Sarudzai Tafirenyika is a budding young Zimbabwean entrepreneur passionate about beauty and wellness. The skincare sensation is revolutionizing the beauty industry one glow at a time. With a passion for natural ingredients and a vision to empower women to embrace their unique beauty, this trailblazing entrepreneur has turned her dream into thriving business. She is a qualified Marketing personnel who found herself pursuing her childhood desire to have a beautiful skin by turning it into a problem solving business. Her wide range of skin products are now being sold in various pharmacies and stores nationwide. Foreign Policy`s reporter, Rashid Mhlanga (RM) had a chat with the 35 year old Bikita native Sarudzai Tafirenyika (ST) concerning her enterprise and business in general.
RM: Greetings Saru, and thank you so much for affording us your precious time. You are looking radiant.
ST: Thank you so much Rashid and Foreign Policy for casting the light on me. I am a firm believer in my products, thus explains my radiant skin (smiling).
RM: Enlighten us more on your childhood.
ST: I was raised by industrious parents. My mother taught me to sell at the age of 10, when I was in Grade 4 were I would sell popcorns at school. It was not out of necessity because I would be given back the money as tuck money. That nurtured the entrepreneurial spirit in me which I harnessed over the years and it has also enabled me to a better business person that I am today.
RM: What inspired you to commence on an entrepreneurship journey?
ST: Growing up I always wanted my skin to look healthy and I would make some home remedies like using avocado seed to soften my skin. By then I had never known I could one day have my own skincare brand. As I grew up after completing my tertiary education, that’s when there emerged a rise in the use of skin bleaching products which I never believed in, given my understanding of how harmful they are to one’ s health. What could be a better way of encouraging for safe and healthy skincare other than providing one? That’s how Zora Skin-pal was launched. The name itself denoting Zora- new beginning meaning “a new beginning to a skin friendly skin care products range.
RM: How did you manage to put the vision onto the ground?
ST: When I deliberated on my vision of launching a skin friendly brand, I started introducing one product at a time in 2021 starting with Raw Shea butter from Nigeria, black soap and face & body scrub which forms the basic kit on our product range. We worked on our packaging and labeling improving it day by day. We truly believe in continuous improvement.
RM: Your brand has steadily grown, what do attribute to this formidable success?
ST: Over the past 3 years our brand has grown from 1 product to more than 15 products lines, from selling from our own shop to supplying more than 10 retail shops not mentioning individual distributors. It all takes the consistency in providing quality products, intensive marketing, market linkages training, workshops and exhibition we got from the Ministry of Women affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise development. Of most importance, Zimtrade took us through their mentorship and export readiness programs which helped us to set our brand as an international brand in terms of packaging and product quality and presentation.
RM: What makes you outstanding in this field?
ST: We are outstanding as a brand because of the being one of the best local brand which provide healthy and skin friendly personal care products.
RM: Describe the feeling of running your own brand?
ST: It comes with excitement and overwhelming responsibilities. Looking back to where we are coming from, it’s so exciting that we have gone this far and made this great change in the cosmetic industry. At the same time putting everything together is most of times overwhelming but the vision keeps us going.
RM: what message would you like to share with your 16 younger self?
ST: A business you run out of passion is more exciting than the one you run out of necessity. When you hit rock bottom, it’s only your passion that can push you forward. Follow your passion and turn it into a life-changing problem solving business idea
RM: Thank you once again for having a conversation with us, all the best in your future.
ST: I am equally grateful for the interview. Farewell.
