From a bandage activist in Cape Town to a professional “sorter outer” in Killarney I bring you the first edition of Girl Bosses.
A post to celebrate young, brave business owners who have taken the leap, followed their gut and are achieving their dreams. From the newbies to the experienced, from the standard to the pretty surprising here is the first round up of girl bosses!
Lize Hartley.
PLASTA
Lize is the director of Plasta, a start up company that sells plasters that are designed to suit various skin tones. Up until now plasters have always been a pinky beige, made to blend in with caucasian skin. But people with dark skin have never had brown plasters, with the result that plasters don’t exactly look discreet. In fact, they stand out like a sore thumb! Plasta’s range includes fabric strips, water-resistant strips, assorted strips, fabric rolls, surgical tape, and sports tape. At present it is available in Spars and pharmacies across Cape Town, but soon it will be widely available across South Africa. The product itself is high quality, latex free, and competitively priced, all while speaking to a need that has thus far been ignored.
Carla Van Heerden.
PRETTY ORGANISED
Carla’s business is simple. She’ll organise anything in your life. From a messy house to a full inbox. All those things we struggle to get around to doing Carla has created a special range of services for. She’s currently helping small businesses with everyday admin, organising closets and planning parties. She’ll be your PA for as long as you need her to be.
Eleni Labrou.
AKEDO / AKEDO ONLINE
AKEDO is both a clothing label and an online store. Eleni is a primarily a designer for the AKEDO label which consists of both female and male clothing. The brand is still very young and only about a year old but they are growing and stocking a couple South African stores as well as an online store in NYC (super exciting)!
The other part of AKEDO is the retail side which stocks the best young South African designers. The store is currently an online store which sells to the whole of South Africa but they aim at expanding their market and in a few years plan to start selling internationally, making South African clothing more accessible to the international market. They also plan on having annual AKEDO parties which are open to the public as their previous event was a great success.
Anzel Van Biljon.
WHITE KITE STUDIO
Anzel’s business can be divided into 3 categories. Firstly, she creates brands for businesses in the wedding, fashion and beauty industries. “I work closely with small business owners and start-up businesses to find a professional looking logo mark and then roll that out onto various platforms and elements. It’s important for me to educate people about the value of a stand-out brand. I help start-up businesses position themselves and then teach them how to communicate with their customers in an effective way. A little like a brand coach.” Secondly, she makes beautiful wedding stationery for in love couples. The last part of her business is to style and art direct sets for branding clients and wedding concept shoots. She often works with photographers hosting workshops. “I will develop a concept, round up a group of fantastic suppliers and then put it all together in a styled set-up.”
Kerri Sassen.
Owns her own Paediatric OT practice / Plays with kids all day
Kerri is an Occupational Therapist, currently running her own paediatric practice. “I work from a therapy room in Weltevreden Park and at various schools (Greenpark Nursery school, Bushhill Nursery school, Yeoville Boys Primary school and Penny Lane Playschool).
The goal of Occupational therapy in Paediatrics is to help children to meet their full potential in school-related work, self-care, play and social participation. This is all done through the use of (super-fun) activities. I see children with a variety of difficulties: attention deficit disorder, developmental disabilities, prematurity, sensory dysfunction, autism and hyperactivity.”
Perks: I literally get to play all day and listen to the hilarious things children say. I receive compliments on a daily basis (as well as grave insults) and I know all the lines to the latest Disney movies.
kerrikerris@gmail.com
Want to nominate a Girl Boss? Email me with the subject line “Girl Boss nomination” to emmajane@helloharbour.com.