Takeshi Kimura
ByWBSComms
The best career decision I have ever made was starting 18twenty8® – a non-profit organisation that empowers young women between the ages of 18 and 28.
Since leaving Wits University, my life revolved around being an entrepreneur, co-founding NetActive, Call Centre Nucleus and NetFlorist.
As an activist and a businessman, I experienced several defining moments in my career. I completed my MBA at Wits Business School in 1971. I could not find any meaningful employment as the predominantly white corporate business sector would not employ people of colour in senior management positions.
Independent from a very young age, I had one life plan, ‘to own my own knives and forks’ and never to rely financially on anyone else. After two years of pursuing a business degree at university, I dropped out.
A defining moment in my career has been the realisation that my purpose as an entrepreneur is far reaching, not just to create jobs and wealth, but also be a leading example of charting a path others can follow, especially women.
My experience in the City of Johannesburg (COJ) in the late 1990s involved the restructuring of the institution to avert a financial meltdown.