By: Mmathabo Mahlangu
I was fortunate enough to have an interview with a young black South African grade eleven student the aspiring Phenyo Rasebopye who owns a clothing company called Phenuella, designs that caters clothing for both male and female and all body sizes.
Where did your passion to start your brand come from?
Phenyo tells us that she would assist her grandmother with her clothing store; later on she was both inspired by her to start her own clothing brand. With the support from her loving grandma and mother, very soon Phenuella Clothing was born.
What are some of the challenges you face(d) and how did you manage them?
The young entrepreneur was very open to disclose that one of the biggest challenges she is currently facing is having to balance her education with her new start up. She mentions how this experience had taught her the importance of setting priorities and spending enough time on her education to ensure excellent marks to apply for University. Our young entrepreneur notes that because of her age, many potential suppliers had rejected her proposal to partner up with Phenuella. She tells us the common reason for being rejected was because they hadn’t taken her seriously and thought she was playing until she brought up money to prove to the suppliers that she was indeed serious with starting a clothing line.
What kind of support structure do you have that motivates you to keep pushing?
Phenyo tells us how her family had been her number one support structure. She mentions the importance of having a reliable support structure as it has helped her to continue to thrive in her business. She further emphasises on how much they encourage her and how they had supported her from day one of her business by spreading the word of her clothing line to they’re individual social networks.
This young aspiring entrepreneur is a clear representative for all other young POC’s who are looking into creating their own start-up brands. I hope this article finds you well, and you too are inspired by Phenuella’s journey to creating her own brand. The full video from the interview will be linked below. For more information about Phenuella visit her instagram page @phenuella
Interview: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CRmY4vuDwSp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Phenuella IG: Issa Peng clothing brand (@phenuella) • Instagram photos and videos
follow us on Instagram: @povsofpocs • Instagram photos and videos