Creatives Share Stories And Ideas At Sneaker Expo
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday May 2, 2017 15:38
The anchors comprised businesswoman and brand manager Farah Fortune, brand strategist Gabriel Motibedi, media personality and fashion line founder Khumo Kgwaadira and sneaker enthusiast Shimboy and South African entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane.
South Africa’s Fortune spoke of how one can commercialise their creativity stating that for one to excel they have to collaborate with people who are well connected and have the same vision.
“Strive to get what you want and get out of the comfort zone. Use your ideas to make money. Take chances and build networks, your network is everything to you,” advised Fortune.
Mercy Thebe came onto the podium and shared her life story of how she started off as a student in Malaysia at Limkokowing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) where she later became the director of corporate and media relations at the same institution. She recently established her own communications agency BrainFuse.
Media personality, Kgwaadira spoke of how she had to build a strong and bold character despite having a skin condition that would make people point fingers at her in supermarkets while some made fun of her saying she applies ginger when bathing.
“I had to stay off TV for a while because of my skin condition. I even stayed indoors because I had lost confidence. After sometime I gained self-confidence upon discovering that none of these people pay my bills. I had to be strong to come out of hiding and worked hard to build my brand,” said Kgwaadira.
The headlining anchor, Motsoane gave a motivational presentation urging people to be the best at what they do to be successful stating that anyone is capable of doing what they want to do or be.
He gave an example of how he commercialised the South African hip-hop scene when all clubs were playing all music genres apart from hip-hop which led him to promoting hip-hop artists and events.
“Most people are afraid to go big. Most people wait for someone to put them on. Stop looking for people to put you on; do it yourself. You are the best at what you do. Be unique.”
He spoke of different stages of building brands. Upon commercialising hip-hop, Motsoane has gone on to venture into opening a chain of restaurants and owning an alcohol brand.
After the conference, there was a sneaker and apparel exhibition displayed by different retailers and sneaker collectors.