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02 January 2020
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Story Valentino Ndaba
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Photo Anja Aucamp
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.
RIEP presents mathematics training programme for education students
2007-10-30
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The Research Institute for Education Planning (RIEP) at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently trained 19 Foundation Phase students from the UFS School of Education in the Family Math programme. Family Math is a programme in which teachers, children (preschool up to Grade 9) and their parents are exposed to the basic principles of mathematics. The aim of the training is to develop literacy levels in mathematics by using fun activities, concrete resources and generally available and less expensive material found in and around the house. Over and above the contact sessions, each student had to arrange two community workshops in order to qualify as a Family Math facilitator. The students' training was made possible by a sponsorship from Old Mutual. During the certificate ceremony were, from the left: Franzel Steyn (student), Mr Johann Faber (representative from Old Mutual), me. Elizna Prinsloo (RIEP), Prof. Jack van der Linde (Director of RIEP), Lorraine Botha (RIEP), and Olga de Ascensao (student).
Photo: Supplied
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