As Twitter’s first ever Chief Marketing Officer, <a href="https://twitter.com/leslieberland?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leslie Berland</a> began her tenure in 2016 with an unconventional strategy, enlisting employees from across the organization to provide input into the company’s new brand identity. Never mind that many of them didn’t even think the company needed a brand identity at all. But Berland was determined to focus on employee input before launching any public facing marketing strategies. The approach paid off. Six years later, Berland still believes Twitter employees are the company’s north star. 



I spoke to Berland about this as well as Twitter’s efforts to combat harassment on the platform, how they’re elevating marginalized voices and of course, the enormous responsibility the platform takes on during world events. 



Amy Shoenthal:&nbsp;Tell me about your career path, going from a pretty high profile role at American Express to being the first CMO of Twitter.



Leslie Berland:&nbsp;I was at American Express for ten years. During those last few years I was focused on finding ways for American Express to innovate with younger companies.



When Twitter called to recruit me, it felt very much like a once in a lifetime opportunity. There hadn’t been a seated CMO at the company yet. It was 2016 and the world thought Twitter was dying. We were struggling to define who we were and where we were going.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: That sounds like a risky jump, going from a very established company where you had been for ten years to what perhaps seemed like a floundering tech company at the time. Berland: It definitely felt like a fork in the road decision. I don&#8217;t think those types of choices come by very often where you&#8217;re looking at two amazing but extremely different paths.So I made the jump. I loved the people. I deeply respected <a href="https://twitter.com/jack" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jack</a>. I loved the challenge. And I thought the potential impact was extraordinary. 



I was very much drawn to the ability to help shape and turn around a company with a group of employees who were committed to building for the future. The importance of the platform adds a weight to working here still, as you can see with everything going on in the world today. I am and have always been extremely confident in the staying power and the growing power of Twitter, even in the moments where everyone thought we were taking a different turn. I think it’s existential, necessary, critical and magical. Every day I’m grateful to be here. It has been every bit the ride I thought it was going to be with some extra twists and turns.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Tell me about those extra twists and turns. How did you work through them?



Berland: There was so much happening at the company when I joined. Jack had just come back as CEO and the leadership team had changed quite significantly. There were amazingly talented people working in marketing but without a CMO, the marketing teams were siloed throughout the organization. It needed building and focus and organization early on. But you can’t come into an opportunity like that and boil the ocean. I couldn’t fix everything and build at the same time.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The biggest challenge was the perception. People define Twitter in so many different ways. But it was very clear that the confusion over those different definitions was holding us back. So I pulled a small team together to do some brand identity work. We did most of that work completely in house.



We eventually centered on this simple statement: “Twitter is what’s happening.” It wasn’t a splashy brand campaign. It was a way to center and anchor how we saw and understood ourselves.&nbsp;



The feedback from the industry at that time was, wow, Twitter finally knows what it is. It shows the power of prioritizing what’s important, trusting your people, not over layering with process. Once we set and established that foundation everything else came together naturally.



When you are at companies like ours, the employees are critical. The employees are the biggest supporters but also the biggest critics. We need the feedback from our people. Sometimes I see companies fall into the trap of doing all these external campaigns but they haven’t taken the time to allow the employees to absorb what it means. When we do anything externally, the first filter is the people. They are the litmus test of what we do and how we do it.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Jack and others recognized that I was so focused on our employees in the brand identity work we were doing, they actually suggested I expand my role to be the Head of People. That role is intense and meaningful. It was an enormous learning experience for me as somebody who cares deeply about the culture of this company.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Shoenthal: I want to talk about Jack a little bit since you mentioned how close you were. Jack Dorsey just left Twitter, what does that mean for you and for the company?



Berland: I am extremely grateful for the years Jack and I worked together.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/paraga?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parag</a>, our new CEO, worked very closely with Jack. I have been absolutely inspired by his leadership throughout this change. The way he has shown up, his focus, his decisiveness, his authenticity, his openness is exactly what we need in the next chapter. I love working with him and I have full confidence in where he’ll take us.&nbsp;



Shoenthal:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter’s</a>&nbsp;social media has always been great but you’ve really been on fire lately with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/05/twitter-users-facebook-outage-instagram-whatsapp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Hello, literally everyone”</a>&nbsp;when Facebook and Instagram were down, and “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-were-sorry-or-youre-welcome/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We’re sorry, or you’re welcome</a>” when announcing it was retiring the Fleets product feature. Can you let us in on any of the social marketing team’s secret sauce and how they’re able to quickly post such sharp and witty reactions to real-time events?



Berland: It’s funny because we haven’t always been so amazing at this. Our Twitter presence used to read like a marketing handle. Our purpose was serving public conversation but we weren’t actually being conversational. We spent so much time going back and forth debating what our tone was, and then one day we said we’re just going to start talking.&nbsp;



The first tweet that shifted to this was when we tweeted, “you up?” The amount of texts that came in asking if we were hacked was hilarious, and the amount of responses we got on the platform was astounding. It was such an important moment.&nbsp;&nbsp;



We are fortunate that we are able to see all the conversations on Twitter as they unfold. The team is just so incredible in knowing the pulse of what’s happening every day. They’re incredible with their writing, but also with just having fun.&nbsp;



A lot of companies worry that every tweet has to be well designed and perfect and make it a piece of marketing collateral. As a company we are weird, messy and silly but raw and authentic. Once we moved into that, it became our voice. Unshackle the teams and let them do what they do best. And of course make sure social media teams are diverse so you have lots of different perspectives so we’re not talking to ourselves. That’s critical.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Speaking of diverse teams, how are you working to advance inclusion in an industry that&#8217;s taken so much heat for its lack of it?



Berland: I give all the credit to my colleagues and every single person at the company that pushes this culture forward. It is not a one person job.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DalanaBrand" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dalana Brand</a>&nbsp;is our Chief Human Resources Officer and she’s amazing. This is something that has always been very ingrained at Twitter but over the years we’ve become much more intentional and goal-oriented about it. Now we have put the resources, people and time behind it.&nbsp;



<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/02/twitter-hires-god-is-rivera-as-global-director-of-culture-and-community/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">God-is Rivera</a>&nbsp;runs culture and community.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GodisRivera" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She</a>&nbsp;is all about elevating diverse voices on Twitter through events, experiences and conversations. We try to be very present and engaged so we can learn and truly serve those customers better – we’re always improving. It’s hard to build that trust, especially at a company like ours where people come onto the platform every day and interact with something different.&nbsp;&nbsp;



During the Black Lives Matter resurgence last June,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1274087688321200128?s=20&amp;t=aNZz7yzmdsWvGq_1kBQZmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">we put tweets on billboards</a>. It was a series of simple tweets but the concept speaks to what we’re trying to do, which is elevate voices. Our teams have become so much more diverse over the past few years with our goal setting and our amazing I&amp;D team and the leaders working to keep people engaged. For us it’s not a ‘nice to do,’ it’s a must-do. We must look like all the communities we serve around the world.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Twitter hasn’t always been a pinnacle of inclusion though. It’s been criticized for allowing harassment and bullying, specifically directed towards women. I know the company has recently taken more steps to combat this, can you comment on the actions that have been taken and what, if any, additional plans are in the works to help deal with this issue?



Berland: This was a huge problem when I started in 2016. To look back at the progress we’ve made is extraordinary and powerful. But this is always-on work that doesn’t end. I do give massive credit to engineering, product, trust &amp; safety and all the teams who do very important, very draining work.&nbsp;



Every employee at Twitter cares about this. People need to come to Twitter and feel safe. Everything from the controls we’ve created to who can engage with your tweets, to the more automated work tracking what’s said on the platform, addressing abuse and harassment, all the way to the time it takes people to respond when you report a tweet. This is something that touches everybody at the company in all of our work and will always be ongoing as the world continues to evolve and change. We learn and we grow and we evolve as well.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Speaking of how the world is evolving and changing, it’s been a dramatic few days. Quite often, Twitter is the first place people turn to watch world events unfold in real-time. I noticed the&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1496698664747687942?s=20&amp;t=1W3KB8t1db0rEUPXMRnXhg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter safety thread</a>&nbsp;about considerations when tweeting in conflict zones that was posted immediately when the attacks began in Ukraine. Can you share anything in terms of the role Twitter is playing during world events like the one we’re experiencing right now?



Berland: During times like these, we feel the weight of our work. Across the company, we feel that responsibility, that care and that empathy every single day. We have teams working on exactly what you’re referencing in regards to safety. We’re thinking through things like how do we ensure that we educate people and keep them safe while allowing these critical conversations to continue? How do we ensure that only credible information is surfaced, and people get access to the information they need? We need to make sure the foundation of Twitter is running so these critical conversations can happen. We take this seriously because we understand how much is at stake.



By Amy Shoenthal, Forbes Staff

Twitter’s #HereWeAre At Cannes Lions

How Twitter’s CMO Takes A People-First Approach To Leadership

One of America’s most successful self-made women, Hollywood actor Jessica Alba’s journey to entrepreneurship began 13 years ago. Her business, The Honest Company, debuted on the Nasdaq in May this year. In this exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA, the Los Angeles-based star speaks about living consciously, taking ownership and her new YouTube series, Getting Honest.



Q. Being a newcomer to business when you first started, how did you pick up the tricks of trade and enterprise? What were the significant challenges? 



A. One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was doubting myself – doubting that I could do it if I didn’t have a business degree. I navigated through it by listening, learning and trusting myself on what matters most. I think there is also this assumption that starting a business is easy when you are a celebrity, but success in one industry doesn’t necessarily open doors in another. I had the drive and I had the idea, but I still needed the funding and the infrastructure. When I was pitching room after room of (mostly) men to raise initial seed funding, I was also pregnant with my second child. Some thought I should be a spokesmodel for other brands, others thought I should start smaller. That’s the part of business where being an actor helps: rejection. The more I was rejected, the more I honed my pitch. I am also really driven by my curiosity, I’m constantly asking questions and I surround myself with people who have different strengths than I do, so I’m always learning and growing.



Q. The Honest Company has just debuted on the Nasdaq. Where do you see it in the next five years?



A. We are currently in a quiet period&#8230; What I can say is we are excited to be able to continue to shift the clean lifestyle conversations in the industry – driving our mission forward – inspiring everyone to love living consciously. We made the decision to become a public company because it will help enable us to do just that – driving further accessibility and product innovation, so that we can meet consumers however they want to shop – every day, at every age and through every life stage. The possibilities for an ‘Honest’ world are significant.



Q. What were your own learnings, and the things you would do differently if you had to do it all over again?



A. I think that when you are building a business, doing something you truly believe in, you just want everything to be perfect from day one, but that’s impossible to achieve. The process of building a business is complex and comes with a lot of trial and error. You learn to pivot as yougo.SolookingbackonwhatIwoulddodifferently, I would try to be a little kinder to myself in the process. I&#8217;m such a perfectionist and I was learning on the job so I was really hard on myself if something didn’t go exactly as I thought it should.



Also, I know now that I didn’t need to be insecure about being the only woman at the C-level. I think if I did it all over again, I would really own that this business was my idea and be proud of that. It took me a long time to stop being shy and apologetic and take more ownership over the conversation. I started this company, I had the vision and I brought the right people together to make it happen.



Q. What are the top three challenges facing female entrepreneurs?



A. The first is a lack of representation. When you don&#8217;t see people like yourself in the room, it can be hard to feel like you deserve to be there. That creates a feeling of insecurity that can hold women back.



Secondly, women get less funding from investors. Not only do they get funding less often, but when they do, they get fewer dollars. There&#8217;s a comfort level investors have with what they know and they are used to seeing male entrepreneurs.



Unfortunately, when it comes to investment, it’s not just about having a great idea or a great business, it’s about whether or not you can get the people in the room to believe in you and women have historically been at a disadvantage.



Finally, there’s an unfair expectation around ways women should and should not act. There are social norms that people associate with women and a way they expect women to behave. In business, however, to get things done, you need to be assertive and exhibit boss behavior – it&#8217;s what moves the needle but society doesn&#8217;t necessarily appreciate this type of behavior when it comes from a woman. The way people want to see women act doesn&#8217;t always align with the traits you need to push your idea, vision and business forward.



Q. Be it cinema or business, what are the fundamental traits that you need to bring to the table to shine in both? 



A. You have to be prepared and bring your best self to work everyday, but you also have to be able to go with the flow and pivot when necessary.



Q. With Covid-19 lockdowns, how did your business fare?



A. The Honest Company was built around the ethical values of transparency, trust, sustainability, and a deep sense of purpose. As part of these values, we have always been focused on the importance of omnichannel and accessibility; during the Covid-19 lockdowns, this approach helped us to maintain the strength of our business. We manage an agile global supply chain of highly- qualified, third-party manufacturing and logistics partners that allows us to scale quickly and effectively. Because of this, we were able to mitigate disruptions caused by the pandemic.



As an essential business, we were able to get our products to our customers regardless of Covid-19 lockdowns due to our omnichannel strategy. Additionally, as a nimble, modern company with internal labs, we have the ability to pivot quickly to adapt to and meet the consumer&#8217;s needs through modern innovation. Because of this, throughout the pandemic, we were able to pay close attention to trends and respond as they evolved, shifting focus toward sanitization, wellness, and self-care. In fact, in less than six months after the onset of Covid-19, we created and launched a new Stay Safe cleaning collection, a complete set of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting solutions. We will continue to take a similar approach as everything continues to open back up as well.



We also continued to prioritize our community and give back efforts. During Covid-19, these efforts focused on our ongoing partnership with Baby2Baby as well as our March of Dimes partnership. I am proud to say that since the launch of the company, we have donated over 25 million products to families in need.



Q. Are there any upcoming personal creative projects, besides new films?



A. During Covid, I launched my YouTube channel and a series called, Getting Honest, where I sit down with guests from different industries and we have intimate, funny, raw, real conversations about whatever is on our mind at the moment. We often do something fun, like a skincare or makeup routine, while we are chatting. It’s a really casual but entertaining way of talking about all the things – motherhood, business, health, family, etc. I’ve had some amazing guests like Alex Rodriguez, Kate Hudson and Molly Sims and many more to come. It’s been such a fun, creative way to create this community and use my platform to have really honest conversations around what matters most to people.



Q. What does the word ‘impact’ mean to you?



A. It means making a difference and leaving the world better than you found it.



Q. You were the official spokesperson of the ‘for Tomorrow’ project for sustainable innovators with UNDP and Hyundai. Your advice to the next generation of female leaders on the African continent?



A. As I reflect back on my own journey, I wish someone had told me early on that no one would give me permission to lead or to challenge the status quo. So my advice to the next generation of female leaders is don’t wait for someone to give you permission. Trust your gut and, if you believe in your idea, go for it. Don’t let one rejection stop you from achieving your goals. In fact, let the hurdles motivate you. And always remember what the great Eleanor Roosevelt said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Jessica Alba Speaks At AT&T 5G Immersive Event

‘Need To Be Assertive And Exhibit Boss Behavior’: Jessica Alba Exclusive

Bisila Bokoko, born in the Equatorial Guinea, raised in Spain and now resident in New York as a businesswoman, communications consultant and motivational speaker, is a global citizen like no other.



Straddling these regions for her wine and sports retail businesses and a library project she is spearheading in Senegal, Bokoko has been on self-quarantine for the last four weeks in her Manhattan apartment, after a recent work trip to Spain.



Here, she sheds light on the Covid-19 crisis that she says has made her more reflective of how she needs to rethink her businesses. “It is an extremely confusing and challenging time with such a huge impact on everything,” she says. “Life is never going to be the same again.”



The coronavirus outbreak has changed the way we eat, shop and consume, she adds, with the most dramatic change happening in retail, because of changing values and new priorities.



“The center is going to be the human being, and the wellbeing of the human,” says Bokoko. “And this will not be from an individual perspective, but in relation to each other. We have to be a more collaborative economy, because how we are, will affect everyone else. As leadership, we now need to lead from the heart.”



In this FORBES AFRICA interview, Bokoko speaks to Managing Editor&nbsp;Renuka&nbsp;Methil, also about how the current crisis will throw up new opportunities for local African art and the fashion business.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Fears Of Trade War With China Goes As Trump Continues Aggressive Rhetoric

Quarantine Reflections: How Businesses Must Lead From The Heart Now

Thembani Biyam was appointed Head of Strategy &amp; Monetisation for OLX South Africa when he was only 28. Now, as the Head of Growth at Orderin, one of the top three online food delivery companies in South Africa, he is responsible for strategic projects, product, design and growth marketing. He speaks about his best and worst investment experience. 



What do you splurge on?



Definitely
food; it’s the way to my heart. Then travel. Then tech toys, mostly photography
and videography stuff like drones and stabilizer sticks for shooting vlogs. I
love vlogging and editing for fun.



What has your worst investment blunder
been?



My
best and worst experience was investing in cryptocurrency. I got in late but
bought some Bitcoin and Ethereum, and my investment grew about 350% in six
months. Problem is, it crashed real quickly too. I got a lot of it out in time
but lost a lot of it as well.



If you had to work but didn’t need the
money, what would you choose to do?



Develop
high school, university and professional basketball in South Africa to, at
least, the European level. It’s the one thing I want to do before I die. I was
an aspiring basketball player in high school but there were no proper
structures in place to fully develop and the options for me to play professionally
didn’t exist. I want that for my kids.



Where do you not mind waiting?



At
home. If I am out in the world, I hate waiting for anything. 



Fast food or home cooking?



Home
cooking anytime. But fast food delivery every now and then doesn’t hurt (especially
if it’s from Orderin).



Do you own anything you consider
priceless?



Nothing
material. More memories and perspectives.



Should people work for money or
fulfilment?



Both.
We all have to eat and do nice things, right? Those things cost hard-earned [money].
I would say, if you can continually optimize your career towards work that
provides a combination of both, but increasingly nearing fulfilment versus
money, that would be a win.



READ MORE | &#8216;<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/05/01/worth-millions-and-billions/">Worth Billions and Millions</a>&#8216;



What kind of debt is okay?



The
type that is income generating is the ‘most’ okay. Robert Kiyosaki talks about
debt that generates income like property loans, business loans, and even credit
card used for positive income-generating activities. Then, there are scenarios
where you may really need debt to bail you out, but hopefully, you have savings
and liquid investments for that. Then, there is a grey area around things like
cars, phones etc. For this category, I would say, just make sure you can afford
it from your income.



Do you follow a strict budget?



I
do my absolute best to. There are some ‘treat yourself’ months sprinkled in
there.



Would you rather never be able to
express yourself accurately or always have to say the exact truth?



I
always have to say the exact truth. A world of never being able to be a little
colorful and fun in expressing myself would be a dark world.

‘The One Thing I Want To Do Before I Die’

The CEO and co-founder of FORT, Shukri Toefy, a creative production company present in five African countries, speaks about a ‘youth board’ and why failure has never been an option for him.

<ol>
<li> What are your plans for promoting youth development in Africa?</li>
</ol>
They are our future target market that will consume our content. [The stance] is so important for us that we started a youth board [with people] in their early 20s and we can ask them what is cool. [We ask them] is Snapchat still cool and are they still on Instagram? Because as we get older [as a way] to future-proof our company, we need to have our ear to the ground to know what young people are talking about. As the CEO of a creative agency, I have quarterly meetings with my youth board in which I speak to them to find out what are they wearing, where are they going and what is cool and not cool anymore, so that I can be better resourced to implement that with my clients and the rest of the people. It is a cool way of future-proofing who we are and what we do.
<ol start="2">
<li>What was your biggest risk?</li>
</ol>
It was starting our network across Africa. I think we put a lot of money in opening our offices in Kenya and Nigeria. If we count the flights, legal structures etc. it would be an estimate of R2 million ($136,000) to R3 million ($204,000).
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/7-questions-with/2018/09/03/37097/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: 7 Questions with Award Winning Designer – Paledi Segapo</a>
<ol start="3">
<li> What has been your greatest challenge in the industry?</li>
</ol>
Our greatest challenge right now is that when we are in recessionary times, [so usually] marketing and communications is the first thing that is to be cut. Secondly, independently, African companies don’t have the financial backing that some of these globally-owned agencies have. So they don’t have the ability to go out and scale up [on production] like they could.
<ol start="4">
<li> Who is the most influential person you have worked with?</li>
</ol>
The Oxford facilitator I met in June…gave me a different perspective on life and I came back with so many tools on how to see the world and view things. He calmed me down.
<ol start="5">
<li>Your views on mentorship&#8230;</li>
</ol>
I have had the benefit of having coffee or breakfast with highly successful people and I think that is one of the most valuable things you could have as an entrepreneur, to actually have people that you could bounce off ideas with. That you could learn from them and their mistakes and they could guide you.
<ol start="6">
<li> Your biggest fear…</li>
</ol>
I am not fearful of failing because I don’t think failure is an option. I just don’t see it. It is not constructed for me…You can’t beat me. Today you might beat me and tomorrow it will be me [on top of things] because I see it as all part of my journey.
<ol start="7">
<li> What would you say to your 16-year-old self?</li>
</ol>
Slow down and enjoy the ride because it goes so quickly. I was in a hurry to try and take advantage of every opportunity that I had. [As a young person] you have that militancy in you to say ‘you need to take every opportunity that comes your way’. I think that is why I am here but you later realize that it is all part of the journey and there is no such thing as failure. It is about failing forward and it is about failing often. And it is about seeing it as a much bigger journey rather than your day-to-day failures.
 
&nbsp;

pic-copy

Why Youth Can Future-Proof A Company

The award-winning men’s fashion designer on the business of fashion and dressing up no less than the South African president.

1. Who you would like to dress and why? 
I would like to dress our [South Africa’s] head of state Cyril Ramaphosa; that would be really good on my CV. But not only that, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When you look at ministers and presidents, they look simple yet sophisticated. What people don’t realize is the most simple outfits are the most difficult to make. You can’t over-accessorize, you just can’t over-design. You have to keep it very clean and minimalistic and also in harmony with the person’s character…So I am ready for that challenge.
2. As a designer, when is the right time to start expanding to retail? 
As designers, we all have different business strategies. What works for one designer does not necessarily work for the other. But the best time to start is when as you fully understand the business of fashion and have completed your internship. The one thing I always advise upcoming designers is to not be too much in a hurry to establish their brand, because you will end up being an overnight sensation.
3. What does it take to build a brand like Palse Homme? 
Blood, sweat and water from the moon. It’s a long journey that does not have milestones in between, the reason I say that is that it’s like running a marathon that does not have a finish line. You have to strive to get somewhere and the day you get there, that is when you get to retire.
4. How do you stay disciplined with your money? 
I am very prudent when it comes to my finances. As an entrepreneur, you cannot do it all by yourself… so I have outsourced my public relations and finance services to the experts.
5. What is your most expensive indulgence? 
Sunglasses. I once spent R6,000 ($450) on them. I am a hoarder of good sunglasses; I don’t even know how many pairs I have.
6. What is the biggest challenge you have faced in the fashion industry? 
It’s very difficult for designers to attract potential investors. People don’t understand that to be able to showcase my designs during fashion week, it means we have to pay to be part of fashion week, most importantly, we have to raise capital, and the overheads become extremely insane because you have to come up with money to be able to put together your collection. Simultaneously, when you do that, you are even unable to take orders. You are stressing about that fashion week night that will take only five to 10 minutes. Mind you, while you are working on that, you have overheads like salaries and rent.
7. What do you spend your money on? 
Traveling! I always say to people I enjoy being out of the city and the country. There is something about traveling that just shifts your mind-set and makes you more appreciative of what you have back home [South Africa]…You realize that we have it all, in terms of food to the most amazing hotels; the energy people exude is phenomenal. We live in a very beautiful country.

TLH_1302

7 Questions with Award Winning Designer – Paledi Segapo

How would you say the African fashion market is growing?
We are starting to understand the business of fashion; how to create brands that are custom-made in Africa, which is what we need to be doing and I think more than anything else, we need local customers supporting local designers. Another thing we need to start seeing is retailers supporting proudly ‘made in Africa’ or ‘made in South Africa’ products because that’s the only way for us to become game-changers in the fashion industry. When you look at big brands in the US, Europe or anywhere else in the world, they work very closely with their local designers.
Your most expensive indulgence?
Fabric! When I go to a fabric store, locally and internationally, I am like a kid in a candy store. I would rather buy expensive fabric different to whatever is available locally [South Africa], to make sure I can still sell that to my clients. When it comes to fabric, I go all out.
<div id="attachment_36789" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36789" class="size-medium wp-image-36789" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TLH_9824.jpg 1366w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />David Tlale. Photo by Karen Mwendera.</div>
What do you mostly spend your money on?
Shoes and handbags.
How have you maintained your brand over the years?
The only way for us a brand to grow is to continue reinventing ourselves every season. As a designer or as an artist, you are only as good as your previous collection. Also, don’t try and compete with anyone, but do and believe what ‘brand David Tlale’ stands for. It happens that from time to time we keep serving them the same thing, like the white blouse. Our customers also want it, but the question is, how do we reinvent it for the next season or the next collection?
The significance of grooming young African designers…?
It is realizing they are the future…the ones going to take the fashion industry to the next level making sure we still have brands from Africa to the global markets…It is important to expose them to the business of fashion because when I grew up, no one took me by the hand and said ‘David, this is how the business of fashion is’. We were told we have to showcase at fashion week but beyond that or before that, what happens? Now we understand that.
What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
I was a lecturer at Vaal University for four and a half years, just before I graduated. I was able to buy my mom new furniture and I bought myself some sewing machines. I am proud to say that my investment into that machinery has made us who we are as David Tlale. We now have a studio and a brand that is growing.
How do you diversify your investments?
What we have done as David Tlale, over the years, is to build the brand and invest everything into this brand. We are now starting to look at other investment portfolios so we are able to get different sources of income, not only from clothing; making sure we invest in the brand, as a lifestyle brand, it be accessories, handbags or perfume. We are working on a lot of things because we want to ensure that in the next few years, David Tlale is a holistic fashion brand.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2015/09/01/lessons-learn-rich-famous/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Lessons To Learn From The Rich And Famous</a>
What is your most recent acquisition?
A printing machine. It is a huge investment we have made for our business making sure that we are able to look different in the industry and can print our [own] fabric.
Your worst investment decision?
To believe in someone who did not believe in my brand…I suffered dearly from it but today I am better. We are on the journey to reposition David Tlale, ensuring we become a luxury brand proudly made in South Africa by South Africans [and selling to] the international markets.
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