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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.
Ethical leadership - the building block for success in business
2015-03-13
Dr Reuel Khoza |
As part of the professional development lecture series, the UFS Business School hosted Dr Reuel Khoza, Chairman of Aka Capital and Nedbank Group Limited, in a presentation to MBAs and the Bloemfontein business community on Leadership challenges of building an ethical organisation. In his presentation, Dr Khoza discussed Nedbank’s journey to success, its approach, and the interventions used to make its success a reality.
He brought to the fore one of the challenges which many companies in South Africa and around the world often face, that is, to change the perception of leadership in a large organisation from a profit-centred orientation to a people-centred one. This is a process that can take years to achieve.
Dr Khoza said “Ethical and well-governed organisations create trust with stakeholders … ethical leadership has a ripple effect on all other leaders at all levels in an organisation” In concluding his presentation, he reiterated that ethical leaders embrace humanity; it is not prescribed as a duty but is self-prescribed.
The professional development lecture series is held at the Business School on the Bloemfontein Campus, hosting prominent speakers on various business-related topics throughout the year.