“I am a daughter of destiny, a descendant from a rich bloodline of self-starters with an optimistic outlook to life and a product of an unrelenting pursuit of dreams,” says Buyi Mafoko, founder of The Events Fraternity.

Motherhood, she says, is her highest accolade and she celebrates it for constantly granting her the opportunity to keep learning. Her attitude towards life is that of a student and she believes that education is in every experience and should not be confined to the classroom.

Buyi endeavours to enrich her life with new experiences, cultures, people and their stories – all aspects that she is passionate about.

Describe your journey to founding your brand

Mine has truly been a legacy of entrepreneurship met with preparation from an extensive academic background. The journey to finding my luxury consultancy has its foundations in the 12 years of experience across the marketing, branding and advertising industries. My career started in publishing at Media24, South Africa’s leading media company itself founded by entrepreneurs, where that energy was contagious and unavoidable to learn. After several years in the corporate world, I founded The Events Fraternity with a view to feature prominently in the bespoke events space. Later, I co-founded Matte BLK, a 100% black-owned, digital experiential and activations agency, which is complemented by its digital print production subsidiary, Matte BLK Printing.

Plantations are born from seeds. The Events Fraternity was the seed that birthed the rest of my career, a vision that has stayed alive and cultivated itself into the tangible business it is today.

Though initially intended as an events studio, in recent years it has evolved to a luxury consultancy rooted in e-commerce, which aims to foster B2B relationships between global stakeholders vested in African luxury.

What is the ethos behind/essence of  Events Fraternity?

Our ethos is curating connections. The Events Fraternity is a Pan-African consultancy vested in the emerging affluent and affluent consumer market. Nuanced towards a luxury motif, we curate connections between brands and corporations with a pantheon of cultural devotedness. Our conviction embraces the progressive perception of luxury and endeavours to bestow African luxury businesses with the poise to realise global commercial ventures. Acting at an institutional level, the firm will provide intelligence and market access to luxury enterprises that strive to accelerate the continent’s economic and social growth.

Our end goal is to build credibility in advising global luxury brands with digitally intuitive market entry strategies aimed at attracting the internally diverse, culturally robust and progressive consumer markets across Africa.

Name 3 women who inspire you and why they inspire you.

My approach to this question will be rather unconventional. I am inspired by:

• Mothers – for their central role as caretakers, harnessing stability in society and being transitionary in supporting their families and building themselves and their communities
• Sisters – for being courageous, leading their own way in fulfilling their individual and professional lives, being unyielding in their aspirations and those of their families and embracing their feminine power
• Daughters – daring greatly by challenging societal norms, learning from other women through support from their mothers and sisters and taking charge of their own future

Allow me to honour my own mother, grandmother and best sister in the world!

Any advice for other women?

Just show up!

Show up on in the quiet places and in the moments when it feels impossible to hear. Show up in the perfect and imperfect choices to love sacrificially beyond yourself. Show up in the nurturing, giving, laughing, crying, staying, letting go, goodbyes, breaking, healing, rebuilding, strengthening, trusting and all the beautiful collections of hope for the future.

The role of the modern woman is met with high expectations. We need to give women room to show up for themselves first however messy the process might seem, in order to achieve the mastery of their dreams.