Naledi is not only the CEO and founder of the internationally recognised digital marketing agency, Cherry Republik, she is also well-known as an accomplished entrepreneur, talented public speaker, savvy business developer and avid traveller.

The following quote by Oprah Winfrey has resonated deeply with Naledi as it has been synonymous with her career development, “In life, you get what you have the courage to ask for.” Having personally experienced the message behind this quote, it has made Naledi the charismatic, enthusiastic, and game-changing entrepreneur that she is today.

From a young age, Naledi had a passion for entrepreneurship, people, and digital marketing. This led to the creation of her first business, Black Cherry Au Pairs, at the age of 19 before she pursued her love for music. Prior to this, she started her career as a real estate agent getting the feel for the corporate and creative work environments.

Naledi went on to work at Trace TV, as the marketing and programming assistant for three years. It was in her experiences and learnings at Trace TV, where she gained the motivation to follow her digital marketing dreams and provide the services that would fill the gap she recognised within the South African market at the time.

On the journey to creating, launching, and building Cherry Republik, Naledi has transformed herself personally and professionally to become resilient, fearless, and most importantly optimistic. She takes pride in the fact that through Cherry Republik’s offerings and services, together with her team she is able to demonstrate the true meaning of marketing by delivering the results the clients are seeking.

Even as a strong business leader, she is still a dynamic team player with the ability to work with and manage diverse teams. It is within her team, witnessing their successes and growth, that she finds the drive and inspiration to bring her best as an authentic leader.

Naledi attributes her success to the vast array of skill sets and knowledge that she gained in the diverse environments she has worked in and believes that they have been instrumental in her growth as an entrepreneur. She also gains a great amount of inspiration through the stories of other entrepreneurs who have overcome the challenges most entrepreneurs face.

With her deep sense of striving for the best and breaking the mould even in the most challenging of circumstances, you know your business is in good hands with Naledi at the helm.

Eileen is an accomplished Marketing Project Manager and Accounts Executive within Design Agencies, Corporate Marketing Departments, and Digital Agencies.

With 25 years of experience in Project Management, Account Management, Marketing, Production, Print, Design, and Digital Marketing, Eileen has the ability to strategically implement plans and run projects between client, agency, and design studio by meticulously managing the timelines.

With a solution orientated, diligent attention to detail and proactive work ethic, she assists and supports the team in problem-solving efforts and ensures projects run as smooth as possible.

As a leader, she firstly sees herself as a collaborator, always willing to pull up her sleeves and get involved where needed. Is easily able to manage conflicts and is a confidant to her team.

Because of her passion for what she does and her ability to adapt to change, she has managed:

• – Multiple brands and campaigns
• – Quote requests
• – Print production
• – Orders
• – Briefs
• – Traffic in studios
• – Budgets
• – Design sign-off
• – B2B and B2C marketing
• – Progress on projects
• – Timelines and meeting of deadlines
• – Progress reports to clients
• – Reviewing updates of websites, digital media, SMS, LinkedIn, Twitter, and email campaigns.

Have a glass of wine with Eileen and you will get to know the fun-loving person she is with a wicked sense of humour. She plays full out both in her personal and her professional life, which you will easily pick up when you interact with her.

Throughout my studies and career, I made sure my passion and enthusiasm are displayed through my work. Having worked on a wide range of projects such as branding, social media, and UI/UX Design, each project comes with its own set of difficulties and I have enjoyed these challenges and used them to fuel my ambition and maintain my high standards.

As a designer, I am more of a problem solver than anything else and this is achieved through communication and understanding the end goal in this tight deadline industry.

I find satisfaction in knowing I have visually communicated a project to the client’s satisfaction.

Even at a young age, Namita has always been passionate about writing. As she ventured into the marketing environment, she has been able to fulfill her love for communication and writing.

Prior to this Namita was involved in the sport, fitness, health, and education industries as a Sport Scientist, allowing her to develop various skill sets in all these various sectors. As career opportunities developed, she moved into marketing where she grew professionally from being a marketing assistant to becoming a marketing manager within a seven-year period. She went on to specialize in Brand Leadership and Communications.

One of Namita’s strongest qualities is being a team player, always willing to lend a helping hand to others. A strong believer in establishing lasting relationships with others making sure that both parties support and grow through the relationship.

Namita is a constant learner at her core and is always looking at ways of learning and growing personally and professionally. She delights in expanding her knowledge base.

Namita enjoys strategically identifying key communication and marketing opportunities to build brands using strategic integrated marketing and communication plans. Implementing these plans through creating the content and being part of the design process is a journey that Namita takes pride in to ensure the clients needs are met and even exceeded.

At a young age, I always showed an interest in creative hobbies such as drawing, painting and arts and craft projects. This early interest guided me to select Design and Visual Arts in high school, where I showed great talent and skill in both. This led me to make the decision to pursue a career in Graphic Design.

Throughout my three years of studying, I obtained knowledge in various subjects such as Ideation and Visualisation, Graphic Design Technologies, Design Culture, Illustration, Branding and Marketing.

With the knowledge and various skills obtained throughout my studies, I strive to help brands reach their full potential by helping them create unique brand identities that align with their brand message and purpose. Through my creative and strategic thinking skills, I help brands solve their problems through creative design solutions.

I am most passionate about brand identity design, creating visual content for social media, website design, and packaging design.

While her background originates in psychology, Catherine found her passion for digital marketing during her university years. Her experience is rooted in the sporting industry, however she aims to grow her skill set while helping brands grow. Communicating the passions and goals of brands is important to her because she has a passion for growth in all areas.

Catherine is a team player. Having played team sports from a young age, she recognises the importance of a strong team dynamic. She loves people and wants to create an environment where everyone feels included.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading and cooking. As a foodie, she enjoys trying new things and different cuisines the world has to offer. She is also an avid hockey player, having played since the age of 10, it is something she is very passionate about.

Karabo is an Alumni and former student council member at The IIE Rosebank College, where he attained a Degree of Business Administration In Marketing.

His passion for marketing began during his student years, so much so that he went out of his way to take what he had learned in the lecture room and do it practically. During 2020 and 2021 he helped small medium enterprises as an independent contractor with digital marketing to help them grow their businesses online.

He likes to serve and works very well in a team as he was apart of the student council during 2021 when he was attending college and this has boosted his communication and leadership skills. As an outspoken and creative Karabo likes to be out there communicating with clients, understanding their pain points and actually going back and coming up with the best possible solutions for the clients at hand.

Karabo has experience in sales promotions, as a sales assistant and is a self-taught digital marketer who does analytics and manages PPC ads from Facebook and Google. Moreover, he is passionate about being a brand manager because he enjoys building and growing brands in the ever changing marketing landscape.

Neo Malekane is currently pursuing her Diploma in Media Practices at Boston Media House majoring in Marketing, while conducting an internship at Cherry Republik assisting and learning from their experienced Marketing team.

During her studies, Neo has administered an experiential learning programme where she was tasked to conduct social media reports for brands, website audit, create content calendars as well as engaging with followers, while co-hosting at an online campus radio station which overall did somewhat contribute to her passion and zeal for Digital Marketing. Neo enjoys working with brands which can identify their niche because she believes in the power of segmentation groups.