Young artist goes gaga for gardening
As a free-spirited, fiercely independent teen, Naledi Maifala loved the thought of one day becoming her own boss.
It is a dream that has stayed with the 28-year-old into adulthood; indeed it is a dream the young creative has made her reality.
Delving briefly into her past, Maifala tells Voice Money her day of reckoning came four years ago when she found herself at a crossroads following graduation from University of Botswana (UB).
“After completing my Media Studies course at UB in 2017, I thought of a business idea as it has always been my goal. I did not go looking for a job and decided to try and make a living from my childhood passion, fine art. It was difficult when I started as people did not know more about me but I pushed very hard to establish myself as a self-taught entrepreneur.”
As her artwork took off, the green-fingered Goo-Tau native broadened her small company, ‘The Real Pink Pearl Boutique’ to include another of her passions: gardening.
“I did lots of fine art based on paintings flowers, which is my favourite part of art because I am really passionate about flowers. With the help of my mother, who loves flowers as well, I incorporated growing flowers and painting straight from the garden, which is situated at our home in Kopong,” reveals Maifala.
As well as her ability on both canvas and soil, the multi-talented artiste is also a dab hand when it comes to the written word, starting a personal blog ‘Gardening with Naledi’ on Facebook. Although the vibrant page was only set-up on 20 August, Maifala updates it regularly, supplementing her posts with colourful pics of the harvests she collects from her garden.
“This blog is where I get to share ideas on anything relating to gardening – gardening décor, plants and meals you can make just from collecting veggies from the garden,” explains the ambitious artist.
Going forward, the budding entrepreneur has big plans for her enterprise. She is currently on the hunt for a suitable site in the Gaborone area in order to bring her services closer to her customers.
“My biggest goal is to make my company one of the best in the country, able to produce a lot of flowers on a larger scale. I intend to be able to sell to our customers thus beatifying their homes; with God everything is possible!” declares Maifala, who is quick to thank her parents for their support.
She is also extremely optimistic about what the future holds.
“I am anticipating a prosperous 2022. There are so many activities: I am currently working on some flower paintings for possible exhibitions but if anyone wants personal nature paintings they should not hesitate to contact me.”
Good going nana. Where are you based?