The Importance of a ‘Capsule Wardrobe’ and Tips on How to Build One
Do you always find yourself shopping for clothes and shoes that you never wear? Or you have clothes in your wardrobe that you have not worn in over a year? It may be time to declutter your wardrobe. One of the benefits of the minimalistic trend has been the adoption of a capsule wardrobe. The term “Capsule Wardrobe” was coined by a London Boutique owner, Susie Fox, who owned a boutique called “Wardrobe” in the seventies. If you are wondering if a capsule wardrobe is a right decision for you, here are a few reasons to consider: You are looking to revamp your style Your style changes with the different seasons in your life such as school, work, college parties vs. the networking cocktail events and you may, therefore, find that your current outfits do not fit your current season in life. It is important to always evaluate your fashion needs with your current situation for example when it is time to get the classic LBD/LWD in exchange for the shorts that were your party outfits in your college days. As you are maneuvering this new season, keep your purchases to a minimum in order for you to identify which style works for you best. You want to save money you spend on shopping If you are an impulsive shopper and you always find yourself shopping outfits that never seem to fit into your current wardrobe – It may be time to consider scaling down on your wardrobe and your shopping. The best part about scaling down on your wardrobe as an impulsive shopper is that you will control your spending habits and that will help you save on that extra coin. The beauty of a capsule wardrobe is that you will get a clear picture of what your style is and it is, therefore, easier to shop with your style in mind. You want to reduce on the amount of time you spend picking out an outfit Whether you are dressing for work, a date, a cocktail party or any other event, you want to minimize the amount of time that you take to dress. The lesser the pieces in your wardrobe, the lesser the time that you will spend choosing an outfit. The essence of a capsule wardrobe is in adopting the pieces in your current wardrobe that you love to wear and that you feel great in. These pieces are your staples for what would ideally be considered a season (3 months) after which you switch them up as the season changes. If you come from a tropical area, then your wardrobe will change depending on whether the season is rainy or sunny. Tips to building on your wardrobe for each season: Go through your closet and pick the pieces that you frequently wear There are the basic pieces in your wardrobe that you love wearing and feel great in which are the pieces that will be your first choices. These will include; outerwear which will depend on the season, bottoms such as jeans, skirts and shorts, tops and shoes. Create a base for your wardrobe and build on your pieces This will be in the form of the classic white and grey tees, button-down shirts, dark colored pants, classic pencil skirts. The base that you choose mainly depends on your lifestyle and your day-to-day activities. The pieces that you pick to build on your wardrobe will be determined by the base that you choose for your base. When shopping, consider purchasing statement pieces that transcend “fashion” and can be incorporated into many outfits A capsule wardrobe is one that is meant to minimize your clothes into a small collection therefore when shopping ensure that you get classic pieces that transcend style seasons. Your best bet is to switch up on your outerwear and shoes while maintaining the basic pieces.
Annesophie Achera: Bringing African fashion to the forefront of the retail industry
Annesophie Achera is the founder and creative director of AAchera Designs, a chic African fashion brand born in Nairobi, Kenya in 2011. She created the unique clothing line for women to feel bold, vibrant and confident and has since taken her brand across the region to Rwanda, Ghana and across the pond to the US and the UK. Annesophie takes pride in her designs as they show her love for the African print and African culture unabashedly. A fashion force to reckon with, Annesophie has had quite the journey and in this article, she shares her eagerness to do a lot more for the burgeoning fashion industry in Kenya. On how my career in fashion began… A few years back, I would make my own clothes to wear to family functions, and would always get positive responses about the clothes I designed. People always wanted to know where I got this dress or that top and it became so frequent that I started getting a few orders here and there and with the constant push from my family, I decided to start my own line. Being in the company of my cousin Liz Ogumbo, a well-known fashion designer based in South Africa and my mentor also got me very interested in the fashion industry. Having worked with True Love magazine as a stylist also helped me learn my ways around styling people from all walks of life. What inspired my fashion line – AACHERA… I’m very passionate about fashion and style and I personally like dressing for occasions – every day is my runway. That is what inspired me to create a line for both myself and for people out there who love fashion and want to look and feel confident in what they wear. I currently have two fashion lines. One is a luxury line which mainly has stock for occasions – this was inspired by wanting and appreciating the finer things in life. I recently rebranded the line and what inspired that was the need to have local fashion businesses in the retail space, I felt the need to fill that gap and bring African fashion to the forefront of the retail industry. My thoughts on the fashion scene in Africa… I think the fashion scene on the continent is doing quite well. I always say Africa is the new luxury at large as a brand in itself. The industry is really thriving in West and Southern Africa and it is picking up quite fast in East Africa as well. I have done business in Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and the US and England – so as a designer in Africa, you have quite a big market, especially in the diaspora because they tend to prefer locally made clothes to support their own. The African Development Bank (AFDB) stated that fashion in Africa is sustainable mainly just by the virtue of creating employment opportunities for our own here, especially for a lot of women and creating a positive working environment. How I think the fashion scene in Africa can improve… One challenge I think we face a lot is the challenge of production, and this is something I am constantly working on and gradually overcoming. It is a case of either growing your in-house production team or taking your designs to the factories and that is always a challenge if you are a small business. I wish we could have more people taking in small – scale orders so that the businesses that are just starting out can still get the same quality of clothing. My fashion do’s and don’ts… Don’t – wear clothes that do not fit. They give the impression that you’re either not too confident with yourself and it kind of reflects badly on you as a person. What you wear says a lot about you without you having to say anything at all. Do – have a good base/foundation to your dressing. By this, I mean what you wear inside your clothes should also be as good as what you wear outside. Wearing the right size bra, good clean underwear, provides a positive base for what you will wear on top of all that. Your style should be a reflection of who you are. Lousy foundations = a lousy fit = lousy confidence. Don’t – rush into trends I prefer to make classic pieces that can be worn for a long period of time. Trends tend to die out quick and you end up wasting money and time on pieces that won’t serve you a long time. Buy clothes that you intend to keep forever. Quality over quantity any day. Do – have a signature style. Be known for something. You don’t need to be a fashion designer or a stylist to be known for that particular style. How does one get to know their signature style? One should ask themselves various questions like who are you really? What do you like to do? What do you stand for? My top 3 fashion icons, locally and internationally… Asiyami Gold Elie Saab Michelle Obama What motivates me to create and develop new designs… My motivation comes from different things. I look to different cultures, I try to learn and understand them to appreciate what they offer in terms of creativity. When I travel I take time to engage with different people from different parts of the world and get to learn the history of the place and the people and understand why certain things are done in a certain way. All this inspires my designs in one way or another. Some of my collections stem from a personal story that I’m relaying in my work. AAchera is basically made to incorporate African cultures into the design and telling an African story through our textiles and collections. When it comes to designing, I look a lot to the seasons we experience. I use different colors according to the season and pick small elements fro what is
Chioma Ogbudimkpa: On creating Redbutton and using Green Fashion to meet the SDGs goals
Chioma Ogbudimkpa is a certified project management professional who has served in different capacities and projects across 5 countries and different industries. She has put in over 9 service years in FMCG, Consulting and Real Estate. Chioma is also a sustainability advocate and a Green Champion. She has been actively involved in the ‘Going Green’ Initiative from the YALI Network since 2015. She started her entrepreneurship journey with the launch of her women’s wear label, Redbutton in 2017 to explore her creative side. Following this, Chioma has received a seat at the table of various local and international platforms; she is a ‘She Leads Africa’ (SLA) Accelerator beneficiary of 2017, a 2018 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and the winner, Creative Business Cup Nigeria 2019. She will be representing Nigeria at the Global Creative Business Cup in Denmark this July. She’s also an alumnus and beneficiary of the Nigeria Creative Enterprise (NICE) program 2019 powered by the British Council. She has a Bachelors in Project Management Technology and a PGD in Strategic Management & Leadership. Chioma loves to cycle and play scrabble at her leisure time. What led you to fashion at the beginning and what led to the switch to sustainable fashion My mum owned a fashion house back in the 90s, that’s where and when I started to sew, sketch and play with fabrics. I found that I was always stitching something (till date..lol), my mum’s tailors were tired of me because nothing they make for me stays the same. I loved to experiment and add my own touch here and there. It was fun and engaging so I continued on this path up until I started working in the corporate space. I made my work clothes and sometimes, people wanted me to make clothes for them when they realized I made the dresses myself. It was extracurricular until 2016 when I decided to start the business properly. I enrolled in Martwayne fashion school while I was still working, just to get a professional grasp of fashion designing and the business of fashion. Following that, I launched Redbutton in 2017. Because I am a Green Champion, it was only natural for me to incorporate sustainability into my fashion brand. I started to research ways I can be green, while still maintaining fundamental design principles. There are several ways I have built in ethical fashion principles in my processes, including using recyclable paper packaging, ensuring minimal waste, ethical production processes and fusing sustainable materials. What are the possible career options here? It’s quite evident that the Africa fashion space is experiencing the highest rave she has ever had, and doesn’t seem like it will decline anytime soon. The demand and interest in the over $50bn industry have been incredibly progressive which also implies that there are tons of career opportunities, even in a sustainable fashion. Some common ones are textile producers (in knitting, weaving, dyeing, etc). Even here in Nigeria, we are yet to scratch the surface in exploring our indigenous woven fabrics from different tribes. We also have fashion designers, illustrators, machinists, thought leaders in ethical fashion (not very popular in Africa but there are) who are consultants, show curators, editors, etc. Where do you see this line of business taking you? Building a strong ethical fashion brand that promotes African craftsmanship and design innovation, and of course, a profitable fashion business that will birth several other ethical fashion advocates and workers is my overarching goal. Our zest for color, patterns and the intricacy in our embroideries are phenomenal and it appears we are not exploring what we have enough. This is what I want to project to Africa and the world by exploring eco-friendly materials and African art. What are the challenges in the fashion business, and how do you manage them? Production is slow and expensive. But I have realized through this journey that the process and result are far more important than the speed. It’s also more expensive to run, because eco-friendly materials are not exactly cheap (more expensive than regular fabrics), meaning that your pieces will not be cheap. But once you can properly project your value and find your target market, you will be just fine You use water hyacinths for some of your products, why water hyacinths? What was the reception like at the UN? It was just an experiment, to be honest, I didn’t expect that it will be this serious o..lol! I was researching on sustainable fabrics, something different from our woven fabrics, I bumped into this social innovation enterprise who also up-cycles waste for furniture and home decor pieces. I found that water hyacinths can be dried and woven into panels like our Aso-oke. I said, ‘I never saw anyone try this out in fashion, is it even possible?” The fact that it wasn’t popular in Africa drew me further into the research. I tested it and realized it could work but the dress will be dry clean only, no machine wash. We are constantly exploring more eco-friendly materials we can fuse into our designs to create statement pieces. Some of the water hyacinth pieces we fused with Adire were showcased at the 4th UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi and received resounding acclaim from assembly members and delegates. We were published in the Kenyan dailies and featured on the UN Environment news updates. Between April and today, we have shipped over 50 pieces to the US and UK, following the contacts made from the UN event. This is a testament to the fact that, even though our designs have the African aesthetic, they are also globally appealing. Got any advice for younger fashion entrepreneurs? Some say the industry is saturated, well maybe in some context. But also remember it is growing incredibly and the demand is looming. There are several ways to stand out. Look around you, look inside of you, talk to people that have the capacity to help you discover new territories. You can tweak your strategy, innovate,
The Afropole Presents The Wax Print Festival Ghana: June 14 – 16
What does it mean to Build Black Globally? The Afropole, founded by Amma Aboagye has got answers. Amma believes that as the continent’s influence is experienced worldwide through food, music, and fashion, it is no surprise that various sects of blackness such as Africans, Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, African Americans, Afropeans share similarities. With the objective of addressing market inefficiencies, The Afropole is a brokerage that connects African and Afrodiasporan businesses within the food, beauty, and creative industries. Through events, communications, merchandise, and business advisory, The Afropole aims to build trust and community, develop resources and enrich value chains to Build Black Globally. It has now become more obvious to tap into said similarities and likeness and celebrate our differences while encouraging unity through shared economics. About the Wax Print Festival… The Afropole’s Wax Print Festival is an event that provides an opportunity to showcase the creativity of African and Afrodiasporan businesses across the textile value chain in order to build those connections. The Wax Print Festival showcases all of the elements that The Afropole believes can Build Black Globally. With the recent controversy with Christian Dior, it is reaching a point where Africans and Afrodiasporans are unable to claim ownership or worse still claim inspiration about their own wax print industry: there is a continued surge of big brand names claiming ownership through trademark legalities. African or African-inspired textiles have key attributes that reflect our identity, heritage, ancestry, and dynamic cultures thereby making it hard to pass off these textiles as someone else’s. As it happens, there is an ongoing conversation about wax print that has people asking: Is Wax Print African? Through the Wax Print Festival, we hope to unpack prejudice and uncertainty about the topic, create informative experiences, and encourage new opinions about Wax Print and African textiles overall, in order to foster ownership and coordination in the industry. What to expect… Attendees of the festival should leave the event with informed answers to the aforementioned question that will spur them to take decisive actions to develop and innovate within the local textile space. The Wax Print Festival will be a three-day, cashless event powered by over 30 partnerships meant to add range and texture to the authentic African and Afrodiasporan experience attendees will have. This includes giveaways and other fun activities leading up to the event days. The festival will also feature the following: Exhibitions divided into four bits dubbed, The Past, The Present, Intersections, and The Future. Live demos on kente weaving, batiking and bead making The best food and other vendors across the region within the marketplace Music concerts each night Film The Quick Stitch Station which will be a fashion design kiosk where attendees can have clothing made from a menu within the duration of the time spent on the grounds Open Spaces described as good-natured conversations done in “un-panel style” about the African wax print industry. All this excitement is happening within the milieu of containers that make the artistic setting of The Untamed Empire. It will make its mark as part of the official “ Year of the Return” celebrations being promoted by Ghana Tourism Authority under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and is an opportunity for diasporans to also engage in this meaningful work. The Wax Print Festival will be a positive step and mark made towards Building Black Globally. Need Tickets??? The Wax Print Festival tickets are categorized into three types: Daily tickets, All Access tickets, and VIP All Access tickets. To purchase your early bird tickets please visit Egotickets or Wax Print Fest websites. Get 15% off your ticket purchase to the Wax Print Fest – using our discount code WPFSLA. The SLA team will be at the Wax Print Fest, so ensure to get your tickets now to save big. See you there. Whether the wax print is African or African-Inspired, The Afropole’s Wax Print Festival is an event for Ghanaians, Africans and Afrodiasporans alike to claim and celebrate what African textiles mean for us culturally and economically.
Its time to Invest in the African Fashion Industry
“Africans need to put on the clothes made by their fellow citizens as a showcase of support and home pride”. Africa has become a hub for designers unafraid to create fashion statements embellished in colors as bold as the continent’s sunsets and in prints as culturally rich as its people. Their designs are cat-walking across runways both at home and around the world from New York to London to Tokyo. Despite its budding international fame, the African fashion industry has long ways to walk before “made in Lagos” rings the same as “made in Paris.” For the meantime, the paucity of internal and external investment is a barrier frustrating attempts to move forward. In recent times, African fashion has not just dipped its toes but fully plunged into the world’s fashion scene. Anisa Mpungew, a Tanzanian designer and creator of Loin Cloth & Ashes, says “Africa is not afraid of patterns and colors, that’s the one thing we do in our sleep, so we use it to be louder amongst our foreign friends.” Indeed, African designers are making bold fashion statements through the complex patterns and colors they dare to work with. African fashion tells a story — patches of identity are interwoven into the fabrics used and the designs created. According to Bethlehem Alemu, owner of an Ethiopian shoe company soleRebels, “The global consumer today is hyper-aware. They want authentic and innovative ideas delivered from the authors of those ideas.” These consumers want the designs to be creations of the African mind and hands and not replicas produced by Western clothing chains. The fashion industry has the potential to create secured jobs for the African youths of today and tomorrow. High profiled brands in the likes of J. Crew, Burberry, and Michael Kors oftentimes look to Africa for inspiration and ideas. Nevertheless, the masks, zebra stripes and leopard spots feed into Western stereotypes of Africa, not Africa’s authentic story. With designers and clothes in high demand, the African fashion industry is ripe to reach its full potential. However, a lack of internal patronage stands in the way. Lexy Moyo-Eyes, the founder of Nigerian Fashion Week, acknowledges that “the fashion industry can become a big business in Africa … even more with government support.” For example, according to the African Development Bank, the Rwandan government established a “foundation to establish garment factories and boost the textile and fashion industries.” As governments across the continent follow Rwanda’s steps and begin to esteem the fashion industry, they need to invest in the skills and qualifications of their people. Fashion programs such as LISOF School of Fashion in South Africa and Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design in Ghana need to be in abundant supply, not scarce, across Africa. Furthermore, governments across the African continent should set quotas on the import of second-hand clothing from the West. The goal would be to stop relying on the West and boost local manufacturing and development instead. The East African Community (EAC), composed of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, has gone as far as to propose a ban by 2019. For the meantime, African designers, seamstresses, tailors, and retailers are competing with Western clothes ranging from printed shirts to blouses to leather jackets to sport jerseys. Sylvia Owori, a designer based in Uganda, says that “about 90 percent of the clothing people are buying in the whole country are second-hand clothes — so as a small fish, how are you going to start to compete with that?” These clothes have appeal because they are priced cheaply and allow Africans to emerge themselves in Western culture by dressing the part. A pair of jeans could be sold for as little as $1.50. At first glance, bundles of our worn clothes might seem like benevolent gifts from the West, but they are actually hindering the progress of the African fashion industry and economy. “The fashion industry can become a big business in Africa … even more with government support” – Lexy-Mojo Eyes Andrew Brooks, professor of Geography at King’s College London, explains that “[Western] t-shirts may be quite cheap for someone to buy, but it would be better if that person could buy a locally manufactured t-shirt, so the money stays within the [country]” instead of circulating overseas. As the proverb goes, “charity begins at home.” Not only will they be contributing to the success of homegrown designers but to their respective economy as a whole. According to Ventures Africa, “If there is any time to invest in the African fashion industry, it is now.” Those who invest first will likely be the biggest beneficiaries of them all. According to Euromonitor Internations, “the combined apparel and footwear market in sub-Saharan Africa [alone] is estimated to be worth US$ 31 billion.” Deola Sagoe, a Nigerian designer in the industry for the past 25 years says that this is only a small fraction of what the fashion industry is capable of. It is time to turn this visionary potential into tangible prospects. Omoyemi Akerele, the founder of Lagos Fashion and Design Week, realizes that investing in Africa does not come without its risks; you only need to to read, watch or listen to the news to be reminded of that. But she urges people to take a leap of faith and look beyond the rhetoric of corruption and images of war. She emphasizes that “he who observes the wind and waits for all conditions to be favorable will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Beyond the glamour of clothes and runways, the fashion industry is a business that has the potential to play its part in efforts to create jobs, especially among young people. Compared to its counterparts, the African continent is home to the world’s youngest population. According to the International Labor office, “youth make up as much as 36 percent of the total working-age population and three in five of Africa’s unemployed are youths.” Furthermore, UNICEF projects that by 2050, African
Meet the 3 Kenyan Women in fashion collaborating for the culture
By Ruth Mbugua In 2009, Nelly Tuikong was a nurse in America but there was something tugging at her heart about makeup for the African woman. Her entrepreneurial instincts kicked in after looking around stores for makeup that suited her African skin and didn’t find any. With no prior knowledge in manufacturing makeup, but armed with a passion, Nelly started her journey that birthed Pauline Cosmetics (named after her mother) after three years of learning, research, and trials. Pauline Cosmetics is a makeup brand that designs, develops and manufactures makeup products with the African woman in mind. The brand has now grown to become an established makeup brand with a line of lipstick, lip-gloss, eye shadow, and mascara. Enter Caroline Mutoko, a celebrated renowned media personality, a woman of her own caliber. With more than 20 years of experience in the media, her name speaks for her in the Kenyan entertainment industry. Caroline Mutoko also has a YouTube channel where she takes the spotlight that is on her and shines it on you. In 2017, she was featuring Kenyan women who were making strides and shattering glass ceilings on her YouTube channel. One of these women happened to be Nelly Tuikong of Pauline Cosmetics. In November 2018, Caroline Mutoko challenged Nelly to work with her to come up with a lipstick line for all the women who are ‘becoming, women in different spaces and phases of their lives and for every woman in you. This brought about the I AM limited edition lipstick. To add more synergy to this powerful collaboration, these two amazing women, Pauline, and Caroline Mutoko, didn’t just stop there. They collaborated with Wandia Gichuru of Vivo Woman to distribute the limited edition lipstick in 8 of the Vivo Woman stores in Nairobi. Wandia Gichuru has rewritten the narrative of modern day fashion. She founded Vivo active wear in 2011 to offer comfortable casual wear for the sporty woman and official clothing for the professional woman. Here are the 5 things I have learned from the partnership of these three glamorous women. 1. Collaborate instead of compete An African proverb says “If you want to go fast if you want to go far, go together”. Nothing is better than working with other women who get your perspective and challenges you face as a woman in business. 2. Have a defined purpose and vision When you have every partner pulling in different directions, there is bound to be no progress. To collaborate, you need to have a clear and shared vision and an agreed direction on how to achieve it. 3. Bring a unique value Each partner should bring a differentiating factor into the equation. This helps to ensure that you do not view each other as competition. 4. Have mutual benefits The partnership should be beneficial to all partners. This removes the perception that one person is bearing a bigger load than the other. 5. There is room for more than one queen There is no winner takes all award in entrepreneurship. As women, we need to get over this attitude and view women as a community to help each other grow and not competition. “My advice to girls is always this: Be supportive of each other. I can’t say this enough. We have to be our best friends, each other. That means we cannot be catty, we cannot compete and see one person’s failure as our success. We can all rise together, we can all win! We’re sometimes taught in our societies that we have to compete and we have to hold each other back in order for one of us to succeed. That is not true. We need each other. And all over the world, we have to be a team of women and girls who love each other and value each other and cherish one another. Because if we don’t cherish each other, no one else will,” – Michelle Obama
Travel Hacks For The Budgetnista in You
Travel has become part and parcel of a millennial’s life. We prioritize traveling a lot more than we did over a decade or so ago. Why? Because travel life is the best life that’s why. Visiting new places, experiencing new cultures, new cuisines and making lifetime memories while you’re at it? What could be better than that? That being said, the jet set life isn’t something people willingly get into because of the cost. SLA has a few tips and tricks on low budget travel that can possibly help change your mind… 1. Save Smart It goes without saying that if you want to travel, you need to save for it. Travelling requires sacrifice and compromise and good financial management. So if it means ditching your daily coffee run and carrying your own lunch to work for three months then so be it – every little bit counts. We spend so much on little luxuries that we can actually do without if we think about how much we can save in the long run. If you have a financial goal to meet by a certain time – you will need to cut out some unnecessary spending habits. Save and save diligently. 2. Visas Check whether the country you are traveling to requires a visa on arrival or one to be acquired before travel or none at all. In regards to visas on arrival, be sure to check with the country’s consulate directly and not just Google. For example – I was travelling to Mexico last year and being a Kenyan, I immediately knew I needed to get a visa and when I checked the requirements on the consulate’s website, the list mentioned that if you have a current US visa, you can still get entry into Mexico – no need to apply for a visa. I called the consulate to confirm this and they did confirm it. Saved myself the process and the coins and had I not checked, I’d have paid for a visa I didn’t really need. Please do your research when it comes to visas. The UK visa, for example, gives you access to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The US, Canada, and UK visa do also offer visa-free access to plenty of other countries with an entry of up to 15 to 180 days, depending on the country. You do have to check whether your passport is eligible for such access though. All this helps you void visa fees and the entire process altogether if necessary. Some consulates require confirmed flight and accommodation bookings when applying for a visa. A trick to get around this – book your accommodation through booking.com, this site lets you book a hotel room without any payment required and you can cancel the booking within a particular timeframe. This helps you get through the visa process without losing any money in case you aren’t successful in the visa interview. You can also reserve tickets without paying immediately with some airlines or travel agencies. 3. Best Time to Travel It is always cheaper to travel during off-peak periods. Traveling during the holiday season such as Easter and Christmas will cost more than any other time of the year. The Summer season is also an expensive travel period especially to countries in the west. Here in Africa, peak times depending on the country. For example in Kenya, excluding the holiday season in December, other peak seasons include April (Easter holidays) and August (when the cold season here ends). Any other time of the year is off-peak season so perfect for traveling here. In Europe, off-peak times include January – March or September – Early November. For countries in South-East Asia like Indonesia and Malaysia, the best time to travel would be during their monsoon season, which starts around November until March. The weather is still hot and humid, just mixed with showers of rain from time to time. The best days to travel in terms of affordability are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Majority travel is done from Friday to Monday so those days will have more costly travel fares. For holiday travel, it would be wise to book a flight scheduled for a week before the actual holiday, i.e. a week or two before Christmas week or if you can’t leave that early, traveling on Christmas day is another option. It’s not ideal but it will be the cheapest ticket you get. Flying on Christmas day or Thanksgiving day will give you the best rates on the low. 4. Flight Hacks Searching for cheap flights is really an extreme sport sometimes but if you’re keen on various airline trends, you can find a loophole. First tip – when looking for flights, browse using an incognito/private window. Websites track your searches and you will always see the same rate on several different sites because they have picked up that you are looking. Either use a private browsing window or clear your cache every time you search so the sites have nothing to pick up on. The best time to search for flights is a good three months in advance, the rates go up the closer you get to your departure date. Flights with one or two stops tend to be cheaper than direct flights. As convenient as direct flights are, they tend to cost so much just because of said convenience. Picking a flight with connecting flights saves quite a bit of money and for some airlines like Emirates, if your layover is 10hrs or longer, they automatically give you a transit visa which allows you to get out of the airport and put you up in a hotel for that duration before your next flight. Join ALL the miles programs. Most programs are partnered with more than one airline, for instance, Delta SkyMiles program is partnered with KLM, Air France, Kenya Airways, Korean Airlines, Alitalia, China Airlines, etc… So you can get miles from any of these airlines and use them on
Joanna Steele: 2019, my year of return – from London to Equatorial Guinea
I was born in London in the 80s to Jamaican immigrants who arrived in the UK as young children in the 1950s. My mum studied and worked as a nurse for the NHS (UK’s national health service) specializing as a midwife before becoming a health visitor. My dad was a Ph.D. educated engineer, physicist, and researcher working for MI5 (the UK government security and intelligence agency). He was also an Open University lecturer. My early ambition was to be a lawyer. I began a Law degree at London Metropolitan University but discovered pretty early on that it wasn’t for me. I changed to Marketing and Spanish with the ultimate aim of working internationally. After university, I worked in a number of traditional PR and marketing roles and in the early 2000s, transitioned to a more digital focus. More recently I have been making my mark within the UK digital retail space leading award-winning teams, projects, and campaigns. I developed the content for the Mothercare (UK Mother & Baby Retailer) app – Winner of Best App at Paypal E-tail Awards – 2013 & 2014. I managed the social media team shortlisted for Best Social Media. In 2017, I was a Tech50 Women award nominee which acknowledges emerging UK female tech talent. “But I’m leaving London for Equatorial Guinea”. Why Leave? In 2014, I met my now fiancée – a self-taught digital designer and animator who had worked for companies including Google and Amazon. We would often get requests to design leaflets and websites – many from DRC and Angola where my partner originates. There was a clear demand for digital and design services but no-one local to fulfill. My partner went to DRC to explore the market and landed an opportunity in Equatorial Guinea where he teaches animation at a local school, has built their website and is working on other marketing collateral. Africa’s potential as a global leader in the world’s digital economy grows significantly every year. A growing population, increasing internet penetration and mobile adoption, already goes a long way towards overcoming infrastructural barriers to digital transformation and connecting people and services online. That’s why we’ve created Dimax – a digital agency helping businesses in Western Africa become more digitally focused to drive growth. [bctt tweet=”Relocating and establishing a business is exciting, but it is hard work – @MissSteele” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How am I preparing for such a big transition? Here are my top 5 ways to prepare for a huge transition such as this… 1. Visit the region multiple times. Read, research and understand the cultural and business landscape. Upskill if necessary. Current reads: “How We Made it In Africa” – compiled by Jaco Maritz & “Africa’s Business Revolution – How to succeed in the world’s next big growth market” by Acha Leke, Mutsa Chironga and Georges Desvaux. I’m also a student at the Oxford University Fintech Programme learning about how technology is disrupting financial markets. 2. Network. Get yourself known. I attend at least 2 networking events per month and am working on elevating my online personal brand 3. Get your finances in order. Reduce expenditure, increase passive income and have a plan for how your assets will be managed whilst you’re away 4. De-clutter – I didn’t realize how much stuff I had – most of which I don’t need or won’t be able to take with me 5. Focus on your physical and spiritual health. Your mind and body will be tested with all that you have to do, so step up your exercise and healthy eating regime. What am I looking forward to? Playing my part in Africapitalism. Driving financial returns and long term sustainable economic growth with social and environmental responsibility, education and community enrichment at the core. Living and working side by side with my partner in life and business Sounds cliché, but the weather – anyone who has ever lived in London knows the struggle! I will however definitely miss my family, friends and the fast-pace of London. Looking to make a similar transition? Follow these steps… Preparation is key. I’ve hired a business coach to help me plan and prioritize which has been so helpful because at times I get overwhelmed with what I need to do including holding down my day job whilst I’m still in the UK! Be patient. You’re going to want everything to happen quickly – know that everything will happen when it’s meant to. Allow yourself to be vulnerable: No need to always know your next move. Whilst we have short, mid and long-term goals, we still don’t have everything figured out. It helps not to overthink things. Once we made the decision to make the big move, things just started to fall in place. Tell people about your plans: you’ll be surprised how many people are willing to help you or connect you with someone that can. Be flexible: Whilst I aim to be in Equatorial Guinea by the end of 2019, nothing happens before its time. Following my most recent visit, I have been invited back to host a workshop and participate on a panel at TegCampus – an annual tech initiative for young people organized by telecommunications company GITGE in May. So, I will be back sooner than I had anticipated. Watch this space! Follow my journey on Instagram and read more about Dimax here: www.dimaxdigital.com Got a story to share with us? Click here to share.
What went down at Face Africa’s Annual WASH Gala – March 19′
Rewriting The Story of Africa through water. – Adebola Williams The narrative of Africa is changing, and (we) the offspring are joining hands in numbers, working towards a better tomorrow for generations to come. Africa has and always will be one of the richest places in the world with resources that can build many nations, nurture and develop talent in various sectors of life and most importantly provide clean water systems in every home and community. Having clean water may seem like the most accessible thing that everyone should have in 2019, but unfortunately, it is a struggle that millions of people are still facing. Like any math problem, the goal is to find the answer by solving an equation. Saran Kaba Jones’s answer to contaminated water in Africa is creating access to clean water systems for everyday people through FACE Africa. Saturdays are usually for Aso-Ebi, headwraps tied in perfect origami style coupled with highlights, contour, and lashes that completes the ultimate glam. Well, this Saturday was different. The African culture graced Guastavino’s with couture dresses, hand-stitched suits and ties made from fine textiles for the most prestigious event of the year, FACE Africa annual WASH GALA. The WASH GALA was an evening that captured and honored voices that want to and are changing the narrative of what home really looks like and their trials and tribulations in home improvement. FACE Africa’s keen eye to detail and prestige was felt from the moment people walked up to the stairs and through the doors of Guastavino’s. Africa is home when you invest your mind and soul the journey is built brick by brick with our hands and not by the colonizers. FACE Africa’s journey to supply clean water started 10 years ago and of course, it was no easy task raising hundreds of dollars in the beginning to now raising millions in its 10th year. There is power when we join forces to enhance our resources. Aqua blue, forest green, these colors illuminated the entire venue creating the vibe of taking in the fresh air that trees provide and drinking crisp water through clean water. What a feeling. This year’s WASH GALA honorees are Didier Drogba, Nomzamo Mbatha, Mr. Eazi, and Bozoma Saint John. Nomzamo Mbatha Rising Star Honoree Nomzamo Mbatha acceptance speech was filled with cries, laughter and the room responded with a standing ovation. “The credit and the bragging is so different nowadays. It is not about what designers you have, or the different houses you may have across the world. It is how many people that are on your payroll, and how many organizations we have started to make sure that the blood of our ancestors that were used as fertilization to grow the natural resource, and that the natural resource that we have as the African continent is not just the resources as gold or diamonds, it is us. Those that are scattered across the world”. Nomzamo told her story in a room that felt like home because home is where her heart lives. We all come from different sectors of the continent, some experiences different from others but we share a common fight, developing Africa. Adebola Williams Adebola Williams CEO of RED Media and WASH Gala Co-Chair touched on many successes on the continent such as three major banks in Nigeria having women as chairman and President Sirleaf paving the way for women in politics. But still, many women face challenges and are slowed down by fetching water when this energy can be put to good use by doing other things in society. Williams continued by shedding light on new millennial problems in the world. Back-aches and hands aching him from long texting, but Africa is still dealing with about two million water-related diseases. Bozoma Saint John A room full of advocacy, people who want to do better for our continent. We were reminded about the importance of voice by Bozoma Saint John CMO at Endeavor and WASH Gala Voice of Change Recipient. “Once you have been silent, you have been forgotten, it is important to use our voices to change the narrative”. Bozoma demonstrated what it meant to lead by example and using her voice for change and impact by sharing the stage and honorable moment with her daughter Lael Saint John. Didier Drogba Like the good old saying “If not us then who” exuded the room by Didier Drogba who was WASH Gala Humanitarian recipient. Drogba was unable to attend the gala in person due to an emergency in Côte d’Ivoire but left us with a beautiful video message. “It is our responsibility to bring awareness and change in Africa. Water is life, so invest in clean water for the community,” he said Caroline Wanga Caroline Wanga, Vice President of Human Resources at Target Corporation and WASH Gala 2019 keynote speaker commended all attendees in the room and noted that “Guastavino’s ain’t neva have these many Africans in here before”. For those that know the upper east side of New York City, the upper class and diplomats fill the area where the average rent is $2500 – $3000 a month, just imagine how much hosting an event on that side of town would be. Wanga key points were the importance buying and labor market, “ Africa Immigrants are the answer to developing our nation, rent to pay, Louboutin’s to wear, outfits to make, either way, someone somewhere does not have clean water”. Wanga also implored everyone in the room to “Get this Shmoney” and invest in Africa. Every day is another opportunity to be better and do better, technology has increased the number of collaborations between people and spreading awareness to causes at a fast pace. I can just imagine the impact and change that will occur between now and five years with FACE Africa clean water initiative. We are definitely on our way to a clean and thirst quenching society. Got a story to share with us? Click here to share.
Cynthia Jones: From Banker to Baker
Cynthia Jones born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She worked as a banker at some of the most reputable banks in Zimbabwe. She started her own business and transitioned from banker to baker.