Baratang Miya
At the age of 18, after graduating from high school, Baratang tried her hand at sales. She joined Saleshouse and her job was to convince miners to open accounts with the various brands linked to the retail company.
After three years as a salesperson, Baratang was bored and in need of stable employment to provide for her new baby.
A friend’s recommendation led her to the now-defunct Department of Manpower, a government initiative aimed at providing employment through vocational training such as fashion design, interior design, and cooking. She picked interior design and was interested in the business side of that industry.
This project was aimed at training unemployed people to run their own tuckshop business. Baratang approached the project and after completing the course, she was granted R6000.
She used the money to buy equipment and fund her interior design business, which had no official name at the time but was fondly called Baratang’s Curtains and had the full trust of her close-knit Klerksdorp community.
In 2003, a few years after completing her studies at the University of Cape Town, Baratang’s passion for empowering young women and girls from underprivileged backgrounds led her to create Girl Hype, a coding school for women and girls to take up space in the tech industry.
From selling sweets to dedicating a space for women and girls to flourish, success becomes synonymous with anything Baratang starts and how society views her.
Related
But in 2007, Baratang was facing some challenging times. She had been working from the age of 18 and her mind and body were telling her enough. Burning out is not rare for entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs will experience burnout but some are good at ignoring it until they can’t anymore.
This burnout helped Baratang realise the importance of rest and slowing down. She had to take time for herself to re-centre and refocus on things that mattered. Now, at the age of 49 and a mother of three, Baratang has encouraged her children to pursue entrepreneurship.
Profile data and references from https://thetimesofafrica.com/toa-magazine/