Aged just 22, entrepreneur Zandi Ngobe is flying the flag for young women in businesses. Not only is she the founder of an events company, Ngobe is also a pilot.

Her love for flying was birthed in her matric year during a careers day in her former school.  She completed her private pilot licence last year. It was during a gap year to raise funds for her commercial flying licence when she started Ndawonye Events. “Ndawonye means together, because events bring families and friends together. I’m a family-oriented person,” says Ngobe.

Ndawonye Events offers décor, furniture hire, catering and a bar service. Ngobe explains that this was her way of giving a full service so that clients would not stress about the nitty-gritties of having a great time. Her visual arts background has also played a key role in how she creates the fantastic settings for many events.

While she does not have a concrete team at Ndawonye Events, her family has proven to be extremely helpful while awaiting bigger events that will require a bigger staff. “Because Ndawonye Events is about six-months-old, I am still trying to come up with a form of staffing for different events. I’m going to be offering training for those people.”

Ngobe shares that she always makes sure to interact with clients as personal as possible. Through understanding her clients, she tells their story through her work. However, she has faced a number of hurdles she wishes could have been avoided with the relevant guidance.

“I attend seminars and workshops but I just feel like once it’s done there is no follow-up. You get Zandi who is trying to get into this industry but Zandi also struggles and there is a lack of mentorship. I need to find a woman that I can relate to and one who can assist me in my journey.”

Although she has no mentor, Ngobe advises that it’s important to not overthink taking on a huge task and simply put in the work.

“Jump in the pool and you will find your feet along the way, you will learn how to swim. We live in fear that we are going to fail. Ultimately, you need failure to learn and to become better. Let us not be afraid to fail because failure does lead to success.”

Ngobe balances running her businesses and pursuing her commercial flying licence by dedicating mornings to her studies and flying while her evenings are set aside for business.

To connect and see more of what she offers you can follow her on Twitter @NdawonyeEvents or follow her under the same hashtag on Instagram. Her Facebook page is Ndawonye Events.