After a career spanning 20 years in media and communications, Bongiwe Moeli founded Butterfly Kiss Floral Design in July 2016. She discovered her deep connection and love for flowers. This was inspired by her mother, who knew the names and seasons of flowers and was always planting them in her garden and decorating the family home.
Moeli, whose undeniable love for flowers blossomed into a business in the heart of Pretoria, is one of the inspiring women who was selected for the Corteva Women in Agripreneur 2023, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA).
The net of life
Moeli has a curious mind and has always found herself researching, learning, unlearning, and relearning about the agricultural industry.
“When I was busy doing my research for flower production, I came across your platform [Food For Mzansi] and immediately subscribed and I started getting information,” she explains.
This was the exact opportunity Moeli prayed for and when the Corteva Women in Agripreneur programme came up, she applied.
“I followed through; thank goodness I got accepted and for the connection that I have made with the women. I anticipated that I would like to unlearn, learn, and impart knowledge,” she says.
Though learning is an important aspect of the Corteva programme, what Moeli loves is meaningful contributions through partnerships with other women. The programme exceeds her expectations, she says excitedly.
“I am learning so much about just being in the flower space and there are also opportunities to explore other areas of the value chain.”
Opportunities through exploration
When it comes to flower production, it might look like an easy task to grow and pick it from the garden and sell it off. But to Moeli it exposes a more vital element to flower production, which is the importance to the ecosystem, for example, bees.
“I never thought they formed such an integral part of the flower business, so I am now discovering all these elements and we are all interconnected somehow,” she explains.
She looks forward to working with some of the ladies after the programme ends. These are lifelong connections that will help the agricultural sector but also move women forward without fear.
“More than anything, it has been a journey of meaningful discovery and understanding who I am as a person,” Moeli says.
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