OH, to be a Sizzling Coal at SoulProviders…
Hi, my name is Lindelwa and I’m a Sizzling coal. What does that mean? It means that I’m an impressionable youth with a brain soft and absorbent like a sponge, who is working under the guidance of Bright sparks and a brilliant Firestarter. Technically this metaphor should end with me being burnt to ashes and so becomes the end of me, but we will not get technical with it. Instead, this piece of coal will ignite into a giant flame-woman setting the world alight wherever she goes. In less than 100 words, that’s what it feels like to intern here at SoulProviders. I should tell you about why I like it here and what it’s doing for my personal growth as well. The journey has been quite… enlightening. It was in jest, during the early years of Twitter when I told friends that my first job will be a paid-to-tweet situation. As my Twitter addiction grew I learned and read more, and realized that there is work in social media – real jobs, for real. We millennials have it good, with all the progressive industries coming up with innovation – I cannot begin to imagine what’s in store for Generation Z. Back to SP, my first few weeks here felt hectic. Trying to find my feet in a new environment, everyone was and still is helpful, always willing to lend a hand, and teach me something – and this made it easier to settle in and learn the ways of the Digital Ninja. It’s been like having a room full of mentors and almost 5 months later, I feel like part of the family. In the beginning I struggled to keep up, whoooo! Never has the expression “ASAP” been so literal in my life. In the space of a few weeks I had become so much better at time management and delivering quality work in record time…not to mention “multi-tasking”. As someone working in a woman-dominated environment I can confidently say that WE ARE THE MULTI-TASKING MASTERS. To juggle 8 balls and drop none of them feels great! A sort-of affirmation of my ‘Super-Womanity’. All in all, it’s been an inspiring few months and I look forward to the exciting days ahead. ...
Highlights from SoulProviders workshop week
For many people returning to work in January, the first week is spent mired in emails and admin. But not at SoulProviders! Early January is workshop week, where ordinary citizens are turned into #Social Media Ninjas! New skills are imparted and lateral thinking is employed to get everyone to see outside the box. And at the end of the week everyone walks away knowing that there is no such thing as a non-creative person… Check out what we learned last week: Nonto Khumalo To pin point one thing would be difficult because for me it was playing on new turf. I enjoyed learning about strategy and making sure we present the best possible option for the client. This was new to me because as a graphic designer my main focus was always to present the most striking visuals. Now with this new knowledge I know it’s not just about things looking good, it’s also about my work communicating to the target market and clearly getting the message across. I thoroughly enjoyed Clement’s creative session because as a creative myself, it was interesting to learn new ways of being creative and not thinking too hard about it but mainly just making sure I’m in the right frame of mind and remain inspired. Brandstorm!!!!! Presentation was the main highlight because I’ve never had to present since doing literature in high school. I didn’t realise I had the potential to get up there and sell an idea, but with such a great team I exceeded my expectations and that is purely because SoulProviders allows one the platform to grow and tap into one’s hidden talents. Nosipho Ginindza 1) The presentation by Clement that taught us that you can be more creative when you start applying lateral thinking. 2) Another highlight was Melissa’s presentation which showed where our weaknesses and strengths are with our brands. The brandstorms were awesome because they pushed us to come up with great campaigns and ideas for brands we do not work on and also seeing how we each have different ways of looking at each other’s brands. Angelique Redmond What stood out for me in workshop week was learning lateral thinking and that creativity is there – you just have to coax it out! I also loved the brandstorms – the rush of adrenalin you get from presenting and coming up with killer ideas, I felt like a social media sherpa! Lindelwa Nxumalo It was my first workshop week here at SP. My favourite session had to be the one on Creativity. The most important lesson I took from that is that curiosity/creativity are drained by...
Inside A Mind of design: Meet our new junior designer, Cookie Mylo
By Lindelwa R SoulProviders recently added a new designer to the team; Mahlohonolo Tshangela. The other day last week I stole him from his busy day to have a chat about designer things and his bad movie-watching habits. What do you like to watch? First of all, he does not like to watch movies (you will find out in Q3 why), he watches a lot of music videos, and TV shows “…old stuff.” he says, like Scrubs & Supernatural. He spends most of his TV-time watching tutorials, about things. Favourite books… His favourite books are “Screw it, Let’s do it” by Sir Richard Branson & “The Soul Connection” by Anne Jones. I had to Google the latter publication, and just as I suspected it’s a one of those ‘get in touch with your higher self’ guides. Lo walks around the office with an air of calm around him, no surprise he’s about meditation authors. Do you like eBooks or paper backs? “As a designer you’re facing a computer screen all day…” – I expected that he would be a digital reader, that as a digital designer he is immune to the computer screen-induced nausea and headaches. It’s nice to know there are still people who love the smell of paper along with the words. “Print is different” Does being a designer influence your choice of magazines, books and/or the types of movies you watch? T’was a definite yes on the magazines, he reads magazines which are informative and relevant to his interests in respect to what he does. On book choices he said he is “…directed by the heart and soul of the book.” “I don’t watch movies ‘cause I have an eye for these things Do you enjoy being a [graphic] designer? “I find that the term ‘designer’ is [a limited label] just another one of the boxes we’ve been put into. To me it’s just another hat on my head. I prefer to be [referred to as] an artist who delivers his work through design. It’s the hate which keeps my tummy full,” and then he whispers “…Can I say that?” “Being an artist is one of the greatest things ever; your mind is constantly growing. There are things which influence [me] and I become excited to try them in my next design. You burn passion always looking for new ways to do things. Get inspired. It’s really nice seeing great art things and it motivates [me] to look for greater solutions.” He said to me, artists are like onions – they have so many layers – and as you peel away at each of them,...
Thiwe Mbola Premiers Solo Debut Music Video ‘Sekwanele’
The sensational Thiwe Mbola launches her first music video for the seductively intoxicating single Sekwanele. The single was released on iTunes earlier this year ahead of her forthcoming album titled Soul Therapy which is scheduled for release in 2015. For Thiwe, the music video enhances the message in Sekwanele perfectly: “The fact that I write from personal experience, portrays me as the simple girl next door. It makes me approachable and relatable. I believe most independent women will relate to Sekwanele as we tend to run away from love, just because it comes from a person who society feels is not good enough. The music video follows this storyline”. Thiwe is currently in studio working on original compositions for inclusion on the forthcoming album. “My songs are about life. I literally write from my very own personal experience. I write when I feel something. Whether it be love or motivation, my emotions for the day determine what the song will be about”. Thiwe started out in the industry as an Afro Soul singer and this is the foundation for her approach to song, bolstered by house beats. Performing with a band is what Thiwe is most comfortable with as evidently experienced at her live shows which include the Ekurhuleni East Comes Alive, Macufe Divas Concert, the Cherry Jazz Festival in Ficksburg and more recently the Joy of Jazz Festival. Thiwe’s smashing single ‘Crazy’ was included on Black Coffee’s Home Brewed album which led to more work on his Africa Rising Deluxe Album and the DVD. Other notable collaborations include work with Sai & Ribatone on debut album Here & Now as well as DJ Ganyani on his album The Family Gathering. More recently with DJ Kent on his album The Weekent and Mo Flava for Soulcandi Sessions. Watch the video below:...
Give Books, Change lives
Hi Nthabi, thanks for chatting to us. Tell us more about Give Books, change lives initiative? The Give Books; Change Lives children’s books drive is a response to the fact that the majority of children in South Africa do not have access to books and libraries and have therefore they do not read storybooks. Only 7% of our schools have functioning libraries. And since it’s the season of giving – let’s put the power of giving into the hands of our customers, supporters, and fans. We have partnered with 3 reputable NGOs, @ShineCentre @biblionefsa @nalibaliSA who run literacy projects for the benefit of less fortunate children. How it works is: 1. A person (or company) sends us their pledge amount or pays it directly into our account: Bank: Nedbank Account Name: Puo Educational Products Account Number: 1977061915 Branch: Rosebank (197705) 2. We will then deliver the books to the NGOs who will then distribute the brand new books to the children in their programmes. 2. When was it launched? We launched the initiative on 31st October through emails, social media and word of mouth. We’ve also had some radio coverage on SAfm http://iono.fm/e/115191?autoplay=1 and Radio2000. 3. How’s the journey been and what are some of the challenges that you come across when you communicate the message about #givebookschangelives? The response has been very positive. A challenge would be that at this time of year people are inundated with requests, but we’ve found that people then pledge a lesser amount, rather than not pledging at all. 4. Which provinces do you distribute the books at? All 9 provinces 5. What is the success rate? Within 3 weeks we had 1285 books pledged – this will make a big impact on children who would otherwise not know the joy of and thrill of storybooks to captivate the imagination. Or not have the opportunity to read for pleasure, or books that they can relate to. There are numerous benefits to reading – from educational through to building self-confidence – that we want is to give as many children as possible the opportunity for fun, locally relevant storybooks. 6. Do you find it effective when you also add social media as a means of communication? Yes as its very effective inn spreading our message. People have retweeted, liked and forwarded onto their networks. 7. What is your main objective as Puo? Our reason for being is to enrich children’s lives through Africa’s heritage. Be it storybooks, apps or games, Africa has a wealth of stories to be told and we want our children to hear them. 8. How can one help and how...
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