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Women should take entrepreneurship seriously

July 29, 2016 10:33 am by: Category: BUSINESS, Featured, National Leave a comment A+ / A-
Entrepreneur Tumi Frazier

Entrepreneur Tumi Frazi

Simba Rushwaya
JOHANNESBURG – THEY say dynamite comes in small packages and this may be true for pint sized Gauteng-born female entrepreneur and motivational speaker Tumi Frazier, who runs Leadership Development workshops and is a motivational speaker, across the world through her company, Tumi Frazier International, that trains women leaders.

“My company, Tumi Frazier International, assists individuals and organizations with personal and organizational development interventions to improve accountability, effectiveness and commitment in order to cultivate high performance culture,” Frazier explains.

Her company does this by doing Leadership Development and Change Resilience Workshops, through keynote addresses and inspirational sessions,” says Frazier who admits that she was not an entrepreneur by birth and neither was she born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth.

“No, I do not come from an entrepreneurial background. I’m actually an epitome of struggle, overcoming setbacks and ultimate triumph, although I haven’t arrived yet. I don’t think I will ever arrive, anyway – as long as I’m alive, I’m open to learning, inventing and new opportunities. So, I was never born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but instead worked extremely hard to turn my passion into a business”

“Was it easy? Absolutely not…business is not for the faint hearted! I had to overcome major obstacles and challenges in my business and life in general.

Frazier says it took her a while to get off the ground, sometimes taking five steps forward only to take ten steps backwards, going through getting her car repossessed by the bank and her personal property being auctioned after she had used up all her savings to invest in her business.

“However, I kept going despite all the hardships because I believed in myself. Besides, I had come a long way and had sacrificed far too much to quit by then. I figured out that I must be close to the finish line, especially when things got worse. As Dr. Robert Schuller once wrote, “Tough times never last, but tough people do”. I developed resilience and a tough mind and worked on my business like my life depended on it. In fact it did depend on it like the air I breathed. Before long, I made a breakthrough,” she says.

Frazier, who has travelled the world thanks to her talents, recently made a potent presentation at a local hotel in Fourways that left the participants spellbound and asking for more.

She was one of the speakers at a workshop organised by the Intelligence Transfer Centre (ITC), under the banner ‘Leadership Development for Women’ where she spoke passionately about the involvement of women in entrepreneurship especially those in the previously marginalised townships like Soweto, Diepsloot and Tembisa.

“Women need to develop their mindset and understand that all these tough times is what will move us ahead as South Africans. In fact they need to step out and connect with other people. There are people out there who have made it without money, who started with little savings or nothing.

About a hundred women from local government departments and corporate companies were gathered for the three day workshop that was meant to promote women in leadership.

“As Africans we come from poor backgrounds. If you think about it, our grandmothers used to make fat cakes which will show you that we have entrepreneurial spirit from the beginning as Africans. We were born with this spirit. We need to tap into that by building connections because collaboration and connectivity is critical. For example, there was this Angolan girl who says their country needs partnerships, so all you have to do as South Africans is to say how do we assist our sisters to take goods there and sell. We start small, but develop,” she says.

Frazier went on to talk about project called the Lionesses of Africa, which helps women to develop as entrepreneurs by showcasing their businesses.

“Some of these women started with nothing. In there is a woman who started with one cow, but she went on to build schools and communities. If you empower a woman you have literally empowered the nation because women give back to communities.”

Frazier adds that South Africa is fortunate in that it has and provides entrepreneurs with funds unlike in other countries where aspiring businesspeople have to start from scratch.

“ It’s up to South Africans to get out there and showcase what you can do. In one of the countries I visited this woman started from nowhere as she had lost her job. The only thing she had was an old mattress. What do you do with an old mattress?

“You know what she did? She used her phone and went online and enquired what she can do with an old mattress. Ideas came she realised you can actually make bags, tapestry and other things from the old mattress. If you go now to Tembisa and look for old mattresses you will find them. Her business is thriving now, all this woman did was to think,” she advices.

A very reserved person, Frazier refuses to talk about her private life, only saying she has one daughter.

She also flatly refuses to disclose the fortune she has made in her journey, but her business card reveals that she does business from Johannesburg and the United States

Guardian

Women should take entrepreneurship seriously Reviewed by on . [caption id="attachment_3241" align="alignleft" width="68"] Entrepreneur Tumi Frazi[/caption]Simba Rushwaya JOHANNESBURG – THEY say dynamite comes in small pack [caption id="attachment_3241" align="alignleft" width="68"] Entrepreneur Tumi Frazi[/caption]Simba Rushwaya JOHANNESBURG – THEY say dynamite comes in small pack Rating: 0

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