Meet - Marie Behrens, founder & CEO of Kipepeo Mauritius. Marie is a serial entrepreneur with over 13 years of experience in developing beauty salons and spas internationally Her success attracted a call from her home country to help entrepreneurs build their own successful brands. That kickstarted her mission to help entrepreneurs build their dream. Today she's building a pan-African marketplace where customers can connect with a range of beauty and wellness professionals with confidence and ease. The first start-up of its kind in Mauritius and has been operational for more than a year, creating a community and business support to 100+ professionals. Her vision is to create equal growth opportunities for these professionals across Africa by using an end-to-end digital solution. Marie Behrens is helping both beauty professionals and their customers to: - Save time - Save money - Make bigger profits - Gain peace of mind - Improve their productivity Africa is waiting to celebrate you and I will be here to share your story. P.S: To know more about Marie & her business, check the comment for the link to her site. Follow Lastiana for more daily inspirational content. #africa #africanstories #africanentrepreneur #todayafrica #storytelling

It's one thing to be great It's another thing to tell your story Always tell your story It's not bragging. Today, Saturday, October 22, 2022 I just what to talk about a guy who left Nigeria to build a million-dollar tech company in South Africa. Believe me, when I say I'm proud to be a Nigerian I'm proud to be an African In the words of Kolawole Olajide - "African continent has potential, we are getting the global recognition we deserve...it's becoming clear that African talent can compete on a global scale..." Who's Kolawole Olajide? He's the co-founder of Bridge Labs, a tech company in South Africa. Kolawole moved to South Africa in 2009 for studies, after which he got a job in the corporate world. But he had this passion: Education Technology. However, it wasn't easy to get an "Entrepreneurial Visa" in South Africa, but what Kolawole wanted was the "Exceptional Skills Visa" Luckily for him an opportunity to do a project for the Western Cape government. The project was successful and that fast-tracked him to getting the "Exceptional Skills Visa" And since then Kola hasn't looked back. Before Bridge Labs Kola started two tech companies, which weren't successful. His first company, an ed-tech company didn't do well, and he sold the intellectual property to a major university. The second company didn't do well, and he sold the intellectual property to an organization in Mauritius. With the funds from the exit, he started Bridge Labs 5 years ago. One of the things that have worked for Kolawole is doing the hard things very early and that has helped him onboard some of the biggest players in South Africa. Kola met his first client at Bridge Labs while giving a guest lecture at a business school, Gordon Institute of Business Science. His entrepreneurial journey has been an interesting one - from talent identification to business development. One thing that has helped Kolawole is his reputation and the work he had done in the past. Now, you're probably wondering what's so special about a company. Bridge Labs was started to help forward-thinking companies and startups build customer-centric products One thing to learn from Kolawole's story is - It's possible to build and be successful in Africa. And in his exact words: "Surround yourself with great minds, and do hard things very early because if you do the things first, everything becomes much easier for you." What's Kolawole currently building? Sava- Africa's first finance automation platform designed to save businesses time and money. Hey, your idea is great if only you can start working on it today. And I can't wait to share your story. P.S: To know more about the company, click the link in the comment. #africa #africanstories #africanentrepreneur #todayafrica #storytelling

Meet - K. Monica Musonda, Founder & CEO of Java Foods. Her story is that of a challenge and inspiration. After a successful career in law, she moved back to her native country Zambia. Her last position was for the manufacturing conglomerate (Dangote Petroleum Refining Company) in Nigeria, where she witnessed first-hand the impact local manufacturing had on the economy. She felt challenged and inspired, moved back to Zambia And founded Java Foods in 2012 with the vision of manufacturing nutritious food products using locally acquired raw materials at affordable prices. Initially, Java focused on convenience and providing affordable meal options for its consumers using locally acquired raw materials. But in 2015, Java’s mission changed to focus much more on nutrition. Why? Because of Micronutrient malnutrition (MNM), also known as hidden hunger, It's a prevalent health problem, responsible for thousands of premature deaths, illnesses, and reduced productivity. To solve this, Java Foods started manufacturing fortified foods thereby creating nutritional impacts. Since launching back in 2012, K. Monica has grown the business from a team of 6 to a fully-fledged manufacturing business, of which 40% are females. Java has a fully-fledged production team (as well as a Quality Control & food safety team), supply chain and procurement, finance and logistics, sales and marketing, as well as operations. Today, Java has become one of the number-one Zambian manufacturers. And Monica’s aspiration for the business is to be known as a leader in the manufacture of nutritious foods in the Southern African region. She loves the fact that it is possible to impact the lives of many through Java’s products and that other women entrepreneurs can create an impact of their own through their businesses. And what gives K. Monica the most satisfaction is the fact that entrepreneurship allows her to be innovative, and learn from her mistakes and others. Hey, to know more about Java Foods click the link 🔗 in the comment. 📷 Google #africanstories #africanentrepreneur #africa #todayafrica #storytelling

Take a deep breath and enjoy the weekend. Follow Lastiana for more daily inspirational content. #africa #todayafrica #africanstories #africanentrepreneur #storytelling

There is a story in you waiting to be told this month. There is wisdom in you waiting to be shared this week. No better day to start telling the story than starting today. Happy New Month... Follow Lastiana for inspiring stories of Africa. #africa #todayafrica #africanstories #africanentrepreneur #storytelling