Facebook announced the launch of the Boost with Facebook Good Ideas Festival — a seven-week virtual experience that offers free training, resources and inspiration, hosted by actress, producer and small business advocate Zoe Saldana. The affair is in line with the American multinational conglomerate’s commitment to helping small businesses thrive through challenging times.
The festival kicked off on Tuesday (July 6) in collaboration with The International Trade Center to celebrate the United Nations Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Day with content focused on how small businesses can rebuild and recover from the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the festival, the programming will include inspirational and educational stories featuring influencers like Zimbabwean brands based in South Africa, Kimberley ‘Kim Jayde” Robinson and small and medium businesses like ONEOFEACH.
The two groundbreaking brands are the only African SMBs and creators participating in the global campaign. They’ll be teaming up with Facebook business experts to help small businesses strengthen their marketing strategies — while having a bit of fun in the process.
“I’m excited to play a part in Boost with Facebook Good Ideas Festival and am proud to be one of the only Africans participating in this global campaign. I believe our food, fashion and locations are so special and worth celebrating. Over the years, Instagram has helped me to build my personal brand and career online. In addition to sharing what I’ve learned, I’m looking forward to hearing about the amazing stories of innovation, creativity and resilience from small businesses in South Africa and around the world.” – Kim Jayde
Facebook Africa’s Regional Director, Nunu Ntshingila said their multinational conglomerate was more committed than ever to helping small businesses with good ideas to grow and thrive as South Africa faces the third COVID-19 wave and tougher lockdown restrictions.
“Through programmes such as the Good Ideas Festival, we want to help SMBs to tap into the power of digital channels as a means to innovate during these difficult times,” she said.
Born in Harare, moved to Bulawayo where she was raised for the earlier parts of her life and subsequently relocated to South Africa in 2009 to pursue her tertiary education, Kim is the first Zimbabwean television host to be on MTV Base South Africa and MTV Africa. While her career is often seen as an overnight success, she ensures that she gives 110% to everything she gets involved in. From an intern backstage at fashion weeks, to a successful model and a seasoned television presenter travelling the world with a major television network, the creative visionary, who owns a production company, is nearing a decade of a significant career working in the entertainment industry.
ONEOFEACH is a mother-daughter brand that designs handbags, clutches and accessories using Ankara and shweshwe fabrics. With their beautifully designed collections, founders Tamburai and Pauline Chirume hope to transform people’s mindset on African-inspired products. Their products display the luxury and functionality that African designers have to offer design lovers.
The dynamic duo plan on expanding their business to the US, currently their biggest market.
“Over 80% of our customer base is in the US. We want to be able to be that African brand that has a store in New York, that’s the big dream. But from here we have to really prepare ourselves for that dream, so it’s constant working and upskilling. It is possible,” Tamburai told Investcapetown.com.
Tamburai comes from a fashion retail and styling background, having worked with major fashion magazines such as ELLE Bulgaria, and studied consumer science in retail fashion management. She then joined the banking world of wealth and investments, which has helped conceptualise their ONEOFEACH dream to become a business reality.
Pauline is a fashion designer and contemporary visual artist with over 30 years of experience.
Tamburai and Pauline’s collaborative journey has led to the creation of a strong brand, which embraces their love of ethnic prints, leather and all-natural fibres and results in handbags and accessories that are pieces of art. They draw inspiration from each fabric that is sourced, creating unique pieces with their own identities and stories.
Read more about Facebook Good Ideas Festival here. Or participate in the festival on Facebook for Business and Instagram for Business feeds. As well, starting July 16, you can watch the inspirational and educational content on your own time and at your own pace at Fb.com/goodideasfestival.
