Empowering entrepreneurs: Bahumi Mhlongo's journey to motivational speaking
It sometimes takes a perfect storm to run a successful business in today’s economy and many are sometimes not fully equipped to take on the challenges that come in the small and medium enterprises (SME) environment.
Young businesswoman, Bahumi Mhlongo, recognised this gap and stepped into her own spotlight as a motivational and professional speaker, inspiring others with her authenticity, spiritual growth, and drive.
She represents the voice of a new generation, as South African SMEs comprise 91% of formalised businesses, providing approximately 60% of employment and contributes as much as 34% to the gross domestic product.
Her journey as a young woman navigating life in the public eye, her growth as a speaker, and her aspirations for 2025 connects to her upcoming event, “Speak & Be Heard,” happening on 8 February 2025 at Steyn City Hotel.
The event will be all about empowering entrepreneurs and aspiring speakers to communicate confidently, accurately, and with influence.
The soon to be 30-year-old told Business Report that her path to motivational speaking began at an early age.
Mhlongo said, “I have always been someone who questions, seeks and finds. We could say that the speaking part, even without the motivation, came naturally even to my detriment at times. I spoke a lot as a kid. At 10-years-old I took on public speaking with a desire to share my thoughts, provoke mindsets and entertain audiences with wit.”
“Speaking was not what gave me a desire to motivate though, it was a means to an end. It simply developed my speaking abilities in such a way that whatever I spoke, publicly or in conversation, it was well thought out and impactful.”
She said that she motivates because she loves people.
“It hurts to see how many people with similar experiences to mine haven’t the tools I received. We help because we were helped, we care because we were cared for, we love because we were/are loved. My desire to motivate others is birthed out of being motivated by God.”
She added she has been blessed to express that through speaking, and doesn’t want to waste the chance to share her insights by keeping quiet.
Ironically, she said one of the challenges she faced initially was motivation, or lack thereof.
“It’s believing that you’re capable, and starting once you know that you’re capable. It’s difficult having desires that you don’t see examples of around you. I was surrounded by exceptionally talented and daring people my whole life, successful too, but I came to realise that something isn’t a deep-seated dream until your environment is void of it,” she said.
“Being the first of anything not only makes you the possible pioneer of that thing, but it scares you because of that very reason. So the fear of starting was a huge setback, then second to that was my inability to see the resources I needed to start. Often what discourages us is our blindness to the resources we have due to the lack of resources we desire to have. The platforms I wanted, the people I wanted, and the things I desired, weren’t at my beck and call, but God helped me realise that he was all I needed,” she further added.
Mhlongo said her upcoming event next month, “Speak & Be Heard”, is a desire to equip people with means to speak authoritatively, wisely and effectively.
“Speaking is, quite literally, what every person with the ability to speak does daily, and while few recognise the power of our words, fewer know how to use them effectively, hence the conditions of their lives. Confidence and skill are key factors the event covers. We’ll be covering the truth about confidence, I guarantee that it’s barely what many think it is; and the skills that make speaking not just an ability, but an art form to provoke,” she said.
BUSINESS REPORT