Hit@Thirty1 is the acronym for Her Immaculate Theory, the truth of a young African Woman who experienced great discomfort and insecurities growing up. “It started as a DREAM ….” were the opening lines in the interview with Christine Nicola Taphel [age 32]. Even as a believer, there was a period in her life she felt smothered by the lies that society presented to her. These lies controlled how she began to perceive herself as a woman in a world that is so competitive. Hit@Thirty1 is now on a mission to share her version of the truth, she is ready to bring her vibrancy, her warmth, her elegance, her light and wisdom to transform the lives of women and young girls in finding their unique design.
Christine shares with us the story of how it all began. “It simply started with this crazy dream of becoming the next Oprah Winfrey perhaps not Oprah but definitely the world’s finest Talk Show host.” We know that with the rapid growth of the internet, the chances of the television existing as a mounted box in your lounge or bedroom is highly impossible. So how will she keep her DREAM alive? In September 2019, Christine challenged herself to apply for the Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme (IEP) managed by RLabs in partnership with Nedbank. She knew that this would be the only way she would revisit that DREAM and actually work towards it in becoming a reality. They were given a task to set a Key Performance Indicator (KPI), and immediately she thought: “This is my first step towards making Hit@Thirty1 become the talk of the moment.” With an unexpected but perhaps not so unexpected nudge from a colleague of hers, she insisted that Christine takes up the opportunity to host the next StartupWomen Date Night event as Hit@Thirty1. There was no time to contemplate because if you understand that where two or three are gathered it will come to pass, and for those of you who have met the RLabs Women team or any of Christine’s friends you would know that they won’t take NO for an answer. It definitely turned out bigger than expected, one of the Women insisted that she instantly needs a melody or signature beat for her entrance and introduction as Hit@Thirty1. Within a heartbeat she made it happen in collaboration with Synchronicity Productions Keanan Erasmus [24] and KidMix Carl Petersen [17], where they created a classy melody for her business. It went from a melody to branded cue cards and water bottles designed by @DesignInk all in a space of one week.
On the night it was no exception the women made sure she looked her best by arranging her very own glam squad. Chantal Nelson did make-up and hair. It was pretty easy to step into a venue that was created and layout designed by Angelo King as he surely outdid himself and the sound and lights were equally elegant thanks to the incredible Garry Adams. The setting created by the team created the feeling of standing on a huge stage with a huge audience and it was definitely nerve-racking and exactly three hours later it was announced that this officially forms part of her business.
In her closing remarks to us Christine says: “I have a great belief that this journey I am on I cannot do it in isolation, I need my dynamic support structure with that said I would like to take the opportunity to Thank the RLabs Women Team our phenomenal Leader who is by far our greatest supporter Rene Parker alongside a diverse and incredible group of Women: Lindsey Napoleon, Arantxa Martin, Rabia Adamson, Kim Busch, Elvina Ruiters, Suzanne Smith, Althea De Wet and Genevieve Adams and a friend of mine who recently started her own venture, Edwinah Allen from Caption, who selflessly allowed me to step into a glimpse of who I believe I am destined to become.”
Aurora Fitness Studio is for women between the ages of 25 and 40 who want a fitter
and healthier lifestyle. The aim is to create a safe environment for women to start
a physical exercise habit that will help them to see beyond their current fitness state
and look high above to see what is possible.
Based on biological research, at 25 years of age, the body tends to slow down and no
longer work the way it used to (regenerate and produce healthy cells), and between 25
to 40 a lot of women are faced with everyday challenges e.g. work, motherhood, business goals, substance addictions, etc. and forget to take care of their physical body. Aurora Fitness Studio helps to make a healthier lifestyle easier for women.
Christine’s Delights creates affordable yet exceptional homemade delights. The target market is people who absolutely love desserts!
She wants to ensure that everyone can experience desserts made of good quality ingredients at an affordable cost. She sometimes makes desserts for special occasions.
Cakes and Bakes by Astrid aims to provide healthier homemade and
confectionery bakes for any occasion.
She creates these desserts for anyone, including diabetic-friendly and gluten-free. Astrid bakes for parties and events on weekends. She has been baking for 7 years but has officially been in business for 3 years.
We asked the team from Warm Belts to tell us a bit about themselves. Here is there story:
Yive Gola: I am 25 years old from Khayelitsha Cape Town. I can describe myself as an extrovert because I am very passionate about life and people. I have obtained a higher certificate in Communication and Information Technology at CPUT in 2015. A year later I registered a Modeling Agency company and I have been busy working on it throughout the years until early this year when I decided to go back to school and learn more about the entrepreneurship world. I was fortunate enough to be accepted at Academy of Woman Entrepreneur and Grow Leadership Academy.I am the first person to have an interest in entrepreneurship in my family. The satisfaction I get from being an entrepreneur is the sense of being independent and mostly the freedom to create and implement solutions to peoples frustration.
Sibongiseni Khaba: I am 22 years old from Delft. I am a hyperactive person, loud if I must say. I love being around people, interacting and engaging in talks about business and life in general. I passed my matric in 2017. I worked in a cleaning company for a year than a month before I came to GLA, I was working at KFC. My love for entrepreneurship started when I came to GLA.I am the first person at home to have an interest in entrepreneurship. The sense of being creative and also being the woman in power.
Esethu Fekade: I am 20 years old from Samora Machel. I’m an introvert. I am passionate about fashion and design. I did my matric 2018 but I unfortunately failed. I came to GLA to help myself grow mentally and psychologically.I am the first person in my family to be in entrepreneurship. Personal Power and being my own boss. And also the thought of being able to create job opportunities.
Sonwabise Sifo: I am a 22 year-old female from Khayelitsha where I grew up in a home with both my parents and my 2 siblings. Growing up I was so close to my dad who entertained my curiosity, always motivated me to be my best in all that I do and with him being a person who works mostly with his hands and creativity he passed on that trait onto me. I did my primary school in Khayelitsha so is my High School and passed my matric in 2015.I come from a background where my dad always knew how to create his own objects using his hands e.g DIY. I always believe that it takes a village to raise a child because that is how I was raised also. I get most fascinated when it comes to grooming the young generation because that is where I believe the creativity and new ideas come from. Coming from Khayelitsha that is where the bright and better future comes can occur.
Warm Belts
Our aim is to bring the solution to that one frustration that women have, which is period pains. We want women to have the freedom to keep going with their daily routines without having to nurse their pain. We also want to give women the sense of being fashionable while they are on their periods.At the Grow Leadership Academy, we had an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. We were asked about that one thing that frustrates us the most. Funny enough, 3 of us were on their periods and we were in pain. So that’s when we realised that we need to do something about it.We applied for JunkFund hoping that our business idea can be noticed and funded.Being a JunkFund beneficiary has impacted our business in a very positive way. It has helped us with the capital to start our business. A lot has changed after receiving the sewing machine because we are now able to manufacture our own product.Our future plans on Warm Belts are to expand and grow business across the globe so that a lot of women can find a solution to the problem.For anyone who is an aspiring entrepreneur and thinking of pursuing side projects, we would advise the person to start working and implementing his/her idea because nothing is impossible if you put your focus on it.
Warm Belts
Our aim is to bring the solution to that one frustration that women have, which is period pains. freedom to keep going with their daily routines without having to nurse their pain. We also want to give women the sense of being fashionable while they are on their periods.
Yonela is our beneficiary for December 2019. She does some amazing work and we are so proud of her. Read more about her below.
My name is Yonela Khohloko, one of the founding members of The Inguquko female organization which is a non-profit organization. We are a small group of women, who believe in uplifting, encouraging and supporting other women as well as giving back to the community.
Our organization started an initiative where we hand out sanitary towels to young women, starting from the age of 12 years and upwards. Our recent initiative was a success and educational to the young women we hosted as we had various educational activities to enable their minds but most importantly, to uplift and encourage them as per our belief as an organization.
On behalf of my team members, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to RLabs women team for choosing us to be their Junk Funds Beneficiary, as Inguquko female organization, we are very delighted that we were able to make a small impact in 40 young women’s lives. As an organization, it truly means a lot to us that RLabs chose us out of many applications received. Once again, Thank you!
Give with a Purpose. This project encourages people to repurpose clothing or functional items as a donation to Junk.Fund. The items are sold for no more than R100 and monetary proceeds go the Social Project of the month. The items not sold are donated to a social impact project for further repurposing.If we find that certain clothing items haven’t been sold for 3 Sale Days in a row, those items will be donated.
Alethea
Bonteheuwel Mission Church ministers at an underprivileged church called House of Blessing in Skaapkraal. This year they have decided to give the members of the church a shopping experience by having a street store where they can have whatever they like without having to pay for it on their annual Christmas party that they are blessed with from other congregations.
Shirley Rogers
Kashiefah fosters a group of children in her home between the ages of 8-16. Her aim is to brighten up their festive season by always giving them beautiful gifts donated by various people/organizations.
Mellissa Abels, is from Bonteheuwel. She is the secretary of Bonteheuwel Central Athletics Club (BCAC). Her project targets youth between ages 8 to 20. She decided to apply as a Junk.Fund beneficiary because she wants to accommodate more athletes.
The club was started as a way to expose kids to a positive lifestyle that comes with athletics. At first is was just a father and young daughter training on a field. Youth in the surrounding areas noticed and started to join them with their training. The club officially started in January 2019 and has 70 club members.
Each month they raise money to transport the kids from Bonteheuwel to Bellville to train with an international trainer. They believe that the kids have a lot of potential and they just need to be exposed to the right people and opportunities. As many of their athletes don’t have proper running shoes and they don’t run on a track, they tend to get blisters and cuts on their feet. Running shoes are essential to especially as many of the athletes run barefoot. To try and remedy this, they have started an initiative called the Running Shoe Project.
The goal was to collect 500 pairs of running shoes before Mandela Day and to distribute them around Cape Town.