FIRST ON HER AGENDA — WOMEN
Nomndeni Mdakhi, 35, founder of Agenda Women and Edits Communications, is passionate about creating a space where women can excel
What inspired you to launch Agenda Women in 2016?
I separated from my ex-husband in 2016 after being together for 13 years. That transition made me realise that I had no-one, who would understand my standpoint, that I could talk to. Now I have this desperate need to bring women together and create a space where they can have conversations about common issues they’re facing. I felt like there was no authentic space where that was already taking place and in a manner that made it easy for people to open up. For me, it was about creating a space online and offline where women could have content that would help them grow personally as well as in their careers and businesses.
How do you embrace the challenges you face in entrepreneurship? It’s tough, but you keep going. For me, there’s just no way out. I lost a big chunk of my family when I was young and I think that planted the seed of resilience in me. My outlook on life is, ‘you just have to figure it out’. There was a time in my life where I felt like there was no-one to call when I faced challenges, and that made me stronger. I believe there’s a solution for every problem, so you just have to find it. I’m going to fight until the day I die.
Please tell us more about #30DaysOfAwakening and how you hope it will inspire others?
I don’t necessarily put out my content with the hope that it will inspire people. It becomes the byproduct of me sharing my own experiences. I think when you share your experiences authentically, it automatically resonates with people. We’re all the same and go through the same struggles. What has happened through my social media page, Agenda Women and the other work I do is that people consume the content they like and can relate to. What’s the importance of ‘finding yourself ’ before starting a business? I saw an Instagram post where someone said, “entrepreneurship adulting is a different level of adulting.” Adulting in itself is difficult because life forces you to confront yourself, but entrepreneurship is another level of hard. It tests your values and integrity, and how far you’re willing to reach your financial goals. There are multiple challenges you have to confront. However, I don’t think it’s possible to completely find yourself before venturing into entrepreneurship. You can go to school and see other people do it, but it’s extremely personal. No-one can prepare you because everyone’s journey is different. The true test is in how passionate you are about what you want to deliver.
Tell us more about Edits Talks, which you describe as ‘Africa’s Conversation Boutique’.
I’m passionate about the African continent. I understand how the world sees this continent and how Africans see themselves. I think it’s important for us to have conversations, with each other, that help us recognise how valuable we are in the global ecosystem. Not only that, but how do we extract this value and create a thriving economy. My conversations are about that. We always think of Africa in a very resourceful manner, but there’s also a thriving creative industry. There’s a need for us Africans to better understand where our power exists.
What vision do you have for Agenda Women? I want it to be the number one destination for African women. I want you to think of Agenda Women when you’re thinking about negotiating a contract at work; how to budget for your business; how to scale your business from where it is to where it needs to be; and how to navigate your career path. Anyone who has an agenda around women must have us top of mind and as the go-to platform. Everything we do as a business is to better understand women in all of their multiple roles and diverse spaces.
What advice would you give to someone trying to start a business to empower women? Have clear objectives. Are you a non-profit or a for-profit business? Agenda Women is a for-profit business. We have clear objectives around what we want to deliver that is impactful and we have values around how we want to do it. But, we also want to make money. The need to save the world is great, but you also need to survive. You can’t impact much of anything in the world without money. If you’re a non-profit, have a plan around how you’re going to do the things you need to do. If you’re for-profit, figure out financial projections and where your revenue streams will be.
You want the women you’ve inspired to go on and inspire others. Please elaborate. I’ve always been inspired by other women to think the way I do and do the work I do. I see this as the beginning of an evolution around how we see each other as women, figuring out how we can assist each other, and creating a space where you can plant the seed, nurture the soil and really get people going. When you bring women together in the right space with the right intentions, you’d be surprised at what they can do for each other.
If you could sum up your career into a song title what would it be? Blessings by Big Sean, featuring Drake. My life has been full of blessings and I am grateful to find myself in the spaces that I’m in.