19 Oct 2016

When government put in place initiatives to tackle youth unemployment in the country, Ms Segolame Nkolenyane(34), took advantage of the Youth Development Funding (YDF) and established her own hair salon and beauty parlour.
Based in the village of Mathathane, and among the only three hair salons in the village, Mayvo Hair Salon and Beauty Parlour was established in April last year.In an interview with Ms Nkolenyane she said she attracts customers by giving them good customer service.
Driven by her passion for hair dressing and beauty therapy, Ms Nkolenyane admitted that she has no formal training in this kind of business but her experience as a hairdresser at a salon in Bobonong where she hails from, was helping her put food on the table.                                                          
“This is something I have always loved to do for as long as I can remember,” she explains.
“From a young age, I have always been keen to experiment things, more especially by making other people beautiful,” she quips.
She was however quick to point out that for the longest time she was dealing with hairdressing and beauty therapy  there was something she learnt to do when often times her customers asked her to help them put on their make-up such as nail polish and trimming their eyebrows.
She adds that “I then thought it made more sense if I could diversify my business by doing beauty therapy too.” Ms Nkolenyane explains that she does things such as trimming, manicures, pedicures and other facial treatments.The mother of one says she realised that she needed an extra pair of hands especially that it usually gets busy during month end and public holidays or when there are celebrations in the village such as weddings, and so she has hired a young woman to assist her.Ms Nkolenyane explains that she was now able to take care of her son and entire family.
She says she understands that the responsibility of putting food on the table was bestowed upon her as the breadwinner in her family.
Ms Nkolenyane says although business was doing well, she was faced with obstacles, the main one being severe water shortage.
She further explains that they can go for days without water and as such she has overcome the problem by storing water in big capacity containers.                                                                       
She says at times she was forced to wake up at night to fetch water while it was still running in the pipes, thereby endangering her life.
Another challenge facing her was absence of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in Mathathane, and so she ends up losing business as her clientele have to go to Bobonong to draw money and end up using salons at that village. ENDS