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02 January 2020
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Story Valentino Ndaba
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Photo Anja Aucamp
Refilwe Xaba, the founder and CEO of Glolooks.
Refilwe Xaba, Senior Assistant Officer in Entrepreneurship Development at the UFS Centre for Development Support, is the founder and CEO of Glolooks. This Bloemfontein-based company manufactures and supplies an organic, natural hair product range.
When she first developed the products, they were for personal use. Xaba evolved from an intrapreneur to an entrepreneur. She innovated a personal solution into a booming business idea. It was only in May 2016 that she decided to go into business, following growing interest in the way she maintained her hair. “I officially started in-depth research in October 2015, after years of making concoctions for myself.”
Business and books
Xaba reckons that a research background is beneficial for growing a business such as Glolooks that has a huge technical aspect. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Entrepreneurship with a focus on marketing and is planning to use her business as a case study.
Her undergraduate, honours, and master’s studies, which she completed at Kovsies, contributed to equipping Xaba with skills to grow her business. She believes in balancing education and business. “I have always been commerce-orientated. If there is a problem to be fixed, I fix it. However, people are at the centre of my heart.”
Growing Glolooks
In 2019, Glolooks opened a salon in Westdene, where customers can receive a holistic experience above and beyond merely purchasing the product. Xaba says this is one of the ways her business is being innovative when it comes to creating relationships with customers.
Student in Architecture wins two prizes for her Master's Degree studies
2009-11-27
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Tascha de Lange, an M.Arch (Prof) student at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently received two coveted awards for her studies. She received the Corobrik Regional Prize for the Best Student in the M.Arch (Prof.) programme, as well as the award for the best M.Arch (Prof.) student of the UFS’s Department of Architecture. Tascha will be participating in the National Corobrik Architecture Student of the Year Competition in March 2010.
Here she is with, to the left: Prof. Pattabi Raman, from the Department of Architecture at the UFS; Mr Gary Westwood, Area Manager of Corobrik; Prof. Jan Smit, Head of the Department of Architecture at the UFS and Mr Jan Ras, also from the Department of Architecture at the UFS. Earlier this year, a former student of the Department, Wim Steenkamp, was named National Corobrik Architecture Student of the Year 2008.
Photo: Supplied |