At the age of 30, Vuyo Mrwata is redefining success on her own terms. As a farmer, entrepreneur, mother, and YouTuber, she seamlessly balances the demands of multiple roles, showing a remarkable dedication to her family and her enterprises.
Her farming business, Licebo Harvest, emerged as a result of lessons learned from the challenges of a beauty business that didn’t survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Licebo Harvest was inspired by my first failed beauty business and Covid-19. After the pandemic I knew my next business would be in the food industry, I wanted to operate in a more sustainable environment and that is when I pursued what is now my passion — farming,” Mrwata said.
Her journey in the farming industry has been relatively short and mostly self-taught, yet she has undoubtedly demonstrated a strong talent and passion for her work.
The Cambridge High School alumnus was recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian “harvesting women” in 2022 and was invited to speak at the eighth annual Green Youth Indaba in 2023. Her produce has been classified as class one crops (good quality produce that has minor defects to the skin or shape) which allows her to compete with commercial farmers as a small-scale farmer.
The mother of two, juggles her parenting and business responsibilities with her rising career as a social media digital creator. She currently has 61.1k followers on Instagram, 10.1k followers on TikTok and 9.16k subscribers on her YouTube channel.
At the time, she was watching a lot of home-related content, which led to her starting her YouTube channel four years ago. Mrwata’s main interests were sharing her journey as she navigated new experiences in motherhood, homemaking, and being a newlywed.
“Everything is categorised by priority, which ever needs my attention first that is what I tackle first with my top priorities being a mother, a business owner, a content creator, in that order.
“I manage my time and prioritise better than I ever did before. If there is one thing children will teach you, it is patience and that is a valuable business skill,” she said.
Mrwata shared advice for female entrepreneurs interested in starting their own careers in social media, digital content creation, or even farming.
“Ask yourself an important question? Why do I want to do it? That will motivate your commitment. Everything we want is on the other side of fear. Gather the courage and start whatever it is that is keeping you up at night. So what if you fail?” she said.
