Tanya BaileyTanya has a vested interest in SA, which goes beyond building a successful career for herself. The way she conceptualises 'successful' is driven by commitment to inclusivity, evidenced by her business network which mobilises and develops local talent and skills to benefit the broader South African community, including its wildlifeTANYA BAILEY is the vision behind, "Working with materials made from recycled banner fabric and recycled South African bottles - 100% South African, and traceable to source - to make colourful, beautiful Uzwelo bags." Tanya has a vested interest in SA, which goes beyond building a successful career for herself. The way she conceptualises 'successful' is driven by commitment to inclusivity, evidenced by her business network which mobilises and develops local talent and skills to benefit the broader South African community, including its wildlife. Tanya sums up Uzwelo's ethos saying, "the stories behind our bags and the people who make them are what drive us every single day to do a better job, to create new ideas, new bags, new projects, involving new people." New life to waste Uzwelo gives new life to waste by recycling, reusing and redesigning excess fabrics destined for landfill. Apart from developing local skills and creating jobs, Uzwelo donates funds to 'The Bateleurs Organisation', pilots who donate their time and wings to worthy conservation causes. Donations have assisted returning stranded penguins to the sea and flying back a seal who, having had one too many encounters with sharks, chose land over sea as its preferred habitat! Uzwelo products include reusable shopping bags, and school bags with built-in ponchos, which are donated in partnership with corporate SA at various events to rural children walking long distances to and from school. As well as removing barriers to education, a school bag is a prized personal possession. Corporates invited to physically participate in the gifting often experience the handover as life changing; their involvement transcends the usual 'just another CSI box to tick', or donation to an anonymous charity. Offering products which South Africans are invited to invest in challenges them to be intentional in their spending, raising questions not only around 'what' they're investing in, but also 'why', 'how' and 'who'. Reusable shopping bags facilitate a constructive public response to SA's plastic crisis. After years in the working world, Tanya's passion for sustainability has motivated her purposeful approach to her youngest venture, Uzwelo. She describes a chequered working past, backed by a BCom degree, which she acknowledges has stood her in good stead, a means to an end for her youthful travels and later business enterprises. Social and environmental conscience Describing herself as a Jack of all trades, Tanya remembers never having a sense of truly completing anything properly while work hopping between cities. After completing an interior design course in London, she imported and sold decorative goods in SA, but increasingly sustainability as a global issue has provided the context for her Uzwelo Bags, harnessing Tanya's business and creative skills while simultaneously surfacing her social and environmental conscience. Creating a work-life balance is something Tanya feels she hasn't achieved yet, although she's striving towards this. She observes, "When any business is new, you know you have to give it your all, so you really focus, hours can become days which become months, which can become years." She's grounded in her belief, though, that family always comes first. Having two high-needs premature babies was a compelling reminder of this and much as she is committed to her business, this is never at the expense of meeting her (now teenage) children's needs. Compassion Tanya identifies her mother, having moved with pioneering spirit from continent to continent several times while acquiring new languages each time, as her inspiration. Her children who, despite their not insignificant health challenges continue to meet each day with a good attitude. Tanya is their champion, saying: "They inspire me to go out and be the best I can be; also showing them that we are compassionate is the biggest kindness we can have for this world. They teach compassion all the time... and inspire me to continue to do the work that I do." The name 'Uzwelo' means, in essence, compassion. Although happy with where Uzwelo is now, Tanya states that she is committed to accomplishing more. "If you feel that you've stopped learning what's the point? You're never going to stop learning! You may think you know everything, but you never do." She explains how every day in her workplace is for her a learning opportunity, with staff who show her a new way, a better way to do something, or learning through simply becoming aware of how something may be perceived from a culturally-different perspective from her own. She'd like Uzwelo to continue to embrace all people from all walks of life. Do women need to approach work differently from men in order to achieve the same success? Tanya's answer is an emphatic 'yes'. Although she ventures that it may be changing now, she cites the gendered inequality in pay and need for women to take a break when having their children, seldom re-entering the economic sphere at the same level, as making it harder for women than men. "I do think that it's harder - women push harder, fight harder, persevere, possibly harder, than most men had to in the same positions. But I do feel positive about the future, that we're moving in the right direction ..." Tanya's advice for her younger self, who felt pressured because her peers seemed to know exactly what they wanted to be/do while she had no idea, would be: "I'd be kinder, and more gentle on myself," rather than judgemental because she hadn't yet found her path and say, "Don't worry about it so much, it'll come together, just keep going." Compassion is the greatest kindness we can have for this world

Cheryl Govender

CHERYL GOVENDER is the founder and owner of The Cake House in Pietermaritzburg. She is a qualified chef and professional cake artist. The Cake House has become a leading provider of designer cakes including engineered life-size cakes. Cheryl's exceptional cakes, each a masterpiece, have been featured in magazines and on television, and The Cake House is recognised as a leader in new age sugarcraft.

Cheryl is inspired by successful bakeries and cake artists. She explains, "This is a tough industry and requires not only talent, but a business mind, people skills, market insight, tenacity, and continuous learning and growth."

One of her biggest inspirations is Buddy Valastro, an American baker who is the star of the reality television series 'Cake Boss'.

Be clear about what must be achieved

Cheryl believes she got to where she is now and reached her goals by being clear about what she needed to achieve and why she needed to achieve them. She says her career started when she was fourteen when she was handed down decorating tools that her sister no longer needed. "Although I was a real tomboy, beating the boys at their own games in the streets, I did girly stuff when I went home, like playing with cake decorating tools and my dolls," she laughed.

Cheryl learned about sugar art by reading books from the municipal library and often left the kitchen in a mess after experimenting. Her Consumer Studies teacher recognised Cheryl's talent; arranged for her to attend a cake decorating course, and gave her a toolset, which she treasures to this day.
This teacher, now a retired school principal, adopted Cheryl as a daughter, helped her to believe in herself, and became her mentor to this day.
Cheryl won a Consumer Studies Inter School Award in matric due to her passion for cake decorating, but at that time she considered it a hobby, not a career.

After a year at college, Cheryl married and became a mother. She joined the corporate world but kept on making decorated cakes as a hobby to supplement her income. When her son was two years old, Cheryl entered and won the Pietermaritzburg Royal Show sugarcraft competition. This led to her teaching sugarcraft on a part-time basis at the now FET College in Northdale, something she continued passionately for 25 years. This Cheryl said, was fulfilling: "empowering women has always been close to my heart".

Focus on one thing and do it well

Cheryl gained wide experience in the corporate world, including ten years in shipping and international travel, before she started her own export business. This business crashed during the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and she "fell back on her hands", starting a food catering business that also provided cakes. Cheryl made a few designer cakes assuming there was little market for these due to the high prices, but word of her quality and expertise spread and orders increased.

A traumatic divorce, the demands of being involved in catering, wedding décor, training and making cakes at the same time, made her realise that she needed to streamline her activities. In 2012 she decided to focus on one thing only and do it well and opened The Cake House. Cheryl, a single mom had herself, her mother's assistance, two children, and a house. As she had lost her vehicle, Cheryl went everywhere in running shoes while carrying cake ingredients and other items in a backpack.

Nothing was handed to her; she had no money and could not get a bank loan. Cheryl understood the risks involved but her faith and trust in God helped her. She managed to buy all her industrial baking equipment from a helpful appliance store on a three-month cash basis. Her business remains debt-free to this day.

Business skills are unrelated to gender

In Cheryl's view, women and men need the same business approach, as the skills required for a successful business are unrelated to gender. "Tenacity, hard work, honesty, patience and endurance are equally required from men and women." She does, however, concede that women face more challenges. She has had to face abuse, being a mother, and a divorce.

Achieving a work-life balance boils down to discipline for Cheryl. "It is necessary to make time for your family and yourself, and also to rest, but not working can be scary for a business owner with much to do," she says. "I've had to learn to set boundaries, say no, and cut myself off from work when it's time to relax and unwind." Gardening, time with her family and puppies, and doing things outside of the business help create a balance.

Brand ambassador

Cheryl is happy with what she has accomplished thus far and readily give others credit. Without her mother, she could not have set up The Cake House. Without the help of her husband Alan, her family, and staff members, she would not have been able to grow the business. She feels honoured having recently being appointed a brand ambassador with royal status, for Rolkem Colours, one of the world's largest food colourant providers.

While Cheryl is satisfied with the place she has reached, she is not comfortable about remaining there. Cheryl dreams of making the province proud of The Cake House as a tourism attraction. With a growing support structure in place, she is prepared to take risks within her means and take the business to the next level.

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