Shining in the Sports Arena & in Business: Meet the 3 Powerful Women Who Made the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 List

Women are resilient, powerful, dynamic caretakers and can honestly defy any odds stacked against them. These amazing individuals are celebrated nationally on 9 August, but truly ought to be honoured 365 days of the year! Briefly News looks into some inspirational women who not only made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2022 but are also making their mark in their respective fields – whether it be in sport, the creative space or business.

Regardless of any defining demographic, being a woman is a superpower in its own right. From giving life and running households and businesses to shattering the stereotypes and metaphorical glass ceiling that seeks to limit them – they are a force to be recognised and celebrated.

Briefly News looked into the three amazing young South African women who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2022. The list features the best and the brightest, but importantly, the most resilient. These women have taken the time to not only shine a light on the issues plaguing Africa’s growth in a pandemic era but also work towards shifting the narrative one tenacious step at a time.

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Olympics breaststroke swimming champ Tatjana Schoenmaker

Tatjana Schoenmaker, 25, is a South African swimmer specialising in breaststroke events. She was raised in Roodepoort, a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa, before moving to the country’s capital city, Pretoria.

According to Forbes, the Olympics even referred to her as the “African breaststroke queen” and the "latest breaststroke diamond out of South Africa” when she won the gold medal and set the world record in the 200-metre breaststroke and also won the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year.

"I don’t know if sports was my first love all the time… But I do think you get to love the sport. When I was younger, I used to do a lot of sports so choosing swimming as the only option was not on the cards for me. But I do think when I pursued my swimming career, I fell in love with it,” said Schoenmaker at the 2022 Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit in March.

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Speaking on the commendable recognition of being on the Forbes Africa Under 30 class of 2022, the avid swimmer said it was “amazing”.

“To think that you are one of the 30 from the whole of Africa to make it on there, is an amazing achievement and such an honour. I definitely don’t know how to describe the feeling, it’s always difficult to say. When that moment comes, you kind of like feel shocked.”

Construction company founder Kekeletso Tsiloane

The construction industry remains largely male-dominated. According to Go Construct, misconceptions about gender-specific roles are gradually diminishing with a growing number of women choosing a career in construction and engineering.

Inspired by her father, Kekeletso Tsiloane, 29, together with her sister, formed Ramtsilo Trading, whose mission is to provide a sustainable solution to plastic waste pollution.

“Our father had a construction company, he would take us to site often and without a plan, we would resort to our own comforts and for me that was on site where trenches, big machinery, and the manual labour was being done, I’d walk around and inside the trenches asking lots of questions."

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In the same breath, Tsiloane was always concerned about waste and in 2016 started taking an interest in the green economy (recycling and upcycling). She then dove into the trenches of research and approached her family about the idea of making bricks out of plastic.

“My family and I started prototyping the idea in my mother’s yard at home. We bought waste from waste pickers and from landfills… We started not only the product innovation but the know-how and machinery, with my sister’s salary, savings and small profit we made from the construction projects.”

Tsiloane also shared that being a businesswoman isn’t easy as she and her sister often get discriminated against and not taken seriously.

“We have had to work hard to prove ourselves and to tackle this male-dominated industry,” said Kekeletso Tsiloane.

Luxury sleepwear entrepreneur Carla Frankel

Making bedtime a worthwhile pleasure while running a successful business is the founder of personalised luxury sleepwear, Top Drawer Collection, Carla Frankel.

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The 29-year-old told Forbes that she started her company when she was very ill and at a crossroads in her life.

At the age of 21, Frankel was walking around campus and suddenly felt her feet burn, which actually turned out to be sagittal sinus thrombosis – or in simple terms, a stroke.

Forbes stated that two years before that, Frankel had already been diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases; antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) as well as lupus. During her second year at university, she had another stroke during a four-hour exam. This resulted in three weeks of hospitalisation and Frankel being unable to finish her exams.

It was during the recovery phase that she realised that the only thing in that “dark period” that lifted her spirits was the pair of matching pyjamas her mom had bought for her from retail chain Woolworths.

“We would make quite a moment of them, put on face masks, and watch our favorite movies. Those pyjamas with my mom weren’t just pyjamas — they were a layer of comfort and safety. They were an armour of sorts to me that helped me feel beautiful and safe even while so disconnected from myself, in this foreign body that didn’t feel like mine,” she shared.

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Frankel explained that it was through a near-death experience that Top Drawer Collection was born.

Within six months of starting Top Drawer, Frankel says she received orders from South African celebrities such as actor-producer Connie Ferguson and influencer Kefilwe Mabote. Corporates like Unilever were also ordering sleepwear from her. Even when Covid-19 hit, she still managed her business.

“We have reached the market cap for the units that can be produced locally. I sell what I have, and there is a waiting list unbelievably long for those who didn’t manage to secure a set on a restock day. I am very grateful for the desire for the product,” the inspiring woman shared.

South African actress and entrepreneur Celeste Khumalo becomes a 2-time graduate with second MBA

In another story, Briefly News reported that Celeste Khumalo has bagged her second MBA. The South African actress celebrated her achievement on Twitter, showing off her new qualification in a glamorous room.

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The MBA is based on Luxury Brand Management, and the graduate also has a certificate in Luxury Design Management.

Both qualifications are from Paris, with the certificate also being from Florence.

Source: Briefly News