Young Cape Town Woman Overcomes Anxiety to Run Tutoring Company, Believes Education Is Key to Success

• A young Cape Town-based woman has combined her passion for education with her love of entrepreneurship and started a tutoring company
• Spotting the need for good tutors in her community, the young woman launched her own business, hiring professional mentors to help pupils of all grades
• Despite being an introvert and dealing with anxiety, Tamica says her love for children and education keep her invested in the company

Overcoming anxiety and introversion is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what a young Cape Town-based woman did when launching her tuition business, which she named Tamica’s Tutoring.

The young woman spoke to Briefly News about her passion for education, overcoming anxiety, and her newfound love for entrepreneurship.

Residing in the under-resourced Cape community of Steenberg, Tamica Mopp noticed that many primary and secondary school students in her neighbourhood had problems with mathematics and literacy.

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“I saw that there was a fundamental need for tutors in my community. That need, coupled with my love for education and seeing children succeed led me to start my business,” Tamica said.

Although the young entrepreneur launched her company in 2020, it was only this year that she took the leap of faith to run the business full-time.

“One of the biggest challenges I had was starting my business with no capital and no external help,” she said.

Overcoming anxiety to start her business

In 2020 and 2021, Tamica battled with depression and anxiety and at one point, she thought that her mental health would hinder her business plans.

“I had a lot of insecurities about myself and thought I had no place trying to start my business,” she said.

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But despite the challenges the entrepreneur faced, she knew Tamica's Tutoring had a bigger purpose.

“My insecurities did not overpower my drive to continue. In 2022 I’m managing my mental health better, by the grace of God,” she adds.

A growing source of youth employment

Tamica’s business is also a source of youth employment, with 15 young tutors working for the company, with the Cape Town woman regularly posting about new recruits and the subjects they teach.

“We started off with five tutors, but now we have 15, teaching English, Afrikaans, Accounting, Mathematical Literacy, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Natural Sciences to students of all grades,” she said.

The 25-year-old is currently taking a gap-year from her studies in education at the University of South Africa (Unisa) and notes that it was largely her upbringing that led her to become an introvert.

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“Growing up with a huge family, we moved from place to place before settling in Steenberg and had just enough to just make ends meet,” she said.

Tamica adds that with her parents being loving and protective, she remained indoors with her siblings a lot and became a shy bookworm:

“We weren’t allowed to play with other kids in the street, so I was extremely introverted, becoming an entrepreneur was the last thing I thought would do. I was the quiet bookish girl who got bullied in school. Dealing with people was the last thing I wanted or imagined myself doing."

The young business owner notes that she has since grown and blossomed, no longer shying away from people or new challenges.

Developing a love for education and literacy

Before deciding to run her company full-time, Tamica worked at a literacy trust called Fundza, and this is where she discovered her love for education.

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“I love that education gives people the opportunity to get out of poverty. The fact that I can play a role in helping a child realise that their dreams are not too far-fetched is very special to me."

The young woman explains that she has faced many challenges as an entrepreneur, especially as a woman of colour.

“As a coloured, there is often a stereotype in local communities that reaching matric is the highest and greatest achievement and I want to challenge that narrative,” she said.

Tamica dreams of expanding her business to communities outside of Cape Town and in addition to academic support, she plans on offering extramural activities such as arts, theatre and music as well.

“We are currently sitting with nearly 100 students, from having only five in 2020, so there has been tremendous growth. We also work with schools and do not only offer private lessons,” she adds.

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Above all, the Capetonian believes that there is great power in education and wants to make each of her students feel cared for.

“My tutors and I believe that each child matters. Knowing that I played a role in making a child feel valued is enough to keep my spark for education alive."

Tamica’s Tutoring currently offers both face-to-face lessons, individual and group sessions, and virtual classes at R150 a session.

SA teacher and tutor shares her Love for education: “I am changing people’s lives and views of the world”

In a previous article, Briefly News had a chat with academic and tutor, Unathi Ntshobo, a 29-year-old who runs her own tutoring business which specialises in research assistance and virtual and in-person tutorial classes for tertiary students.

The Master’s student believes that a person’s biggest asset is their brain and how they choose to see things in the world and life.

Source: Briefly News