Chronicle Editor
Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Senior Features Reporter
IT was by no means a slip-up that her business would be christened Touch of Class Luxury Group.
She is chic. She is deluxe. She is Ms Nontokozo “Pinky” Dube (37), the founder and chief executive officer of this opulent brand headquartered in Bulawayo.
A good eye and taste for the finer things are all she initially needed to get things moving and monetise her passion for event design.
As the years went by and she steadily found a firm footing in the industry, Pinky, as she is affectionately known by her clients and colleagues, has grown her business to include interior design and a gifting service.
“I just love nice things. I used to live in England and I’d go to events and see nice things; beautiful flowers and pretty designs. One day, I just thought we didn’t have such things at home so if I ever went back home one day, I could actually start something like this. Also, my mother used to do design for small events so we used to go with her. One day I just decided to pack up, go back home and try this out,” said Pinky in an interview at her Bulawayo office.
The bubbly event designer, whose infectious laugh echoed across the room at intervals, said she got start-up capital and equipment then slowly started the event design business.
“At first, I used to hire tents and chairs and then slowly went into the actual design before getting into florals. During the first years, I would design events off my head. Then when I decided to take things more seriously, I went to the
School of Weddings in South Africa. That’s where I got most of the knowledge that I use now.”
She has not looked back since then. Hers is a constant quest to perfect her craft.
“Now I attend masterclasses by different people from time to time. There are these Americans that usually come to South Africa to do these masterclasses. I’ve been to a couple of these classes. Some were with Mabel Florals and Precious the Planner,” said Pinky.
Touch of Class, which started off as an events company has been in business for about seven years now.
“I do event design and planning and I’ve been doing weddings for about seven years now. We’ve added home décor/home interior; that’s why we’re a luxury group. So, the group includes event design, interior design and a gifting service,” said Pinky.
She said the interior design business was stirred by the décor pieces she would use at the events she designed.
“A lot of people would admire my pieces whenever we did event design. They would say it was a pity the designs would only last for a day; so much trouble for a wedding to just come and go. I used to get that from a lot of people.
Also, because I love décor so much, people used to come to my house and admire my décor pieces. So, I then thought, these are the things I use for events so maybe I can actually take this event thing and move it to interior,” said Pinky, who has done interior design for a bed and breakfast facility among other establishments.
While she did this project, she said, a lot of her merchandise was being imported from South Africa.
“I then thought, instead of bringing things all the way from South Africa whenever people ask, why not open a home shop. So that when someone asks me to design their house or whatever, I already have the things in store. Now I just get the stuff from the shop and supply. I also supply to people who want to do the designing on their own. So now with things like vases, I supply to other event designers as well,” said Pinky.
Meanwhile, the gifting service is mostly for her diaspora clients who cannot run around themselves to gift their loved ones.
“I get a lot of people that I’ve done weddings or events for and their back in the diaspora and want to send a gift to their parents or siblings or whoever really. The client tells us what they would like, we put the stuff together and then deliver it to the recipient. We also have gifts in store that people can readily buy,” said Pinky.
Being afraid to fail has been her greatest motivation.
“Once I start something, I want to do better at it with each year that passes. Wanting to elevate myself keeps me going,” she said.
Pinky describes herself as a reserved person who likes meeting with people from different places and backgrounds so that she can learn what each person is about.
When she’s not working, Pinky likes to spend time with her husband and their two sons aged 12 and six.
“I find it easy to balance work and family because when I’m working, it doesn’t really feel like work. I’m so passionate about what I do. I guess that’s why I find it easy to balance the two. It’s just like a hobby, it’s part of who I am and I don’t really treat it like work,” she said.
Turning to her long-term plan, Pinky said she hopes to expand her business to designing events as far as South Africa, the United Kingdom and Botswana.
“I want to be a travelling event designer and be sought after abroad as well. The Covid-19 pandemic hit us hard and there haven’t been too many weddings but a lot of our clients come from the diaspora anyway.”
If you’re thinking of getting into business but are unsure of yourself, “you never know until you try. Ukwesabela khatshana is not an option. Just go in, go for it — the sky’s the limit,” said Pinky. — @Yolisswa
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