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South Africa has a new online entrepreneurship platform. My Playbox was launched on 7 July 2022 and is similar to the popular US online knowledge-sharing platform Masterclass, with the added hope of contributing to a better and more hopeful South Africa. A subscription- and membership-based platform, it seeks to educate creatives, aspiring sportspeople and others.
The e-learning platform consists of a series of 11 coaches (or classes, rather), who grip your attention with anecdotal tips, failures and triumphs, all with a subscription package that costs less than the average business textbook at university.
In one episode, chef Mogau Seshoene stirs up amazing recipes in a pristine kitchen, laid with fresh ingredients and ending in scrumptious African cuisine. The next will jolt you out of your seat as you listen to some of the horrors that Jodi Bieber, a world-renowned documentary photographer, has had to endure to catch the perfect shot. But, most importantly, My Platform will inspire you to do something with your own bare hands, much like Tshepo Mohlala, founder of Tshepo Jeans, has done with his world-class brand.
South Africans Mark Levy, founder of tech startup Digital Planet, and Natasha Fracchiolla of Room 206, a writing room and media house, launched My Playbox at the height of the strict lockdown. They did not wait for a government official or a public service announcement to tell them how to assist thousands of young entrepreneurs in the same position. Instead, they gathered a few friends, online and slowly, as the rise and fall of the pandemic became evident, to present an innovative idea for everyone to learn from. Incidentally, in many African cultures, being discreet and moving slowly is respected — being able to navigate life with flair and a mission at hand is often celebrated when success is imminent.
There are 582-million entrepreneurs worldwide, which means that 5% of the global population are entrepreneurs. In South Africa, young people are mostly unemployed with no formal training. Most of our population is comprised of youth, unlike countries such as Japan, whose population is elderly. This poses a serious gap in the market.
The United States is known to proudly support its entrepreneurs, promoting their brands and expanding their territory worldwide. Igniting a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa will perhaps take another couple of decades to reach even a fraction of the US and Asia markets and that speaks to the kind of political power that entrepreneurs occupy in those countries.
So how can we mitigate young people not having enough entrepreneurial knowledge when other nations are ahead of the game?
We need more action and less talk to educate and support young people, specifically black youth, who have been affected by the pandemic as well as the dismal economic circumstances that have plagued South Africa for the past decade, creating more welfare dependants than a nation of resilient entrepreneurs.
My Playbox should ideally be accessible in each and every South African home, and unfortunately that’s not the case for a young herdsman in Jagersfontein or an aspirant fashion design student in Atteridgeville, yearning for their big break.
Speaking of big breaks, when a young Yvonne Chaka Chaka accompanied a friend to a recording studio in the 1980s, she had no expectation of being in the music industry. Her legendary song I’m In Love With a DJ launched her to become the undisputed Princess of Africa since the 90s. She is also a contributing voice and teacher on the platform.
She takes to the lessons like a natural teacher and cuts through the sharp fangs of the music industry with grace and guts. MaChakaChaka is a sterling orator. Not many people can count themselves lucky enough to have earned their keep through entrepreneurship, as she’s been able to.
My Playbox takes the triple bottom line – people, planet and profit – and focuses on the first P: people. It has less to offer in the way of business-related subjects.
A highlight under the food category, celebrity chef, entrepreneur and cookbook author, Mogau Seshoene (populary know as The Lazy Makoti) is immaculate and outspoken. She shares openly about her career; the admiration and the kitchen skills she gained from the iconic food editor and writer Mme Dorah Sithole, who died in January 2021, as well as moments shared with her, both on and off set. Sithole was an mentor, mother figure and friend to Seshoene, and the two bonded over food but also life as working women in the food industry.
Visit www.myplaybox.co.za to find out more.
Stand a chance to win a lifetime coach pass to the Lazy Makoti’s Playbox! Take your seat at the table as South Africa’s bestselling chef and social media sensation, Mogau Seshoene, aka The Lazy Makoti, puts the heart of the nation on a plate in an exclusive Playbox that’s as colourful and vibrant as her cooking.
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