Launching her own water brand early May, is the wonderful and young boss lady by the name of Tshephang K Molapo - a 21 year old who grew up in a small village called Maandagshoek in Burgersfort, Limpopo. One of her wise moves was to leave Johannesburg last year April back to her hometown to avoid paying rent and start funding her dream. In a chat with her about which brand is her favourite currently in Mzansi she shared that Drip is her favourite brand, “because it has been able to motivate me and teach me that anything is possible, it’s not about where you come from, but about the journey and passion that makes you who you are”.
When did you commence with your water business and what motivated you to start with it? “I registered my company back in 2019 and for a while I could not bring any of my ideas to life, but that did not stop me from trying. What motivated me is the fact that all the companies I’ve worked for were all black owned. The first company I worked for was a water brand, second company is one of the leading sneaker brands in the country and the third company is my sister’s office supplies business. These businesses motivated me in a manner that I can reach my dreams, and as a young 21-year-old black female I knew that my dreams are valid because I learned from the best”.
What makes your water brand unique and why the name? “What makes my water unique is the fact that instead of a plastic bottle my water brand is packaged in a box. But not only is it packaged in a box, but the design and colour of the box is aesthetically pleasing. We have a Ph of 6.5. My water is not just water, but it’s water with a story. The name Vanquish means to “overcome”, a name I came up with just after I overcame depression, and coming up with Vanquish gave me hope to keep fighting”.
Tell us about the launch in May: “We are launching the product on the first week of May. We will launch it online and for now it's not available at any retail stores, we are going to operate through online orders. People will be able to place orders via our Instagram page as we are still busy with our e-commerce system”.
Which company would you be interested to collaborate with in future and why? “Currently there is no specific brand I have in mind to collaborate with. But yes, I would love to see myself working with a lot of entertainment companies”.
Lastly, When not working on your brand, what do you do to keep sane? "When not working on my brand I love to keep myself busy with watching a lot of mentorship videos and meeting with people that are in the entrepreneurial business, so that I could learn to better myself”.