MASHSTARTUP

Few founders have reshaped South Africa’s beauty industry like Mathebe Ngwenya. What began as a digital platform connecting customers to beauty services has evolved into Beauty on TApp — a thriving online retailer and a growing network of four brick-and-mortar stores across the country.

It’s a story of conviction, discipline, and belief in what’s possible when you build with purpose.

The journey from a single idea to a scaled retail presence has tested every part of Mathebe’s leadership.
Running both an online store and physical locations demanded sharper systems, stronger teams, and a deeper understanding of customer behaviour.

“Walk-in retail is a completely different beast,” she said. “You can’t hide behind a screen. The expectations, the stock control, the customer experience — it all has to be right, every day.”

For Mathebe, expanding into retail wasn’t just about growing sales — it was about building community. Each store is designed as a physical extension of Beauty on TApp’s digital promise: a space where people can explore, ask questions, and feel seen.

Mathebe’s vision stretches beyond the four stores and e-commerce growth. She’s building towards South Africa’s first beauty multinational — one that reflects African creativity and excellence at a global scale.

At the heart of that ambition is Pastry Skincare, her locally made line that responds directly to the needs of African skin. The challenge now is managing growth: deciding whether to scale Pastry independently or keep it exclusive to Beauty on TApp.

“We’ve had retailers approach us to stock Pastry,” she shared. “It’s exciting — but it’s also about protecting the brand and ensuring we grow with intention.”

Scaling has also reshaped how Mathebe leads. No longer the founder doing it all, she’s learning to trust her team, delegate with confidence, and empower others to grow alongside the business.

“Even in a beauty business, people still tend to trust men more,” she reflected. “So you have to prove yourself twice — once to the world, and once to yourself.”

Her story is a reminder that building something meaningful takes more than great products — it takes people, purpose, and perseverance. Beauty on TApp’s momentum has been powered by listening to its customers, refining its offering, and showing up — every single day.

Mathebe Ngwenya isn’t just building a beauty brand; she’s shaping the future of South Africa’s beauty ecosystem.
Her dream is to prove that world-class brands can be built here — with local insight, local teams, and local heart.

“I want young women to look at this and know it’s possible,” she said. “We can build big, we can build here, and we can build for the world.”

From Startup to ScaleBuilding for the FutureLessons in LeadershipThe Future of Beauty Is Local

What does it really take to turn a pair of clippers and a dream into one of Africa’s most loved grooming brands?

In this episode, we sit down with Sheldon Tatchell, the founder of Legends Barber, to trace the journey from cutting hair on a stoep in Eldorado Park at just 14 years old, to building a business with 70+ stores, 620 employees, and a footprint across the continent.

Sheldon shares the real story — the wins and the setbacks. From doing house calls on a scooter after his first shop closed, to turning that same hustle into mobile barbershops that now travel across South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho. We talk about how faith shapes his leadership, why relationships will always matter more than profit, and how the Legends Training & Development Centre is creating jobs and building entrepreneurs of the future.

This isn’t just a story about business growth — it’s a blueprint for building something from nothing, staying grounded in purpose, and using what you build to serve others. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your own venture, Sheldon’s journey is proof that passion, perseverance, and people-first thinking can take you further than you ever imagined.

When Tshegofatso Dludla started tutoring high school students in maths and science, she noticed something that stuck with her: it wasn’t just that learners were struggling—it was that they didn’t understand why these subjects mattered. For many, the learning felt abstract, boring, and disconnected from the world they lived in.

That frustration became fuel. Together with her husband, Tshego created the Tshala Foundation, an NPO using coding and robotics to make learning engaging. But as she quickly discovered, passion alone wasn’t enough to sustain impact. If she wanted change to scale, she needed a business model that could fund its own growth.

That’s how AfriCAN Code was born—a for-profit company that’s transforming primary education across South Africa while developing tools and experiences that make STEM subjects come alive. AfriCAN Code doesn’t just teach coding and robotics; it creates a bridge between abstract maths and science concepts and the hands-on, problem-solving skills that kids will need for the future.

Today, Tshego is building a team of black female tech developers, designing proudly South African educational tools and applications, and scaling her impact from classrooms to the continent. Every project, every curriculum, and every lesson is grounded in a simple principle: learning should be fun, accessible, and relevant.

This isn’t just a story about education. It’s about entrepreneurship with purpose. It’s about turning frustration into innovation, passion into a sustainable business, and education into opportunity. For founders, educators, and anyone passionate about African innovation, Tshego’s journey is proof that building something that matters starts with seeing a problem clearly—and refusing to settle for the status quo.

What if the key to transforming township economies isn’t outside investment—but collective buying power?

In this episode, I sit down with Brian Makwaiba, founder of Vuleka, the multi-award-winning platform helping township spaza shops and informal businesses compete on equal footing. We unpack how Vuleka’s hybrid online-offline model makes bulk buying simple, builds credit profiles for unbanked entrepreneurs, and turns everyday shopkeepers into a powerful economic force.

From navigating tech adoption in low-connectivity areas to using data to unlock new opportunities, Brian shares the grit, innovation, and community-led thinking driving Vuleka’s growth. This is a masterclass in building tech that works for the people who need it most—while keeping impact and sustainability at the core.

What does it take to turn a deeply personal struggle into a Pan-African healthtech startup that’s reimagining how we access mental healthcare?

In this episode, I sit down with Onkgopotse Khumalo, founder of Amari Health, to unpack her journey from the world of finance and consulting to building one of South Africa’s most intentional healthtech startups. After losing a close friend to suicide and navigating her own search for support, she set out to create a platform that makes mental healthcare more affordable, inclusive, and culturally relevant.

We dive into the lessons of building with purpose, the complexity of tackling taboo issues in African communities, and the balance between AI-driven technology and deeply human empathy. Onkgopotse opens up about the influence of her mother’s entrepreneurial journey, the realities of raising capital as a black woman founder, and the vision behind Amari: a Pan-African platform where mental wellness is accessible to all.

This is a story about more than healthtech. It’s about resilience, cultural sensitivity, and the heart it takes to build solutions that carry both personal and societal weight.

If you care about the future of African entrepreneurship, the role of technology in solving real problems, and the fight to make mental healthcare accessible for everyone — this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Some brands are born to be more than just businesses—they become cultural icons. The Wing Republic, founded by Tlhompho Mokoena, has spent over a decade proving exactly that.

What started in 2014 as a single pop-up stand has grown into one of Gauteng’s most recognized food brands. From the early hustle at festivals and food markets to a brick-and-mortar home in the heart of Braamfontein, The Wing Republic has carved its place as South Africa’s original wing specialist. Along the way, it has brought people together at events like Black Coffee’s Block Party, Delicious Festival, and Sneakers Exchange—becoming as much about culture and community as it is about food.

In this episode, Tlhompho shares the real story behind that journey. He speaks openly about the patience required to build a business that lasts, the resilience it takes to weather rising costs and industry challenges, and why brand is the strongest currency any entrepreneur can invest in.

At its core, The Wing Republic is about more than wings. It’s about creating experiences—bold flavors, a neighborhood atmosphere, and a sense of belonging that keeps people coming back. With a vision to expand beyond Gauteng through both pop-ups and permanent spaces, Tlhompho is building not just a restaurant, but a movement around excellence, culture, and possibility.

🎧 Tune in to hear how The Wing Republic went from gazebo to icon, and what every South African entrepreneur can learn about staying the course, scaling with purpose, and building a brand that truly matters.

What does it take to build real power for Black founders in South Africa’s tech ecosystem — and create a future where professionals of colour have equitable access to knowledge, networks, and funding?

In this episode, I sit down with Ntsako Mgiba, founder of Darkies in Tech — the country’s largest vetted community of Black founders, investors, and ecosystem builders — to unpack the journey from a single WhatsApp group to a thriving platform reshaping the future of African innovation.

We dive into the launch of the new Darkies in Tech platform, the game-changing partnership with Gijima, and why their mission goes beyond representation — to building a diverse, inclusive tech ecosystem that truly reflects South Africa’s rich demographic diversity.

Ntsako shares the hard lessons of building with purpose, the values guiding his leadership — from giving value before you take it, to engaging authentically and learning together — and what the next generation needs to do to not just survive, but own the future of African tech.

If you care about the future of African innovation and the role of community as infrastructure, this is a conversation you can’t afford to miss.

In South Africa and across the continent, millions of women still face healthcare that is expensive, fragmented, and impersonal. For far too long, care has been treated as a service, not a relationship. And when the system fails, it’s community — not institutions — that women turn to for support.

Zoie Health was born in that gap.

Built from lived experience and guided by community insight, Zoie is a digital health platform on a mission to redesign access to care. It’s not just about virtual consultations or medication delivery — it’s about building a system rooted in trust, dignity, and humanity.

At the centre of this vision is Thato Schermer — a founder who isn’t just chasing growth, she’s solving for care at scale. She’s proving that you can lead with empathy, build with purpose, and still move with urgency.

In this episode, we unpack how Thato and her team are turning pain into product, story into structure, and community into infrastructure — one decision at a time.

Because real innovation isn’t just about technology.
It’s about who you're building for — and who you're building with.

This episode is a deep dive into what it really takes to build ventures that last — and why starting with the human being behind the idea is the most powerful form of entrepreneurship. Ian Calvert, co-founder of FURTHER and former Global Project Leader at Red Bull Amaphiko, joins us to explore why personal growth, resilience, and purpose should come before traction, funding, or scale.

For nearly a decade, Ian and the FURTHER team have been reshaping how we support entrepreneurs in South Africa. Rather than treating founders like pitch decks with legs, they invest in the person — helping them develop the mindset, networks, and inner capacity needed to create sustainable businesses that make real impact.

We unpack:

• Why building humans first leads to stronger businesses and stronger communities

• How FURTHER’s unique approach blends storytelling, wellbeing, and performance coaching

• The launch of THE GREENHOUSE, a bold partnership with the Nedbank Foundation to grow South Africa’s next generation of green economy innovators

• What social enterprises like Kusini Water teach us about scaling impact sustainably

• Why the future of entrepreneurship requires more focus on purpose, less on hype

💡 This episode is a call to rethink how we nurture South Africa’s next generation of builders — and a reminder that if we want lasting impact, we have to start with the people creating it.

What if the real power in Africa’s startup ecosystem isn’t capital — but control of the narrative?

This episode is a reckoning with how stories are told, who gets to tell them, and what gets left out. Andile Masuku, co-founder of African Tech Roundup, joins us to unpack the tension between media, community, and innovation — and why reclaiming the narrative is essential if we’re serious about building an ecosystem that serves people, not just platforms.

Andile has spent nearly a decade documenting the evolution of the continent’s tech space. But he’s also challenged it — asking hard questions about who gets visibility, whose voices are missing, and whether we’re building systems that truly serve people.

We unpack:

• Why African Tech Roundup chose depth over scale — and what that reveals about community building

• The media’s role in either amplifying hype or holding power to account

• How "community" has become a buzzword — and how to reclaim its real meaning

• The tension between storytelling, influence, and impact

• Why building with integrity means being willing to disrupt your own comfort

💡 This episode is a call to rethink what we celebrate in African innovation — and a reminder that storytelling isn’t just a reflection of the ecosystem, it’s a force that can shape its future.