Eye-opening success
Q: TELL us about The Brow Bar?
A: The Brow Bar is the first salon of its kind in the country and offers specialised services and products to address a variety of eyebrow and eyelash needs to anyone, irrespective of gender.
Many spas and salons may offer waxing or even threading of the eyebrows and eyelash extensions.
It is the signature techniques and equipment we employ that set us apart. We don’t just thread eyebrows – we design, train and sculpt them. Our precision-based measuring procedures and execution make us eyebrow “architects”.
There is no brow challenge we cannot address, from sparse brows or brow alopecia (hair loss) to unibrow, curly/thick brows or simply maintaining a defined shape.
We also offer eyelash tinting and extensions.
We are not gender specific and offer our threading and facial hair grooming services to men too, so a visit can be a fun routine for couples.
Q: How did you begin your business, and how has it grown over the years?
A: The Brow Bar started as a 16m² kiosk in the middle of the shopping centre in Clearwater Mall, Joburg, with two beds.
Looking back, it would never have been as successful had I not started the kiosk.
People attract people, and shoppers passing by would stand and watch in amazement as this new trend hit South Africa and the demand for a brow bar grew out of control.
Q: Success in business is different for everyone. How do you define it?
A: Success in business grows from one tiny seed: believing in your dream and giving it your all. Stay in your lane and focus on your vision
The way I threaded my way to success is based on four principles, as I live by the four agreements of ( Mexican author) Din Miguel Ruiz:
Be impeccable with your word. Q: WHAT inspired you to get into choreography?
A: I started to think of choreography only when in my late twenties – until then the work was about tuning the body to perfection. Once the idea of choreography took root, the idea was about allowing the body/bodies to make larger connections with time, place and people.
Q: You have been described as one of India’s most controversial contemporary dance makers. What are your thoughts on this?
Don’t take things personally. Don’t make assumptions. Always do your best. I define my success by the women I’ve engaged with in my business by empowering young underprivileged girls. Watching them making a success out of their career is my success.
Q: Where were you born and raised?
A: I was born in a small town in Mpumalanga, Middleburg – in a liberal home where my dad was chairman of the town council. My parents always owned their own businesses and this is where I was exposed as a child to work. From 13 I worked every weekend in my dad’s business to earn airtime and pocket money. Q: Tertiary education? A: I am currently studying a BA communication science degree and I completed my beauty diploma in 2003. I have qualifications in business management and microblading.
Q: What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
A: I worked at a beauty counter in Truworths in La Lucia Mall. Retail exposure is the best foundation anyone can have. It taught me discipline and this is where my love for retail was born.
Q: What challenges have you encountered, or are you aware of that other women face, on the way to success?
A: Striking balance as
A: What makes something controversial or radical depends on the context and the point of view from which the work is perceived. I do not react to the way I am described because these descriptions change all the time. In my environment, the need to subvert the gaze on the body is what is most important for me as a choreographer.
I do this often, by stripping the body of virtuosity and proposing truthful bodies in place of magnificent ones.
Q: How many dance productions have a woman between work and family life is hard.
Success comes with many losses – you lose time with family, you lose friends, there is no time to socialise.
Fortunately for me, my husband is my business partner and understands the demands of our business. However, I have seen many marriages fall apart as the husband is threatened by the success of the wife.
Q: How have you, or do you still, overcome the challenges?
A: I have a cook and a full time au pair, and a full-time nanny.
My kids’ basic needs are taken care of, so when I get home in the evening I give them undivided attention and spend those precious hours learning about their day and listening to them.
My husband and I are always on a date!
We drive to work together, have business meetings
Light Doesn’t Have Arms. you choreographed in the past few years and what are the most notable ones?
A: I’ve made nine works between 2003 and together and steal coffee dates whenever possible. Q: Family? A: I have two beautiful kids, Umayya, 10, and Umar, 4. They have been exposed to the life of a mom entrepreneur from a very young age. My son was 6 weeks old when I resumed work and he came with me. He grew up in my business.
Q: How important is work-life balance and how have you managed to achieve this?
A: The power of delegation is crucial. Every three months we break away for a few days, doing what the kids want… and sometimes just doing nothing, just having a weekend in our PJs all day.
We have a games night, and supper is the most crucial meal as we discuss our day.
I gym. My motto is ‘A healthy mom is a happy mom’, and I ensure the family is hydrated and well fed. 2015. My own solo, Sweet Sorrow (2010); Across, Not Over (2013), made for Kathak dancer Vikram Iyengar and about to play at JOMBA!; and Conditions of Carriage (2015), currently playing across India. Q: Have you been to South Africa before? A: I haven’t and eagerly look forward to discovering the place, people and culture. I hear the arts scene is very vibrant and healthy.
Q: Tell us about Across, Not Over, eagerly anticipated at JOMBA!
A: This is a solo created for and performed by Kathak dancer Vikram Iyengar. By its nature, a solo tends to draw on biographical details. This piece frames an Indian male dancer’s specific relationship with his body and environment. The work draws out the minuscule details of movement to represent them in a newly-assembled poetics.
It presents a grammar for the body that allows the vulnerability of the dancer to rise to the surface. The exploration questions and reframes notions of classicism and beauty by presenting the dancing body as an image of itself. The work is a result of a dialogue between two classically-trained dancers from two very different forms of dance.
Q: In terms of the South African arts, do you think it has a lot to offer?
A: I am yet to discover the scene in South Africa. I am quite sure it has a lot to offer to the rest of the world, especially in the area of form and a sense of ownership of the body. Several notable choreographers have come out of the South African scene. Q: Where were you born and raised? A: I was born and raised in Chennai and continue to live here. Q: School and tertiary education? A: I have a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Chennai and a Masters in Dance Studies from the Laban Centre in London. Q: Family life? A: My partner works in theatre as a director. He also works with me as a performer and a technical director. Q: What are your hobbies? A: Music, reading, writing, walking. Win four tickets to the JOMBA! performance at the KZNSA Gallery in Bulwer Road, Glenwood on Monday. SMS POSTJOMBA followed by your full name to 33258. SMSes are charged at R1.50. AND WIN AGAIN! Four tickets to the JOMBA! performance at Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, UKZN next Wednesday (August 31) SMS POSTUKZN followed by your full name to 33258. Competition closes noon tomorrow (Thursday). SMSes are charged at R1.50. Terms and conditions apply.