Hence, passion, purpose, community-care and women empowerment, are the values that motivated entrepreneur, Mariam Martin, to launch her ‘feel good’ business in March 2022. The venture, Authentic Aesthetics, provides aesthetic solutions to women – skin care and weight loss. Within its four months of operation, the business has already created three jobs, become financially profitable, and inspired the owner to pay it forward through a donation to Tsiba!
Mariam, who is a 2nd year BBA student at Tsiba Business School and the founder of Authentic Aesthetics, juggles these roles with also being a mother and wife. Yet, she is ‘passion personified’, who lives, eats and breathes her brand. According to Mariam: "Being a business student at Tsiba allows me to put what I learn in the classroom into practice and this has benefited my business enormously." This comment is a powerful testament to the value of a Tsiba education, and importantly, confirms that knowledge acquires exponential value when it is applied practically, resolutely and innovatively.
Tsiba Business School is committed to social impact through producing ‘purpose-lived’ graduates, and actively encourages young people to take the bold step into venture creation because there are many valuable lessons to be learnt – ideation, planning, budgeting, marketing, networking, and resilience. These are skills which migrate easily and beneficially into the professional world.
Someone once wrote, ‘Success follows vision!’. Like Mariam, Tsiba’s vision for education is that it must provide value to beneficiaries by transforming learners’ lives, preparing them for the challenges in life and providing the skills to become active economic citizens. But, youth need to ‘show up’! The job seeking mentality and the reliance on government to provide job opportunities have not been sustainable solutions.
Dr Stephen Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989), identified the first habit of highly successful people being to be ‘proactive’! Self-starters, those who see opportunity and who make things happen, who can navigate difficult situations and who can network, are infinitely better prepared to cope with life's challenges. The world that we’re living in and the new and emerging economies that include amongst others, the services sector, digital/data technologies and clean energy, are evolving rapidly and bringing many new opportunities. Proactive youth should not only participate, but indeed aim to lead these. Therefore, for youth to thrive, they must break the bondage of dependence on government. They need to take ownership of their economic futures and destinies. Knowledge is readily available and institutions such as Tsiba, as well as the Google ‘information highway’ provide cost effective and easy access to skills and assistance.
Stories like that of Mariam Martin, are both inspiring and informative. They bring real-world learning value which might prompt many other youth to take the plunge towards economic growth and sustainability. After all, isn’t it true that ‘nothing ventured is nothing gained’?
