Courageous Foundhers women find their true entrepreneurial selves
IN THIS four-part series ’Advancing Gender Equality and Entrepreneurship’, UCT student Traci Hurling is turning the spotlight on the women behind Foundhers Circle - a female-led start-up to provide women with the tools they need to build and scale profitable and impactful businesses. Today she writes about network creator, Keitumetse Pule
KEITUMETSE Pule is a young South African woman who has a passion for entrepreneurship and women empowerment.
Keitumetse (Keitu) brought these two passions together and created Foundhers Circle, a network that supports and connects local women entrepreneurs.
When Keitu was in Grade 11, she participated in an event where young girls from around the world devised policy recommendations for a G20 Summit.
The theme of these recommendations was on increasing women’s economic participation, as well as the accommodation of women in decision-making spaces.
It was here that Keitu came to realise just how much further we need to go to achieve gender equality in South Africa, especially in the business world.
What began as an entrepreneurship club in high school is now a formal business that actively supports and uplifts female entrepreneurs.
The primary goal of this business is to show women that entrepreneurship is a viable career option.
With the offer of website and social media management services, Foundhers Circle provides women with the tools they need to build profitable, impactful and lasting businesses.
This is achieved through offering key services that are essential to building up one’s business, such as assisting with establishing an online presence.
Many people go online to look up businesses and what they offer before making any consumer decisions.
This is especially relevant now as Covid-19 has accelerated the digitisation of the consumer’s access to goods and services.
Foundhers Circle offers the tools and services needed for start-ups to make themselves digitally accessibly, in order to attract customers and investors.
The other key feature of Foundhers Circle is the community it provides to women starting businesses.
As an entrepreneur herself, Keitu realised how lonely embarking on an entrepreneurial journey can be.
Foundhers Circle provides a community of like-minded women to motivate and support you when you need it.
The members share their accomplishments and struggles with one another on WhatsApp groups and receive the motivation and inspiration from their peers to keep moving forward.
Foundhers Circle’s current goal is to grow the network and reach as many early-stage entrepreneurship women as it can.
Currently at 30 members, Foundhers Circle aims to reach 100, this year.
At a later stage, Keitu plans to partner with funding organisations to aid Foundhers Circle members to better access resources, infrastructure, capital and mentorship.
Foundhers Circle is open to all South African women entrepreneurs and joining the network is free-ofcharge. If you are a female entrepreneur or know of any, Foundhers Circle is a great place to build connections and get advice and support.
Visit the website (https://www. foundherscircle.com/) for more information and to get involved.