Represent Interview: Babazeka.com

Posted on Apr 24, 2009

Thanks to Twitter (do you follow Editorista’s tweets? http://twitter.com/sisiwami )Represent was introduced to a ‘socially aware online store’ recently called Babazeka that sells a range of colourful South African handmade goods, supporting numerous craftspeople throughout the country. The shopping bug immediately kicked in and we of course needed to know more. We chatted to Sarah, the lady that makes it all happen. (Crafters, find out how to get in touch with her below) We love your website Babazeka, please tell us what your inspiration for creating Babazeka is? What does Babazeka mean and where did the name come from? Babazeka was created for a few reasons. One, I moved to a small town (Knysna) and realised pretty quickly if I wanted to be truly happy in my career, I would need to start my own business doing what I enjoy (as opposed to the jobs the town had to offer). Two, I’ve always loved making things by hand – my favourite hobby is sewing. Three, I’m one of those people who has just always had the urge to help others. So, after chatting with lots of people, I put it all together, and agreed with my cousin, Scott, to set up an online store  which would sell handmade things made by job creation projects. Scott developed the site and helps me with the online marketing, pretty much everything else is up to me. The word Babazeka is zulu, and means “be beautiful” or “be admirable”. I found it in an online dictionary, got all excited about how suitable the meaning was to what we were doing, and then got even more excited when the .com was available. (It’s VERY difficult to find available .com’s) What is your background?  What is your backstory? Where did you grow up? I grew up in Joburg, and studied Business Science Marketing at UCT. I always thought that I’d go into advertising, but after travelling around the world for 3 years, I figured out quite a bit more about myself and realised that the advertising industry is definitely not where I belong. I’m just not a corporate or big city girl. Moving back to South Africa and to Knysna, is where everything was put into perspective for me. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a South African who helps the country in my own little way, that it’s not all about money and that it is all about quality of life. How are you finding online sales in SA, are people trusting of the system? Do you have much interest from overseas clients? Our sales are growing steadily which is the most...