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Entertainment Reporter
Dancer and entrepreneur Ashlee Nyathi says artistes should get business skills in order to run their careers viably and also venture into profitable investments.
The 23-year-old dancer founded MegaPro Trading Company which specialises in fishery and has interests in countries like Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana. As he grew up, Nyathi’s dream was to focus on dance only, but the art gave him exposure and ideas about entrepreneurship.
In an interview with The Herald, the dancer said he has observed how popular artistes end up wallowing in poverty because of failure to make wise decisions about their careers.
“There are many popular musicians who made big names, but died poor. It is common in the arts industry. Many artistes fail to realise that there are many opportunities outside the industry, which they can utilise,” said Nyathi.
“When I was growing up I had so much passion for dancing and I did not think I would do anything else. I just wanted to be a dancer and I dreamt of touring the world pursuing my art. However, as I got exposure through the art, I also got enlightened on how to pursue investments outside dance.
“I attended various workshops where artistes were encouraged to look beyond their talents and learn about investments. We were told about some artistes that were once popular, but are now living in poverty. Some died poor because they failed to manage their income.”
Nyathi said the inspiration he got from the dance workshops pushed him to start a company that is totally divorced from his art. He formed MegaPro Trading Company in 2014 and started selling kapenta. The company has grown and he now imports kapenta from Mozambique for resale in the country. He also exports fish to countries like South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.
Nyathi says he tries to balance between dancing and his business so that he nurtures the art as well as grow his investment. He is working on a programme to promote dance among young people in disadvantaged communities.
“We have a talent search programme that will begin soon. We will get dancers from disadvantaged communities and give them exposure. Dancers are sometimes looked down upon, so we intend to give them confidence and show them that they can make a living out of the art as long as they make right choices.”
The dancer says he also intends to start mentorship programmes for artistes in all genres to give them ideas about businesses and investment.
“I am working with a team of other artistes that have made good investments. We want to inspire other artistes to also come up with business ideas. We will arrange workshops where famous business moguls will impart important information about entrepreneurship to artistes.”
Nyathi said MagaPro will soon become one of the biggest fishery companies and he hopes to be a role model to many young artistes.
Online Reporter