Mokoena: I live in the West Rand of Joburg and work for Goodbye Malaria, managing a pop-up retail store based at OR Tambo airport.
Mokoena: Outside of my bubbly personality, eagerness to learn and not fearing challenges, I make a difference every day with my work to the people of southern Africa who are affected by malaria.
Mokoena: Interesting, always keeps me on my toes and can be challenging at times, but I roll with the punches. I’ve now found my passion – working with an awesome team doing good at the same time.
Mokoena: I have two passions: my daughter and teaching. Oh yes, and learning. OK, I have three passions.
Mokoena: The ability to interact with different, unpredictable personalities on a daily basis, learning different cultures from all over the world, as I’m based at the airport, and knowing I’m making a difference.
Mokoena: It doesn’t exist! Running the two pop-up stores in the airport space can be really overwhelming as there’s so much to do and yet so little time: from admin to staff management, merchandising, making money and still having fun at the same time.
Mokoena: Being passionate, seeking and taking advice from my mentors and reading motivational books to keep me focused.
Mokoena: Definitely Robbie Brozin, the co-founder of Nando’s and co-incidentally the co-founder of Goodbye Malaria. I look up to him and I’m inspired by him and his work ethic. He’s smart and yet so humble.
Mokoena: Understanding the challenges. Sales are unpredictable and one has to always keep focused with a positive mindset.
Mokoena: We are new to retail, both me as a manager, and Goodbye Malaria overall. My focus is on the team. They need to understand our cause so when they speak to visitors to the stores they communicate what we are trying to achieve. I dream of running more of these pop-up stores around the country, and ultimately helping Goodbye Malaria in their dream of eliminating malaria.
Mokoena: The words I normally utter to myself are, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform, pause and reflect.” Those are the wise words from Mark Twain. It might not be an industry term, but it’s my mantra!
Mokoena: Mostly it’s when I’m home, just about to fall asleep at night. Like most entrepreneurs, I have no ‘off’ button.
Mokoena: I’m great at keeping my cool.
Mokoena: I wouldn’t really consider myself much of a technophile. I do admire new technologies and gadgets, but I never really fuss around them. You’d find hundreds of pictures of my daughter on my phone.
Mokoena: Read a lot and have someone to look up to, love what you do, always remain focused and have fun!
Simple as that. Find out what Mokoena does on www.goodbyemalaria.com and follow Goodbye Malaria on Twitter and Instagram for more.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.