Do not ever doubt yourself or the choices you make, stay patient and trust in your journey. You can do it and you will do it, whatever “it” might be.
The ability to nurture and embrace each other, women are very special beings that are both gentle and strong; I see these traits in the women that are in my life.
The biggest challenge is constantly having to prove your worth and or that you are equal to the opposite sex.
Nunu Ntshingila. She exudes confidence and is an absolute powerhouse. She is all about empowering women and girls and I think her moves in the corporate world are a great example of women being just as able to do it all.
I have become more mature about the way I handle situations and in so doing I am able to manage other peoples expectations of me and I am more lenient on myself when I do make mistakes or when I feel like I did not meet a goal that I set.
Neimil is a local lifestyle brand that focuses on interiors, fashion and art. It started in 2018 as a women’s wear brand that was designing swimwear. We took a break due to some challenges as well as to understand what we wanted the brand to be.
Neimil now is about embracing individuality, telling authentic stories and creating product that each individual can be proud to have. There is no particular meaning to the name, it does however have a piece of my name Ke”Nei”lwe in it which means given.
It's about the craftsmanship that goes into creating the works. Creating something with your hands has an element of pureness and authenticity. Tapestry, looming, rug hooking sewing et al have always been prolific in Kwandebele, Mpumalanga, by men and women that use their hands to make their traditional attire like the “pepetu” Ndebele apron that is intricately embellished with beads or the carefully pleated traditional pedi dress “hele”, I am more intrigued by process of getting the final outcome and how that can be developed into various products to expand the idea from it being a generic, boxed piece of work.
Greatest inspirations are the women around me that are constantly pushing boundaries. I truly believe I was meant to be in the creative industry. I was always leaning more towards the working with my hands side of life. I changed schools in Grade 10 because the school I was in was more focused on accounting and the likes and I just wanted fine art as a subject, most schools were full but I ended up being in a school that offered technical subjects, technical drawing being one of them, I knew this is what wanted to do; this later on influenced the idea of being in the field of architecture or interior design. Varsity them opened up a whole new world of possibilities. This industry is what I know, it is for me and I am for it.
One of the people that have made a really positive impact in my life is Sandy Rogers who introduced me to the retail industry and taught me a lot in that regard. My gran Liza Mamonnyea Mothoa who is a pillar of strength in my life has taught me to have a positive outlook towards life and the challenges it brings.
To be the next Selfridges, I always think blue sky and I think anything is absolutely possible.
To just take care of myself and live in the now.
Try and try again, no door is ever permanently shut.
Honestly just go for it, explore your imagination, make your ideas come to life. If you don’t take the first step, no one is going to take it for you.
