Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Chronicle Reporter
IF ever entrepreneurship was a person, one lady by the name Grace Anne Ndlovu would have been the right fit.
Not because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth but her will of steel has seen her rising from just another girl next door to one of Zimbabwe’s powerful hosts and speakers at corporate functions.
This has fuelled her wish and mandate to be a force to reckon with in Africa as she believes that she is ripe and ready to leave a trace on the continent’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Only a select few can achieve what she has achieved at her age.
Born to an entrepreneurial family setting 22 years ago, Indlovukazi, as Grace Anne is known mastered the art of creating money out of resources at her disposal at a tender age.
Grace, the jack of all trades took time to speak to Chronicle about her upbringing, love for philanthropic work, career prospects and everything in between.
“I was born in Bulawayo 22 years ago at Pelandaba Clinic and I am the firstborn of two intelligent girls that my mother gave birth to.
I was actually born into an entrepreneurial family.
My parents have been on the commercial journey for as long as I remember.
We had a few retail shops on the outskirts of Bulawayo and in Lupane.
Thus, we grew up going to the shops and learning how to sell and calculate change at a tender age.
That is how my love for the corporate world was developed,” she said.
Such a setting was conducive enough to nurture Grace into desiring a life of enterprise, graft and love for self-sustainability.
She vividly remembers her first personal enterprise which frequently landed her in neighbouring Zambia.
“After learning how to count change and balance my books, I then ventured into online selling and after high school, I earned my parents’ trust to take care of myself and that is how travelling to Zambia alone began.
“At the age of 18, I used to travel to Zambia to buy clothes in bulk for my online customers and made huge profits for a girl my age.
That’s when I learnt that entrepreneurship is a problem-solver for financial difficulties.
I then grew more into the marketing side of entrepreneurship where I took my studies with a local university while I did freelance marketing as well,” she said.
Growing up, her family became nomadic as she had to experience Entumbane, Nkulumane and Killarney suburbs and she concedes that this had a telling effect on her perception of life.
“I was born a tourist because between birth and my teenage years, I had lived in three different places and this made me see different kinds of lifestyles and appreciate life more.
I may have been born in Pelandaba but I grew up in Entumbane, Nkulumane and Killarney,” she chuckled.
The social influencer, gender-based violence activist, social media manager, brand ambassador, philanthropist, talk show host, corporate director of events and founder of Own Your Dream Foundation, Grace Anne’s portfolio is just a mixed bag.
It is only human for one to think that Grace is biting more than she can chew but the all-rounder said that she is in charge of all her responsibilities and manages her time quite well.
If she is to become a continental hit, the young Bulawayo-based lady would need all the discipline she can get to juggle all the activities in her schedule.
In her five years of service, Grace Anne has amassed quite a reputation and some awards to strengthen her grip in the business world.
The past two years have been quite good for her CV as she collected accolades. Among some of the gongs and recognition to her name include a recognition award for Youth in innovation from 4H Zimbabwe in conjunction with the ministry of Sports Arts and Recreation, a recognition award from Ignite Youth awards (Phoenix category) and a Women of Excellence Award from Shield Foundation.
This year, she got recognition from Ignite Youth Awards under the Role Model Category and made the Top 20 Entrepreneur candidate to be part of The Village Entrepreneurship boot camp in neighbouring South Africa.
There is one thing that Grace Anne is passionate about and that’s women’s emancipation.
Such a deep connection with her feminine kind, led her to be granted an ambassadorial role in Girlz Have Voices.
Her intent to be a thought leader has seen her participating in social activities to fulfil her civic duty.
This year, in partnership with her 26-year-old business associate Bhekusiko Bhebhe, she donated 1 000 litres of hydrogen peroxide, a fumigation chemical to the City of Bulawayo to help the fight against the global pandemic, Covid-19.
The Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) member has also facilitated mentorship classes for young people and through that more than 100 youths benefitted, with some of them going on to be authors and entrepreneurs.
“I have been involved in a sanitary pads production training that was free online for girls in the support of EndPeriodPoverty to girls and also initiated campaigns to support and sustain the impoverished community through the collection of groceries and sanitary wear on their behalf,” she said.
Grace Anne is a freelance marketer, graphics designer and the Marketing Director for GM Education Consultants for Poland job and study opportunities.
She is a researcher under Youth Agency Research (MIET) and has previously worked in public relations posts due to her passion for communication and marketing.
“Be the change you want to see,” fuels her every day to do more than she is doing and there seems to be no stopping as she is branching to other activities.
“I’m venturing more into the software and application side of things in order to make an impact in local businesses.
Now that we are in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) era, I believe I’m on the right track.
My ‘Own Your Dream Foundation’ seeks to nurture a self-sustenance mentality so that my fellow young people become entrepreneurs, not job-seekers.”
For Grace Anne, inspiration was not going to be found far but was a stone’s throw away. She says that her father’s door was and is still ajar for her.
“There are several people who inspire me a lot in terms of entrepreneurship and leadership.
My father, Mr Livias Ndlovu, is among these people that have inspired me.
The others are people like Aliko Dangote, Keith Heywood, Nosizo Choga and my role model Chanita Foster.
The actress and philanthropist from Detroit in America has a heart of gold and I was fortunate to actually get to hear and see her at a recent entrepreneurship boot camp we had in South Africa.
Above all she is a successful businesswoman who loves God.”
In September, her first instalment of The Grace Anne talk show premiered on YouTube and it focuses on a number of themes, business, lifestyle and arts.
“My talk show came into existence after having two years of Instagram live interviews with different figures in Africa.
I then got a lot of requests from my viewers asking if I could make it a proper channel so they can revisit and share my content and the rest is history,” said Grace.
Moving forward, Grace Anne promised to take her mission of being a continental star forward saying she will up the ante through interviews with continental icons.
“We are working on the next four episodes of the talk show which will be released in January.
They feature some familiar faces that Zimbabwe might be interested in hearing what they have to say. Our goal is to leave a mark in Africa and hope to achieve it soon,” she said. — @eMKlass_49
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