"We need to be strong and support each other."
"We need to be strong and support each other", said Thobeka Mdiza as her advice to women.
Thobeka Mdiza is an entrepreneur, self-taught designer and a women who believes in the elevation of other women. She os the owner of To Bead Africa, which is a BEE company that specializes in training, designing, manufacturing, embellishing, marketing, exhibiting and distribution.
In 2006 Thobeka was working at a bank but then she left her job to start her business, To Bead Africa. She noticed how some women depended on their partners or someone and wanted to see more women being independent. She then took a decision for them to start making bead wore. This is a skill she had learnt during her childhood in a rural area in the Eastern Cape.
The business started off with her teaching the elderly women, who weren't skilled enough to be hired by companies in Cape Town. As time went by more people became interested in her work and then reached out and asked for her training services. She has been invited to teach in the USA, Dubai and Kenya along with many other places.
To Bead Africa makes clothing and beaded accessories. She prefers to refer to herself as a fashion entrepreneur instead of fashion designer because unlike fashion designers she does not first draw the designs on paper but simply starts sewing and it comes together as she does.
Thobeka says that determination and networking are some of the things that will make you a successful entrepreneur. Through networking she has been able to get her designs in some of the most known retailers in South Africa and recently she worked with Women Zone and they are now putting together an event that will take place on the 31st of August.
This will be taking place at her store, shop 52, in Junction Mall in Phillipi from 2pm till 4pm. There is transport from Woman Zone, Ground Floor Artscape, to use the transport you have to be there by 1pm on that day and before the day RSVP to hipzone@mweb.co.za or call 082 490 6652.
If you want to find out more about Thobeka and her business then you can always pop into her store or call her on 079 304 1952.
Thobeka Mdiza is an entrepreneur, self-taught designer and a women who believes in the elevation of other women. She os the owner of To Bead Africa, which is a BEE company that specializes in training, designing, manufacturing, embellishing, marketing, exhibiting and distribution.
In 2006 Thobeka was working at a bank but then she left her job to start her business, To Bead Africa. She noticed how some women depended on their partners or someone and wanted to see more women being independent. She then took a decision for them to start making bead wore. This is a skill she had learnt during her childhood in a rural area in the Eastern Cape.
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| Thobeka Mdiza in one of her designs |
To Bead Africa makes clothing and beaded accessories. She prefers to refer to herself as a fashion entrepreneur instead of fashion designer because unlike fashion designers she does not first draw the designs on paper but simply starts sewing and it comes together as she does.
Thobeka says that determination and networking are some of the things that will make you a successful entrepreneur. Through networking she has been able to get her designs in some of the most known retailers in South Africa and recently she worked with Women Zone and they are now putting together an event that will take place on the 31st of August.
This will be taking place at her store, shop 52, in Junction Mall in Phillipi from 2pm till 4pm. There is transport from Woman Zone, Ground Floor Artscape, to use the transport you have to be there by 1pm on that day and before the day RSVP to hipzone@mweb.co.za or call 082 490 6652.
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