One Direction didn’t do as well as they anticipated so they decided to do a viewer tack/ track?
I wonder how far back they will go, like will they take it back to the DC of “say my name” ??
Y’all think its too early for a Destiny’s Child movie??
Beyonce and MJ: When the queen impeded the king!
So, remember when this happened???
Well apparently Beyonce went on and killed a good thing! When Beyonce decided to compromise my finances by dropping her album unannounced, she apparently upset the circle of sales. The music label has discouraged other artists from pulling a Beyonce because this upsets the retailers of physical copies of the music as people will no longer be buying the physical albums.
When MJ, well his estate, teamed up with Sony to launch his posthumous album there was also some background banter about how the album should be released through Music Unlimited. It was decided that 5 of the 10 songs would be made available through Music Unlimited and that’s it!
What are your thoughts on all the above? Do you feel like the execs at Sony and every other big corporate are pulling the wool over our eyes? How does it feel to see the world as it really is?
