Healing is her passion

Finalist for the Young Businesseswoman of the Year award Popyeni Shiweda, and owner of Healing Touch Spa, said even though she did not win the award she has learned a lot from the experience and from other great women who are an inspiration.
Popyeni holds a diploma in Skincare and BodyTtherapy from the Madge Wallace College in Pretoria and after working for a wellness centre in Windhoek for almost 2 two years, she decided to quit and open her own spa. “This was totally out of my comfort zone, but my ambition kept me going,” she told the Economist.
Popyeni resolved from the start when she opened her business not to pay herself a salary, which helped her make a substantial amount on a monthly basis. “I also trained previously unemployed women to acquire massage therapy skills so that they can look for jobs or start up their own businesses like I did.”
She advises young woman in businesses to start working towards their dreams now, to plan cautiously and to get a mentor to guide them.”No business is less important then the other, so do not undermine your skills or intelligence, and most importantly be patient and do not give up,” she added.
She believes that the world owes nobody anything, and that you have to get up and work to make your dreams become real. “Do not wait on charity to get your business started,” she advised saying the best part of running a business is making your own decisions, and she enjoys the flexibility of having the power to do things her way.
She said the obvious challenge in owning a business is finances, and not having enough resources is keeping her from expanding her business at the moment, but she will wait for the right time to do so, and is confident in her hope that it will.
On a positive note she is encouraged and motivated by her colleague to keep going even when the outcome is not so positive. “When I am at work I only focus on building my business and on ways as to how I can improve my skills,” she emphasised.
Her future plans include buying a house and renovating it into a fully-equipped day spa, which will enable her to offer a first class lifestyle service.