From China to Ghetto with a special touch in-between
Exhausted from her demanding job as a sales exec, a relentless, on-your-feet role made even tougher by the fact she was heavily pregnant at the time, Carol Elias quit her position at Jan Japan (now Jan Botswana) in Francistown.
The final straw that convinced her to leave was what Elias, 35, describes as ‘mistreatment’ from her employer’s.
Unemployed and with a baby on the way, the Tsamaya native faced an uncertain future.
That was five years ago.
Today, Elias is the proud owner of ‘Rayaute Luxe’, a business which offers wig installation and reconstructions and also sells cosmetics.
Like so many small start-ups in today’s digital savvy world, the enterprise owes its roots to an online tutorial.
“It was one morning back in 2019. I was busy on Youtube – you know how unemployed people are, we always wake up to our phones and get into socials! So, while I was on Youtube, I saw a video of a woman giving step-by-step ways of making, dressing, and even fixing hair. I went on to try it, and to my surprise it was easy; I mastered it from the get-go,” reveals the intrepid entrepreneur, who has come to The Voice’s Ghetto office to try and sell her newly-received lipstick but, met by broke journalists, has ended up with an interview instead.
Walking around town with her newly made hair piece, Elias found herself attracting admiring looks, with many wanting to know where she had got her wig from.
Without planning to, she had stumbled upon a way to ease her economic plight.
“That’s when I created a Facebook page under the name Royaute Luxe selling my home-made wigs. To my delight, the wigs were being bought like hot fat cakes,” recalls the married mother-of-two, who purchases her wigs in bulk from China before customizing them to meet her clients’ specifications.
Her hair pieces are particularly popular with ladies looking to stand out and make an impression at social gatherings.
“For me, business is especially good during wedding seasons, which are mostly in the summer. This means that every year from October to the following year, I’m quite busy and make a lot of money, while the other months I mostly survive on birthdays and dinner parties.”
To ease the financial strain of the slower months, this January Carol extended her services to include selling lip sticks and other cosmetic products, which she also sources from China.
She has also teamed-up with a close friend, who is an astute make-up artist.
“My customers always asked if I didn’t do make-up. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to apply make-up. So I decided to tag my friend who does make-up every time I have a gig; when I finish installing my customers’ wig, she then takes over with her make-up brush,” says Elias, fluttering her curly eyelashes as she’s adds with a smile, “She did my face specially for this interview.”
