Issue 18 November 2014

November2014 Issue 18

Taste | Create | Discover

The 2nd Entrepreneur Issue

ED’S NOTE

Our last Entrepreneur issue was so popular that we decided to do another one! I may have to do one every few months because it seems there are far more people that have taken the plunge into starting their own business than I realised. It’s always so great to hear from these people, to learn from them and be inspired by them. Thank you to everyone who got involved this issue.

Once again it was a month filled with coffee shop hopping, Cape Town discovering and food eating. We also spent some time in a tent as we finally tried Rocking the Daisies for the first time.

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to contribute articles or whether you’d like to advertise in an upcoming magazine. We’d love to get to know you and to shamelessly promote your company!

Yours in Coffee, Christinechristine@flatwhiteconcepts.comwww.flatwhiteconcepts.com

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the

courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is

secondary.” - Steve Jobs

TWITTER@FW_Concepts

FACEBOOKwww.facebook.com/FlatWhiteConcepts

bLOGwww.theflatwhiteblog.wordpress.com

www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 18

CONTENTS

TASTEissi on bree

KZN Cafe Society AwardsRecipe: Roasted tomato and onion bruschetta

Entrepreneur #1: Sarah and Jane JagerGraham Beck’s sparkling Methode Cap Classique

Entrepreneur #2: Lexi Bird

CREATEEntrepreneur # 3: Lucy Goretti Da Costa

Entrepreneur # 4: Marwaan SasmanEntrepreneur # 5:Andrea Morgan

Meet Meghan Maconochie

DISCOVEREntrepreneur # 6: Di Brown

Rocking the DaisiesBook Review: The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden

COMPETITIONSWin Win Win!


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It is with absolute pleasure that we got a chance to try out the new coffee shop on Bree Street, owned by Jeremy Coetzer and Gerald Walus. Formerly known as Escape Caffe, it has now been trans-formed and has relaunched as ‘issi on bree’.

We were fortunate enough to get the chance to sit down with Jeremy who spoke to us candidly about his decision into buying a coffee shop and recreat-ing it as his own. The passion and determination he has for this shop is obvious in the way he talks and the way he runs his business.

I loved the look and feel of the space he has creat-ed and it shows that he is trying to make this place as comfortable as possible. It’s never just about the coffee I always say. Having a place that you want to linger at for as long as possible is always what I am looking for. We snooped around inside and found a good range of seating space for differ-ent needs. Couches for the more relaxed, tables for meetings, large tables for groups and small tables for couples. We ended up sitting outside because it was the start of Summer and we were desperate to enjoy our coffee under the sun. Jeremy sat with us but first went to make us our coffees. Always good to see an owner taking such an invested interest in a place. He makes a mean cup of coffee too.

I chose an Americano and Warren went for the cappuccino. We were both very impressed with

the coffee. They use Isabella’s blend from mischu which has always been a favourite of ours.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this place con-tinues to grow and you’ll definitely find me coming back for more.

Visit them at 130 Bree Street.


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LANSERIA • HYDE PARK • [email protected] • www.culinary.co.za • 011 701 2200

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2014 KZN Café Society Awardsand the winners are...

The greatly anticipated annual Café Society Awards, sponsored by Sunday Tribune Magazine (SM) and Illovo Sugar South Africa, took place on Tuesday the 28th of October at Café Antique in Morning-side, Durban. There was an excited buzz in the air as coffee fans eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners for each area (the South Coast, Piet-ermaritzburg and Midlands as well as Durban and the North Coast). This prestigious annual awards evening comes fast on the heels of the release of a guide containing the Top 100 coffee establish-ments in KZN. This guide was released to the pub-lic a week prior to the event and copies were also made available to attendees on the night.

The 2014 Café Society winners announced were:

People’s Choice Awards:South Coast: Tea @ Bay TreePitermaritzburg and Midlands: Terbodore Coffee RoastersGreater Durban: Bean Green

Best Franchise Coffee Shop: 1st Place: Woolworths La Lucia2nd Place: Nino’s 3rd Place: Kauai Florida Road

Best Coffee - South Coast: 1st Place: Beaver Creek Coffee Estate and Café 2nd Place: Tea @ Bay Tree

Best Coffee - Pietermaritzburg and Midlands:1st Place: Terbodore Coffee Roasters2nd Place: Coffeeberry Café

Best Coffee - Durban and the North Coast:1st Place: Lineage Coffee at Stretta Café2nd Place: Mark Gold Café 3rd Place: Factory Café

Barista Personality Award:1st Place: David Mansebe from The Coffee Tree 2nd Place: Niki Mkhize from Duke and Duchess3rd Place: Silbert Gwala from Jacksonville

From left to right: Ingrid Shevlin and Craig Charity, Lauren Cole Maarten and Stoelstra - Tea @ Baytree, Phillida Ellis and Dylan Shawn - Factory Cafe, Lauren Cole and Mariaan Mackaskill, Lauren Cole and Nkhosi Bhengu


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Darrell De Wet, Karen Haynes & Dave Howells

Scott Bain, Kate Bain & Niki Mkhize

Ian Vowles, Iain Evans & Mel Winter

Fourie & Jackie Nel Ellen Wolter, Clint Wolter & Wiseman Zondi Kim Viljoen & Jason Caradas

Scott Bain, Kate Bain & Niki Mkhize Liam Joyce, Alyssia Birjalal & Buhle Mbonambi

Nkhosi Benghu, DC Mthalane, Kurt Mattheys & Sipho Sithebe Thierry Mulume, Shane Evans & Sandile Gumbi Stephano Toffoli & Frank Chemaly

Judd Campbell & Sheena Breetzke Dave Howells & Darren Maule

Jurgensen & Lucy Markewicz Lea Jacobs, Colleen Haggard, Ingrid Shevlin & Annelies Bos

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Roasted Tomato and Onion Bruschetta

perfect for summer

When entertaining a few friends or simply serving lunch time mouthfuls to the crowd, these Roasted Tomato and Onion Bruschetta are the perfect reci-pe to try.

Ingredients:

• 1 olive ciabatta loaf• Drizzle of olive oil• 2 cups cherry tomatoes• Olive oil for cherry tomatoes• Salt and black pepper• 4 tablespoons butter• 1 brown onion, peeled and sliced• Fresh parmesan to serve• Fresh basil to serve• Fresh basil pesto to serve

Method:

Cut the olive ciabatta into slices, arrange on an oven safe baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Grill in the oven, carefully, until toasted. Set aside.

Transfer the tomatoes in an oven safe dish, driz-zle with olive oil, season and roast until they burst open. Remove from oven, set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the butter and add the onion rings and allow to simmer until soft and translu-cent. Add a tablespoon or two of water, leave to cook through and saute until golden and caramel-ized.

Serve the Bruschetta by layering it with onion and tomatoes, adding fresh parmesan, basil leaves, pesto and balsamic reduction.

You can try your own version by adding other ingre-dients like salami, parma ham, goats cheese, figs, roasted peppers or mushrooms – aaanything! It is the perfect summer snack to serve with braais or just to line the stomach before a big bash! Hope you give it a go!

By Anina’s Recipeswww.aninas-recipes.com


perfect for summer

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SaszaliWe are Sarah and Jane, owners of Saszali Choco-lates. We make handmade chocolate truffles as well as baked items like gluten-free chocolate tortes. We create uniquely flavoured ganaches which are then coated in Belgium chocolate.

Each truffle is individually wrapped and has a description explaining the flavour and its origin. These truffles are then packaged into different sized boxes for gifts or wedding favours or they go to a few restaurants in and around Cape Town for dessert.

The plungeSarah and I have always thought that our skill set would work well together in business - Sarah is a graphic and web designer and I am a pastry chef. We’re also really good friends (as well as sisters) and so when the opportunity to buy Saszali came about we were keen to give this idea a try together. The challengeThe combination of having your own business and working from home has many advantages but you can often find yourself feeling slightly isolated and also loosing motivation when you work alone. I have missed working with other people - I think it’s very helpful to bounce ideas off others and make decisions with someone. Sarah has recently started freelancing and we’re now able to work on Saszali together a lot more which has made a big difference. Your personal favouriteSalted Caramel for sure. Generally there isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t eat one.

BestsellerNo surprise here - Salted Caramel. ScheduleWe do have a rough plan for each day - especially as the making of the truffles is spread over three days. But we aren’t super routine driven - we like to shuffle things around to keep us creative and enjoying the work.

AdviceThis is directed more at people in the food indus-try but I’d say find a style that you are passionate about and constantly experiment and make food for your friends or family to try. Some of our best feedback comes from dinner and tea parties. I try to get the same friends to try my experiments - that way I can get more consistent feedback. Also don’t underestimate how effective it can be to take 20 minutes in the morning to plan your day - especially when working in the kitchen.

Coffee shopThat’s a difficult one - I’ll have to answer that in two parts.

If we’re wanting to go to one close to home - it’s Twigs with Beans. It has a relaxed atmosphere, it’s a great spot to work from and they serve a brilliant flat white.

If we’re in Woodstock then it’s Rosetta Roastery. Not much can top a pour over made by one of the guys there.

www.saszali.co.za@SaszaliChocolat

Sarah and Jane Jager - Saszali Chocolates

ENTREPRENEUR # 1


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Graham Beck’s sparkling

Methode Cap Classique

With the festive season just around the corner again we’ll all be searching for delectable liquid treats to enjoy amongst the merriment and feasts planned ahead. A sparkling wine is always a sure winner to get any occasion off to a bubbly start, and choosing a suitable label from rows of selections these days can be rather daunting.

Enter Graham Beck’s sparkling Methode Cap Classique range of wines. When in doubt, “Graham Beck” I say!Why? Well, this famous South African winery has carved its place onto palates the world over thanks to winemaker, Pieter Ferreira, who has taken his role at the winery very seriously. His talent with producing champagne-style wines has even earned him the nickname ‘Bubbles’ - fact!

With seven sparkling wine labels in the Graham Beck range you can tell that this winery is serious about this elegant style of wine. The passion and hard work has paid off many times over the past 31 years, which can be highlighted in moments such as Barak Obama enjoying Graham Beck’s Brut at his inauguration dinner, Mandela sipping on a glass of the same Brut after his presidential inauguration, and so forth. Locally, the non-vintage Brut and Brut Rose can be found in most retail outlets and offers a trustworthy elegance and style which appeals to the novice and connoisseur alike. Most recently, I must add, the 2015 Platter’s 5 Star wines were an-


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nounced and the Graham Beck Blanc de Blanc Brut 2009 was the ONLY Methode Cap Classique chosen for a 5 star rating. Incredible!

So, out of seven labels to choose from in their spar-kling range, which do you go for? I’ll make life a lot easier for you, with two recommendations:

Graham Beck Bliss Demi Sec NV* Produced from the two Champagne-region vari-etals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a dash liq-uer d’expedition which rounds off the taste with a gentle hint of sweetness. Lovely yeasty aromas fill the nose while the palate is joyfully consumed by light bubbles and butterscotch and honey flavours. It’s directed at those who don’t particularly enjoy a bone dry sparkling.

Graham beck Brut Rose NV*This delightfully pink number is also produced from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals, with a special process extracting some colour from the Pinot Noir giving it the pink hue. A dryer style sparkling, with a slightly fuller body and minerality layering the palate, its one to be enjoyed on its own or possibly even with a meal. You cannot go wrong!

Both will retail for around the R130 per bottle mark, and should be included in all wine racks this Christ-mas. The quality extends from the vineyard to your glass with each bottle of Graham Beck Methode Cap Classique, so spoil yourself after a long year … you deserve it!

*NV = Non Vintage

By Richard Cranna


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MaMereMa Mere Confections is a little pocket of French style fancy tucked away in The Old Biscuitmill. Most people discover us simply by following their noses as we have a constant fog of honey notes escaping from our doors. We specialise in big, chewy clouds of nougat, elegantly flavoured Pa-risian macarons, crunchy, nutty brittles and outra-geously chocolatey luxury fudges.

The nameThe Word Ma Mere means My Mother. I guess the store is something of a homage to my mom who has always encouraged me in the kitchen and been a source of inspiration to me in the creativity de-partment! Most of my recipes are based on ones I have learned from my mom, step mom, gran and friend’s moms. I wanted the store to reflect that. People often come in, buy our traditional fudge and tell me its their favourite as it tastes just like the one their mother used to make when they were young. I love that people love our store be-cause it tantalises their memories as well as their taste buds. The plungeTo be honest it kind of happened by mistake. I had been unemployed for a while and started making some goodies for a caterer friend and the busi-ness just grew from there, organically. My mom, dad and sister are all entrepreneurs so I guess it was just a matter of time before I took the plunge. Your challengeThe most challenging part of the journey has def-initely been learning to be a jack of all trades. I am often faced with problems that I have to learn to solve myself because hiring people to do said task often costs too much. This has turned into something I love about entrepreneurship. I have learned to become an accountant, product devel-oper, electrician, plumber, nougat cutter, packag-ing expert, you name it!

Best thing to makeDefinitely macarons. I love their colours and the endless possibility when it comes to flavours. Be-cause the business has grown to a point where we are now producing large volumes of nougat, brit-tle and fudge the macarons are often where I can go to express my creativity. BestsellerOur Salted Macadamia Nut brittle is fast becom-ing our best selling product. We get emails from people all over the world complimenting us on our brittle!

ScheduleWe work to a pretty strict schedule. We supply quite a large number of farm stalls, delis, super-markets and wine farms and everything has to be kept pretty organised to make sure all the deliver-ies go out on time and customers are kept happy.

AdviceKeep your eye on the prize! It is so easy to start with a goal and then try and go in so many direc-tions that you end up doing everything half-assed. I used to be quite bad like that, when I started out I did over 40 different products. I now only do about 11. I wanted to make every kind of sweet in every flavour and I have learned that simplicity is definitely key. Also, packaging costs a fortune so I have to make sure that only the real winners hit our shelves!

Coffee shopMy absolute favourite is Jasons, there is always a great vibe and I love sitting outside watching all the people go about their daily business.

www.lexibird.com@_MaMere

Lexi Bird - MaMere

ENTREPRENEUR # 2

CREATE



CREATE

Lucy Goretti Da Costa - Lucy Goretti

ENTREPRENEUR # 3

Lucy GorettiLucy Goretti is a local start-up women’s wear brand that believes every day is a great day to wake up and dress up. Lucy Goretti designs pretty practical pieces that don’t need much accessoris-ing and are timeless yet unique. It’s smart, com-fortable women’s everyday wear.

Being an entrepreneurThere are many reasons why I wanted to go into fashion but the main reason why I wanted my own business is because of my parents. My dad is a farmer and co-owner of the farm. He con-stantly showed my sisters and I that networking can open new opportunities and when there is a problem on the farm he is always there to see why. My mom and us girls used to count out wag-es and she explained UIF to me before I got to High School. I think growing up with a business mentality, it didn’t look so scary.

ChallengeLearning to stop, sleep and continue tomorrow. Understanding that I can only do so much in a day.

Best part of the jobSurprising people with my designs. From the fab-ric supplier, my seamstress and to my clients, they were all surprised at how lovely my Noon dress is on. My Noon dress is an Autumn dress made with a light weight coat fabric like tweed. Anyone who has worn the dress can tell you the numer-ous compliments they get in it. I love finding new ways to use fabrics and trims, rather asking ‘why not?’ and not saying ‘but that’s not right’.

Current trendKimono’s. In a floral chiffon, a kimono can add a sexy, feminine look that you can feel comfortable floating around in all day.

Best outfitMy Audrey t-shirt, it goes with everything and is appropriate for anywhere.

SchedulesI wish I could be more scheduled but it doesn’t work for me. I work from inspiration, when it strikes I run with the idea, and when I’m unin-spired I do paperwork or marketing. I try to find a balance between what I want to do and what I need to do.

AdviceMainly have the support of your family and friends, they should be your biggest fans. The other is have the right intentions, brand iden-tity and business ethics, with these you’ll make good decisions quickly.

Coffee shopStarlings. As I pass through the ivy arch it’s the right in between breakfast and ethereality. Adore it!

@LucyGoretti


CREATE


CREATEENTREPRENEUR # 4

Pigeon PiePigeon Pie is a brand strategy and creative agency. We help entrepreneurs and change-makers build, manage and grow their brands.

The namePigeon Pie is about sharing. The inspiration comes from the culture of sharing found in small communities like the historical district six in Cape Town, where my parents grew up. This is a neigh-bourhood where people would share every pot of food with their neighbours. Where everyone will bring together their own tables and chairs if someone down the road was having a wedding and couldn’t afford dining furniture. Where busi-ness owners were well-known in the community and their brands were their reputation.

From the stories told to me, my granddad used to make Pigeon Pie. I would imagine him cutting a few slices and sharing it with everyone in the street.

Our name is a reminder about why we do the work we do. To share our skills and share the sto-ries of the entrepreneurs and change-makers we have the opportunity to work with.

The plungeI felt like I could make a bigger and more measur-able impact through entrepreneurship. I felt like it was something I just HAD to do, and if I didn’t start Pigeon Pie, no one will. I can’t imagine my-self doing anything else.

ChallengeLearning to be a beginner again. Over and over. Every day, every month, every year, there’s a new

challenge on the horizon. Entrepreneurship is about constantly growing, and that means fail-ure, mistakes and ultimate success.

Brand that gets it rightCapitec Bank. They’ve blown me away by how well they understand their market, how sharply they’ve curated their services to serve their mar-ket and how well they’ve designed their entire business to fit the needs of the people they serve.

VisionTo create the biggest creative agency for entre-preneurs and change-makers in Africa, shaping the future of the world through innovative ideas and impactful businesses. Some people like to refer to our business as ‘the Oglivy for entrepre-neurs and change-makers’. I like that.

SchedulesThere’s a strict schedule, mainly for our teams, but every day is different. You’ll notice that pursu-ing a career in entrepreneurship means that you often need to work longer than regular working hours, you often need to deal with unexpected challenges and you often need to go the extra mile to deliver outstanding value to the world. These all affect the daily schedule.

Best part of the jobWorking with amazing, inspirational people!

Coffee shop*Gasp!* I don’t drink coffee! Is it too late to can-cel this interview?

www.pigeonpie.com@MrPigeonPie

Marwaan Sasman - Pigeon Pie


OriginalAffordable

Local Art!unsungart.co.za


OriginalAffordable

Local Art!unsungart.co.za


CREATE

Alice Leah - Mum’s Mail

Thundafund.comIt’s funds with benefits! Thundafund is South Af-rica’s leading crowdfunding platform for creative and innovative ventures. Close to R3 Million has been crowdfunded and over 87 successfully fund-ed projects since our 2013 launch. These include ventures in Art & Photography; Design; Events; Performance & Publishing.

NameThundafund was coined by Patrick and ties in with ‘making it rain’ and being ‘African Rainmakers’. (Also why our logo is Africa as a ‘Thunda’ strike.)

The plungeWe’re all about the democratisation of finance! In-spired by all the creativity South Africa brews, yet the difficulty they have with access to funds for

expansion and the concept of crowdfunding being turbocharged internationally, Patrick connected with Michael Norton of Buzzbnk. Buzzbnk pro-vided the website framework and support to start and Thundafund began to conceptualise late 2012 | early 2013, launching in June 2013 when we had 6 projects ready to go live.

Crowdfunding provides an alternative (and far more exciting experience) to traditional funding means. Entrepreneurs can raise their capital by pre-selling their project-related items in order to reach a ‘Tipping Point’ (Milestone 1). The entrepreneurs maintain 100% ownership and control of their con-cept; all while raising the crowd, an audience for the idea who become brand advocates - which also allows for you to test the market for your product before development. (This is also great for feed-

ENTREPRENEUR # 5

Andrea Morgan, Co-founder and COO of Thundafund.com.

(Other founders include Patrick Schofield; Lunda Wright and Jamie Walker with International Devel-opment | Technology Partners being Buzzbnk and Trillionfund. Current team also includes Nazli Allie; Ludwig Raal and Daniel Shaw)


CREATEback before you’ve actually produced your item.)

We are therefore a marketplace | showcase and resource for ventures to market themselves and have a secure ‘shopping’ process whereby back-ers can support their initiative in a risk | debt free environment, as you only need to begin delivery of your items after your project has successfully raised its needed funds. (Don’t reach your target? Your backers are refunded, and you head back to the drawing board without being in the red.)

ChallengeThe educational aspect. Crowdfunding in South Africa | Africa is still a relatively new space and in a discovery stage | phase, where it can be broken down to people who have heard it, people who have engaged and backed and those who are com-pletely unaware. But much engagement, education and excitement grows daily, as do project submis-sions to the platform and the backing of projects. And month-to-month as more successful projects are realised and their community of backers be-come involved does the interest expand, especially via online sharing on the project.

Ultimately, crowdfunding is a new way of thinking, which allows entrepreneurs to create something independently, retain 100% ownership of their work and grow an new group of brand advocates during the process. This could be considered ‘nov-el’ and as with novel concepts they to take time to grasp. Our goal is that in the future, ventures will go ‘How did we ever raise funds without crowd-funding?!’... :)

Most exciting projects Oh gosh! That’s a challenging one... Love them all! But personal favourites include:

Honest Chocolate’s Chocolate Cafe (Hopefully opening next month!); www.thundafund.com/honestchocolate

Lorraine Loots ‘365 Painting for Ants’ retrospective book; www.thundafund.com/lorraineloots

Mooibos: Space Saving Vertical Gardens www.thundafund.com/mooibos

Prufrock Magazine: A multilingual magazine of fine South African writing;www.thundafund.com/prufrock

AdviceReally research the route you’re interested in (what’s working, what’s not, what do you like, dis-like, cool ideas, read & repeat...) and the progress of other entrepreneurs. It’s terribly cliche but the more prepared you are the higher the chances of success.

Get yourself out there! Go to an assortment of events and talk to everyone (Seriously, every-one) as you never know who you might connect with or who they might know. A person I meet at Moonlight Mass mentioned “Everyone we meet is a doorway into a new world of possibilities.” - it’s so true. If someone inspires you or intrigues you make a moment to meet-up with them.

Be able to communicate your business in a Tweet and have an elevator pitch ready. The quicker you can put your proposal forward in a simple, short and easy to understand way the better to keep the persons attention.

Favourite coffee shopJust one? How about 3 times lucky...? Haas in Buitenkant for a feast for the eyes; The new Field Office at the V & A Waterfront ‘Watershed’ to be surrounded by creativity (Woodstock Exchange is also lovely when the weather is good to sit outside) and Shift Expresso Bar.

www.thundafund.com@thundafund


CREATE



CREATE

Meet Meghan MaconochieI’ve been involved in a fun project called #SketchyBloggers where everyday we come up with a new drawing. It started off with A is for..., B is for..., etc.It’s been such a fun project and I’ve been posting my drawings on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Then one day on Ins-tagram I came across the very talented Megan Maconochie, who was taking part in the same challenge, and I just HAD to share her work. I am totally blown away. I had a quick chat with her:

How did you come up with the idea: I created a logo for the Nifty Colour Project on Instagram out of green pencil shavings and it turned out to be something I really enjoyed doing. I was also on a mission to find an idea for a 365 day project but I wanted to do something unique. So that's where it started. I didn’t think I would be able to create one everyday but it's been 54 days and I'm still going strong.

You're not an artist full time, but is this something you'd like to do in the future? No I'm not a full time artist unfortunately. I would love to be able to create things all day! I'm hoping to offer these as prints and maybe even create a calendar and book at some stage.

What other creative things are you into? I love taking photo-graphs. There is something amazing about capturing a moment and being able to revisit it over and over again.

Your favourite artist? There are many. At the moment I'm loving what Lorraine Loots is doing.

Your favourite coffee shop? This is a hard question. I don't think I have a favourite. I do however, loove coffee and should probably reduce my daily intake!

Twitter: @MeghsMaconochie Instagram: meghanmaconochie


CREATE


DISCOVER

The Roaming GiraffeThe Roaming Giraffe is curious by nature, in love with Africa and always moving around to find new and interesting places. Being tall, the giraffe sees everything. Being sociable, the giraffe loves to share what has been seen, discovered and expe-rienced.

The nameI am giraffe mad, probably because they are tall and I am not. My house is littered with wood, cro-chet, stone, raffia, glass, wall hangings and paint-ings of giraffe. I have giraffe earrings, notebooks, and pendants. Some might say I am obsessed, but actually I just like them. They get very poor press as they are not even counted in the Big 5! When I needed a name for my social media persona it would always be something to do with a giraffe, and as I love to travel, when someone suggested Roaming, I just loved it. Most people burst out laughing when they meet me for the first time as I am only 154cm high, fully grown! I tell them I have retractable legs, hence the giraffe name. With my lack of height, what other name could I possibly have. My warped sense of humour!

The plungePartially a midlife crisis, I was about to turn 40 and wanted something that allowed me more freedom and creativity. I had been working for the Gov., Mapping Department for 20 years and wanted to do maps aimed at the tourism industry. A col-league and I resigned and started our business, Jabedi Mapping in May 2000. The Roaming Giraffe was created just last year when we decided that a social media presence was needed to connect with the next generation of map users and tour-ism product owners. What started as a tentative step into social media marketing for the mapping business grew arms and legs and turned into a sec-ond job as a travel writer, social media influencer and promoter of tourism in South Africa and other African countries, as well as the domestic tourism campaign, Shotleft.

The challengeAdapting to change. The recession saw marketing budgets being slashed to almost nothing. Google maps, maps on phones, and the digital revolution meant many people moved away from print me-dia altogether, demand for printed maps declined dramatically. Not knowing when the next job and pay check was coming from forces you to change. I was very resistant to learning social media at my age. Luckily for me, not only did I click with it, I became addicted to it and I am now generating in-come from it. I still have a long way to go, but I am learning, meeting great people and loving the ever changing social media space. I am beyond useless at anything technical or behind the scenes and I look forward to the day when I am earning enough to pay someone to do all that for me!

Favourite destinationAnywhere in Africa. I have a long list of places I want to see. Angola, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Morocco, Botswana to name a few I love Cape Town and have lived in this tourist town all my life. I enjoy the convenience of being able to get to so many fantastic and diverse holiday spots relatively quick-ly. Regular favourites of mine are The Wilderness, Sedgefield and Storms River on the Garden Route, and I enjoy Robertson and that area of Route 62.

Travel tipsKeep an open mind and talk to everyone. Travel is about people and most people are nice and have stories to tell. Asking questions enriches your expe-rience. Be spontaneous and step out of your com-fort zone.. Some of my greatest memories were spur of the moment decisions. My best experienc-es have been activities I was initially too petrified to try, but one persuaded, I loved, in a very scared sort of way. I am not brave at all.

ScheduleEvery day is different. When I am not travelling, I like to be up, dressed and efficiently at my comput-

ENTREPRENEUR # 6Di Brown - The Roaming Giraffe



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er by 7.30 every morning. Generally, 10am finds me still in my pyjamas, having intended to just quickly check my e mails before having a shower. I try to schedule days where I do not have to go to meet-ings or events so I can catch up with myself. How-ever the reality is that my days are very haphazard and I work fairly late most nights. Luckily I have a home office so in a way, I am always working.

Best of Cape TownAnywhere near the beach. I never suntan, but I love the sea. I can photograph it for hours, enjoy swimming in it, and recently even had a surfing les-son. Walking on the beach is also great, being at

the ocean is good for my soul

Coffee shopEasy, Grace’s Place at Howard Centre in Pinelands, where I stay. I go there most days for breakfast / brunch at about 11am and Grace and I spend an hour solving all the problems of the world, or I have a chat and a laugh with whatever other reg-ulars are there. The coffee is good and my latest addiction is Grace’s French Toast and bacon. Not good for the hips but oh so nice!

www.jabedimapping.com@DiBrown5


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I finally did it. I finally went to Rocking the Daisies. I’m originally a Durban girl and have been to quite a few Splashy Fen’s and White Mountain’s in my time, but Rocking the Daisies was always on my ‘to-do list’. Now, I can tick it off. I love living in Cape Town, always so much to see and do.

Well, where do I start? Festivals always have a strange effect on me because as much as I love them I’m always so glad to be home - with my own shower and my own toilet. It almost makes you grateful for what you have. Then I sit down and scroll through my photos and suddenly I want to be back, sitting on the grass, sipping a cold beer and watching the colourful people walk past. And boy were they colourful. Rocking the Daisies reminds me a lot of how I assume Woodstock was, with a very wide variety of people dotting every nook and cranny, barefoot and flowers in their hair. The only difference was that I saw a lot of people in onesies which I somehow doubt was in fashion back then.

As a first time Daisies girl I didn’t really know what to expect but according to everyone I was told to dress warmly and bring lots of accessories to pre-pare for rain such as gumboots and umbrellas. We of course, took this very seriously and went gum-boot shopping (which I tell you is not easy with an approaching Summer) and made sure we were fully prepared with jeans and big jackets. Of course, there was no rain. Instead we were blessed (and often cursed) with three boiling hot days. I’m very glad it didn’t rain but dealing with the heat was also not easy and I often found myself just desperate for a bit of shade, which was not easy to find because everyone had the same idea. However, I must not complain because sun is surely better than mud.

The place was massive and the choice of music was huge with the following stages to choose from: Main Stage, Electronic Dome, Lemon Tree Theatre, Nu World Beat Club, Campsite Stage, Beach Bar and Hemp Stage. I personally spent most of my time at the Main Stage, the Electronic Stage and the Nu

Rocking the Daisies

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World Beat Club. I suprised myself by spending hours dancing to music I normally wouldn’t listen to but I was so entranced by the people and the lights that I completely let myself go!

There are a lot of ‘go green’ elements to Rocking the Daisies, which is fantastic, and a huge empha-sis is placed on sustainability, making sure that the overall waste is lowered each year.

Some of the features on offer this year were:

- Food Village: I must say, quite a good selection of food. The one day saw me having oats, orange juice and coffee for breakfast. A delicious avo and feta wrap for lunch, and a huge chicken curry for dinner.

- Traders Market: Lots of jewellery, clothes, hats, onesies, etc to buy.

- Banking: ATM’s available.

- Daisy Den: A girl’s only zone. By buying two Bru-tal Fruits you were able to access this part which included warm showers and dressing rooms with

mirrors and hair straightners. I attempted this one day but after half an hour I had hardly moved so I ended up going to the normal showers. It’s a fes-tival girls... you don’t need to look like you just stepped out of a magazine!

- Rocking the Daisies Wine: Official RTD wine from Cloof Wine Estate.

- The Green Parade: Comedian Brendan Murray and his gang walked around with a megaphone to see which campsites were the cleanest and telling people to clean up.

- Art Field and Installations: Fun and colourful in-stallations by local artists. I loved this and got a good few photos standing next to them and spent a lot of time just gawking at them!

- Rubgy: I’m not into rugby, especially at a festival, but I guess it WAS New Zealand vs South Africa. By the sound of it (and boy was it loud) we obviously won. I was happy to now be surrounded by happy drunks and not angry drunks. You know what rug-by fans can be like... eek.

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- Lockers: Pre-ordered lockers to keep your valu-ables safe.

- Snapscan: I didn’t use it as I took cash with me, but this was a great new introduction to the fes-tival. Simply download the app, link your credit card to it and pay for your food and drinks using just your phone. Genius.

- Rocking WC’s: According to the website these were luxury ablution facilities which you could pre reserve at R150 for the weekend. Person-ally I just used the normal showers and toilets and I didn’t have a problem. My first day was actually quite impressive. I found showers that less people were using (found a little secret gem here) and within about 15 minutes in the queue I found myself in a very hot shower! The second day, sadly, I got almost no hot water. But hey, this IS festival life.

To me, as with a lot of festivals, there were a lot of ups and downs. I didn’t enjoy the fact that the car was not parked next to the tent, how-ever with that amount people I can understand why they do that. I also didn’t like that we had to show our ID and stand in the queue everytime we went out to fetch something out of the car. Personally, I think a different method should be looked into for 2015.Then on the positive side, the festival life is al-ways so much fun, and getting away from the hustle of everyday life is necessary. When, in life, do you just walk up to strangers and start chatting? When do you join groups of people and instantly connect over common interests? When do you walk around wearing whatever the hell you want and people salute you rather than laugh at you? Only at a festival of course.

Will you be rocking the daisies next year?

www.rockingthedaisies.com

By Christine Bernard. Photos by Warren Bernard (www.flatwhiteimages.com)


Carpe Librum: Seize the Book!

It was a weird reading month for me – I read in fits and starts and much more slowly than usual. I wasn’t particularly keen to read The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden (TGWStKoS) by Jonas Jonasson, but I had run out of things to read (The horror!! The panic!!), so I gave it a go. It was worth it. I tried to read Jonasson’s first novel, The

Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, because it was rec-ommended to me by people from at least three countries. But, I couldn’t get into it and stopped reading after the first chapter. Hence my reticence – I didn’t want to start another book and not see it through - I hate to be a book-quitter. Somebody went to an awful lot of trouble to write an entire book and have it published, you see. I may come

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The Girl Who Saved the King of SwedenBy Jonas Jonasson


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back to it at some later stage and enjoy it enor-mously – this is the way of the book.

My uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm this month didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying TG-WStKoS. It’s is a fascinating book. I was hooked from about page 3. The material is super inter-esting, it’s well-researched, and Jonasson’s pro-tagonist, Nombeko, is absolutely delightful. A lot happens in the book – sometimes just a lot of wait-ing. Nombeko is born in Soweto in the 70s, she’s a maths genius with a knack for making the best of a bad situation. We follow her on the unlikely, almost fantastical journey through her life from South Africa to Sweden, from sanitation worker to persona non-grata. From Nombeko’s perspective Jonasson gives us unique insight into Apartheid, international relations, identity and nuclear weap-ons. Nombeko meets intriguing people, negotiates herself through enthralling situations all the while maintaining a stoic dignity that, while admirable, I won’t even bother to aspire to! Jonasson’s wry

humour really makes the book which could have been a bit dry otherwise.

So much happens in the book and I was swept along until about three-quarters of the way through when I started to feel a bit fatigued and really just wanted the book to draw to a close. It could have been a bit shorter, but you really can’t afford not to read it – you will learn the most marvellous things while being wonderfully entertained.

Also read this month: The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go. It’s a bleak novel about World War I, the devastation of love, and climbing Ev-erest. It’s very well written and worth reading, though I can’t rave about it. Told you it was a weird month – I only read two books!!

By Lisa Wiebesiek


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Time to win some competitions!All competitions must be entered by 28 November 2014

1WIN A HAMPeR FROM SAVANNA The hamper includes a six-pack of new Savanna Dry Limited edition Angry Lemon, a citrus pod, lemon zester and a lemon

For more information visit www.savanna.co.za, be part of the action on www.facebook.com/savannacider or join the conversation on Twitter @SavannaCider #QuestForZest and #AngryLemon.

To enter please email: [email protected] with your details. Subject: Savanna


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WIN A 1 MONTH MeMBeRSHIP TO THe SPORTS SCIeNCe INSITuTe OF SA

This fantastic prize includes a comprehensive fitness assessment and personalised training programme. Prize value R1492.

To enter please email: [email protected] with your details. Subject: SSISA

[email protected] | www.ssisa.com

2


DISCOVER3 Win a one night stay at Dustone Country House for two.

Valid for 6 months and subject to availability

To enter please email: [email protected] with your details. Subject: Dunstone

www.dunstone.co.za

4

Win a 1 x Value Red & White Mixed Case from Wine Web – This includes 6 bottles, 3 red and 3 white and includes delivery.

To enter please email: [email protected] with your details.Subject: Wine

www.wineweb.co.za


THE END

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Go on.. all the cool kids are doing it.

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Issue 18 November 2014