“I grew up under military exposure both at school and home,” said the 35-year-old. “Discipline, confidence and love for authority were instilled in me mainly through my Christian upbringing and strict family background. My father, who had a leading role in the army, became the centre for my love of power, success and money. I loved it when soldiers, teachers and other children respected us as their boss’s children and I remember imitating my father’s authority at school or at home while we played with other children.”
Now doubling as director of her own general supplies company, Pro-alliance Trading and Projects, and a real estate agent in South Africa, Moyo suggested that her business clout could also have been inherited.
“My childhood was encompassed by successful elders. My paternal grandmother was a prominent businesswoman between the 1970s and 1980s in the then Gwelo and I grew up hearing stories of her hard road to fame, after her marriage with my abusive grandfather failed,” she related.
“I always wanted to be like her. My mother was a fashion designer, a self-taught skill that I also later acquired through fabric off-cuts she threw in the dustbin. I used to exhibit my designs at the annual Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.”
She believes in the need to choose contacts well in order to make it in one’s chosen career path.
“I agree with business gurus when they say you must mix with those who have already become what you want to be. I wanted to be a businesswoman, yet I was at one stage at a school in rural Inyathi, Matabeleland North, fighting with an educator about my business concept. It was all noise to her because she was involved in what she loved and valued most – teaching. She didn’t understand how rubbing shoulders with successful businesspeople during the ZITF was more important to me,” she added.
“When the economy began to shrink, I resigned from teaching to focus on my business career. I moved to South Africa after my business breakthrough was hampered by the economy having gone so bad at home. I moved here with my only hope resting on my brother-in-law, who stood by me until the birth of my company.”
Today, that company is involved in general supplies and offers plumbing services in and around the busy Gauteng province.
“Women across Southern Africa are real fighters and considering the rate of single parenting, mostly female-headed families, I wish our governments could consider 70 percent women to 30 percent men economic empowerment. They need to relax conditions for women to acquire business funding from national budgets,” said the Bulawayo-born entrepreneur.
“My advice to women is – focus on your passion and don’t be pushed into a profession in which you won’t reach your potential. Always surround yourself with like-minded people. Have a ‘do it again attitude’ and fight for what you love doing.”
Secret of success
“Goal setting. I write down specified goals, work out in detail the how to achieve them. I review each goal daily, visualize my success in reaching it and always measure how close I am to success and what still needs to be done before I achieve the goal. If you don’t write down you fail. I don’t get exhausted in this exercise and I gained the skill from my teaching experience.
“I also deeply owe the late reporter Orirando Manwere for his support in marketing my business at home. His persistence, concern and love made me feel great. I wish he was here to witness my success. He was a man with a heart who could sacrifice his time to assist you grow.” – Caroline Moyo
Post published in: Africa News