In 2014, Portia Masimula quit the corporate world only to join it again on her own terms, launching IT solutions company, Karisani IT.
Was it easy?
No.
Did she ever want to give up and go back to the safety, and financial security of a full-time job?
Never.
When Masimula and her co-founder, Mhlonipheni Ntleko, started Karisani IT, it took two years to sign their first deal. Two years of always-on marketing, attending countless expos, and pitching for business, again and again. Two years of constantly leaning in without getting anything out.
But giving up was never an option.
|Don’t take rejection personally. It’s part of the journey, part of the process.|
“Technology can solve problems,” says the 30-year-old Masimula. “And in South Africa, there are a lot of social problems to solve.” In 2016 opportunity finally knocked and their company was tasked with developing a brand-builder website for the US-based satellite sports channel, ESPN, with AppyApp.
The website allows ESPN clients to customise and brand their adverts and choose packages and channels to advertise on. Today, there’s an opportunity for Karisani IT to grow their international reach and, together with Masimula’s recent involvement in the oil and gas sector, as a business partner at GeoAfrica Petroleum, take the business in a whole new direction.
Exciting times ahead.
