Tell us a bit about yourself, your career and what you’re busy with right now.
From a young age, I loved media and the industry; I was the head prefect of media and ran a school magazine at 12.
My career in this industry started when I worked for Fashion TV South Africa, where I was appointed as their national brand manager—opening up 11 branches in 2 years, working alongside Michal Adam, the CEO of FTV International, in taking this brand to new heights in Africa.
However, my independent soul and spirit always steered me to start my own company one day. In 2011 I
listed several things I was passionate about in the industry I worked in and narrowed it down to only four, ultimately leading me to a career in Brand Awareness (PR, Influencer Marketing and Events), focusing mainly on beauty and lifestyle brands.
Currently, I am working on some exciting CSR campaigns for Lancôme and YSL. I am also assisting my wellness client Kiko Vitals in building a solid female community passionate about wellness and health.
Some other fun clients I enjoy working on are NeoStrata, Litchi & Titch, Cape Island, Giorgio Armani, L’Oreal Professionnel and more.
What has been your biggest challenge/lesson in business and life in general?
I believe in work-life integration because there is no way to balance it. I value and enjoy all hard and purposeful work, and my happiness and success barometer relies on the interdependence of every facet of my life. I am also very transparent about who I am and my priorities. Ultimately, nothing around me will succeed if I am not 100% happy within myself and living a purpose-driven, balanced life.
Who is/was your role model?
Patience Steven, Basetsana Kumalo, and Suzette van der Merwe have all been game changers in our industry, and I have the utmost respect for them.
From a personal frontier, my soul sisters, Tayla Davis and Aisha Baker are the rocks in my life; they have accepted me for who I am and always encourage me to grow and fully live my purpose.
As an entrepreneur and business owner, what has been the one piece of advice you have received that you would like to pass on to the person reading this right now?
I have three tips for aspiring female entrepreneurs that I have learned in the past, which I would love to pass along:
- Embracing failure would be the first step because there is so much to be learned about both the experience – professionally, what you would and wouldn’t do in that situation if it presented itself again, and personally – what your values are, what keeps you grounded, who your friends are and how to trust your intuition.
- If you realized 10 seconds ago that you don’t like who you are, shed your skin, retry, and replant yourself in good soil. Who you are now is not who you will be in 10 years. It is okay to be somebody new 10 minutes from now. We are always learning. We are constantly growing.
- Do what you love, and the money will follow.
What are you most proud of?
Having a resilient spirit and the ability to bounce back from diversity and challenges.
What is the one thing you know now that you would tell your 16-year-old self, and why?
You are deeply loved by the Universe, and no matter the challenges that life will throw your way, you will find courage deep within to live a life of purpose that will help better this planet one day.
Guilty pleasure?
Red wine after a long day.
Where can people get hold of you?
www.elveeconsultancy.co | hello@elveeconsultancy.co
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