Woman, you can do anything you set your mind to

by Mbalenhle Ndaba

Thandi Make is a woman that is clearly in charge of her life and career. She beams with pride when she talks about her life story. Thandi is an actress, a brand ambassador, a model and an entrepreneur. I mean what does she not do?

26-Year-old Thandi is the founder of Our Promo Group (OP Group), an advertising agency that creates ownable, long-term activation assets. OP Group offers influencers, social media content, advertising and brand building.

Being a founder must not be an easy thing but Thandi says that she believes that women are naturally born to lead and nurture. But in most instances, they are pushed to the back of the room. Thandi says she is working towards changing that stigma because the entrepreneurial space has a lot of opportunities that women can excel in.

“Women must perfect the art of being direct, assertive, professional, supportive, selfless and fully invest in personal development”, Thandi emphasises.

Time waits for no man, said a lot of people who have never really had to wait. Thandi is, however, an exception to this statement as she says being in the City of Gold, she learnt that even though she was programmed to think that things come easy in this City, she had to carve her own way to make sure she gets to where she needs to be.

“Being in a city with so many opportunities, it takes a really disciplined person to distinguish between things that are worth pursuing and things that are not.  Even when you do find that one thing that works for you, you need to realise that you may still fail. So even then, you need to persevere”.

With the long-gone decade, some people cannot fully say that they were able to achieve most of their goals. Thandi says the decade was kind to her. It brought forth a lot of blessings so much so that she hopes this new one, is a lot kinder. “Consistency is something I have had to constantly remind myself as I grow older. I have a lot of ideas and plans but they don’t always work. I have had to stick to that one goal I definitely know works and it has been such a delight watching everything blossom right before me”

Thandi believes that her success has a lot to do with her confidence seeing that she works in an industry that is driven by competition. “Confidence is believing in yourself, knowing you’re capable and willing to do what needs to be done, and understand that you do have what it takes to excel”. She says that her confidence really started to shine when she started celebrating her small achievements and not just the big ones.

Energy infused petite Thandi says she may look small but her dreams are much bigger. She quotes 2019 Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi and says that in 2020 she will be taking up space and proving to the world that girls can do it too and be great at it. We cannot wait to see what spaces Ms Make will be occupying. We wish her all the best with everything she plans on doing.