The Female Founder Effect with Nomndeni Mdakhi
Please introduce yourself briefly.
My name is Nomndeni Mdakhi, I consider myself an impact entrepreneur. Mom, friend, sister, coach and confidant to so many. I am currently the Founder of Agenda Women, you can follow us on Instagram on @agendawomen.
Why the media industry?
It is quite ironic how Agenda Women became a business. In 2016, I started a content series called #30daysofAwakening, I believe you can still find it on Instagram. The series was me sharing what I was drawn to or inspired by in the day. At the of the series, I felt bored and missed the connection and engagement with my community so I shared a call to action on my personal page asking my followers to email me should they be interested in hanging out with me at an intimate event. I received 100 emails that day and I was honesty expecting 10 or 20. That was the beginning of Edits Talks. Edits Talks was simply an event series but it was only women attending. After consulting a business coach, I decided to focus on women and the names was changed from Edits Talks to Agenda Women. It was still a content series and not a business. 2020 was the year we registered as a business after going back to the drawing board and recognising that there was an opportunity to reinvent the media business model whilst empowering our audience and also giving businesses access, insights and data on the South African female audience. I grew with dreams of owning a magazine but the journey to building Agenda Women has been purely, me following the bread crumbs and supporting my decisions with data.
What inspired you to start your business?
The irony with finding myself owning a female interest’s digital media business is that my very first business was also targeted at females. In 2019, I launched a female deejay academy with my friend DJ Zinhle. What I recognise now is that I have always been drawn to women empowerment narratives with a deep desire to find a way to participate in the women empowerment agenda in a meaningful way.
When did you start?
My entrepreneurship journey started in 2009. I also own a marketing consultancy called Edits Communications.
What obstacles did you face starting up, and how did you overcome them?
Tools, resources, support and mentorship. There are definitely things that I did not need to learn over 10 years but this was my journey and I have made peace with it. I do believe that in order for South Africa to build a thriving economy, we have to find ways to empower female founders and Agenda Women is committed to being the go to platform for female founders looking for support, mentorship and access to these resources and tools.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since starting your business?
You have to learn to fail fast, because, you will have setbacks. This is where the importance of planning comes in. I am a big believer in the power of systems and strategy for a business. This can change over time but strategies and systems ae important for growth, direction and leadership.
Why work for yourself when there’s stability in working for others?
At the beginning, I was just not employable. I was not a fit with corporate culture. Over the years, purpose took over. I recognise the impact I could make if I figured out a way to grow this business, not only for my employees but for the audience we serve. Ambition pushes me but the vision pulls me.
What is the one characteristic that you possess that has helped make you so successful?
Resilience, without a doubt, it is resilience.
What’s your guiding business philosophy?
People and culture make a business. I believe in teamwork. People are the most important resource for any business.
In what moment did this venture become real for you?
For Agenda Women, it was getting a call from Standard Bank to advertise on our website, which I had built myself. I would have to have a whole session about that brief and how we made it happen. We actually registered the business after that.
What is the worst part about being an entrepreneur?
It’s a very lonely journey at the beginning. You have to be intentional about finding community and you have to believe in the vision more than anyone because there are honestly lot of tough days.
Do you have routines and rituals that help you thrive?
My morning and evening routine are my anchor. My morning routine helps me to align with my intentions for the day and my evening routine centres me in gratitude.
What makes it all worth it?
The possibility of making change and impacting people’s live positively. Especially women.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out?
Ask for help, pay for help, ask tough questions, plan, plan, plan.
How do you define success?
Finding harmony between my work and wellness.
What do you believe is the female founder effect?
We cannot deny that the black female demographic is the most vulnerable in South Africa. They are plagued with issues around unemployment and gender based violence, the data is everywhere. We also know that there is a lot of data supporting entrepreneurship as the key to sustainable socio economic development in the African Continent, The strategy should be simple, find a way to help female founders to grow their business and hire women who we already know are more likely to work for a female founder. This is the of the female founder effect on helping women gain economic independence.
