TokisoM Writes

Influencer marketing continues to grow in momentum around the world and has become a key factor of many marketing plans. We continue to see it evolve with the introduction of new platforms and the death of some. Influence by Sara McCorquodale is a great read on how social media influencers are shaping the marketing space. Although mostly focused on the UK and US market - I believe the insights shared of misunderstood space are without borders. McCorquodale's book includes definitions, early adaptors, new age influencers, issues and a look at the future. Depending where your region is in terms of adopting different platforms - the trends are mostly the same. Therefore I found this book relatable in many aspects. The book begins with trying to define what an influencer is. There is a lot of confusion as how to who are influencers and what they do. There have been a discussions were people with high number of fans have not been able to sell t-shirts, or an example used in this book, ...

Lerato Mogoatlhe's memoir, Vagabond - Wandering Through Africa on Faith , on her African travels is really a story of faith, courage and acting on your dreams - regardless of how wild they are. Mogoatlhe goes against everything what we have been socialised to believe about travel, especially as women and even more of our own continent - Africa.  Her solo adventures begin in Dakar and she already sets the scene for what is going to be a series of anecdotes of her showing up in different countries with no money, no solid plans of where she would be hosted and just a dream of wanting to be in the different places. The courage to travel this way allows her to meet so many people who, I believe were extra kind to her out of shock (and curiosity) that this young black woman was in their home town without the usual itinerary constraints.  Vagabond is not written to glamourise her African experience - instead, as a reader - you are given first row experience of her personal discovery ...

I am a mom to a toddler and in the three years of parenting - I can confidently say - I do not know what I am doing. My mission since deciding to become a parent has been to research as much as possible about different parenting styles and therefore work on developing mine. I first read Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother when I was still toying with the idea of parenting 9-years-ago. I was fascinated by what she described as the Chinese method of parenting and raising high performance children. The question I had then, and the question I am left with today after rereading the book is: is my duty as a parent only to mold my child into a high performing person by any means necessary?  Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is highly capturing, funny and filled with cringe moments. Chua goes into details on what motivated her to be an extreme parent, the goals she had for her daughters, her fears of the western influence on her parenting and the really dark side of her c...

Credit: BL Hectically trying to complete my Masters and learning to mother my new born baby, I suddenly had an urge to read a favourite book again. I reread Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge for one key reason: to escape to a world that has the potential to happen considering how humans are rapidly damaging the earth. My interest in the book was also peaked by the series Zoo , based on the book, which I binge watched on Netflix whilst on Maternity Leave. The series really worked for me. It captured the intensity of the book and the plot twist for TV was not too off the mark from the intention of the book. What was Zoo about? Well, imagine if all the world's animals got together and turned on us. By turn on us, I mean, hunt and brutally killed us. An animal revolution. We are told the story from the eyes of a varsity dropout biologist, Jackson Oz, who discovers that there is something wrong with the animals and no one believes him because of his lack of c...

“Sometimes we are so steeped in what has been prescribed for us that we need to completely recreate ourselves. That takes guts. Standing against stereotypes sends you on a journey of learning and unlearning, which takes a long time” (Sephodi, 2017:29). This quote from Malebo Sephodi ’s Miss Behave best describes my life since 2013. A journey of self-discovery. A journey of unpacking who Tokiso is and what she is about. A journey of forgiveness. A journey of letting go. It hasn’t been an easy one. Hence reading Malebo’s book was so personal. It felt like she was talking about me as she walked us through her learnt experience as a black South African woman. I went to the 2017 Abantu book festival in Soweto knowing that this would be one of the books I would walk away with. I thought that I would read it throughout my December break – but I found myself hooked to the book and done with it within two days. It was an emotional ride. The chapter that spoke to me the most was...

Such a refreshing read! There is something special about reading a well thought out piece that you relate to and that speaks about a context that is in your time. I am not throwing shade at thoughts penned before I was even an idea – I am just excited that my generation of peers are writing about our struggles. The scary thing about reading Writing What We Like , edited by Yolisa Qunta , is that most of the struggles feel like the continuation of the struggles our parents faced. Didn’t my mom and her peers fight the system so we would be living better lives? One would argue that we are living better lives but this would depend on which side of the class fence you sit. The race issues in South Africa are far from over. Although the topic is dealt with in different manners – these essays highlight the different stories of the black struggle. What Qunta has managed to do with this book is eliminate the single story regarding black struggle. Advertising agencies would be doing them...

Ever stopped yourself from working on a dream because you thought you were not ready or it was too big for you to put together? We sometime convince ourselves that we are not skilled, educated or experienced enough to attempt going after ideas or opportunities close to our hearts.  Malcolm Gladwell , addresses this very mind-set in his book, David and Goliath, Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants .  Throughout the book references the lives of game changers to make the point that we can be who or what we want to be – or at least try, regardless of our so-called weaknesses. As I read this book I recalled many times in my life that I backed down on an opportunity because I believed it was meant for someone from a better school, a higher education or more experience. In those moments I discounted the fact that I was passionate about those subjects or would enjoy the challenge of learning about a field I was curious about. “The powerful and the stro...

The Reactive by Masande Ntshanga gives you a front row seat of the effects of self-inflicted guilt. Photographer: Tokiso Molefe Opening line: “Ten years ago, I helped a handful of men take my little brother’s life”. My thoughts when I read this ranged from, “did you hate your brother”, “were you a messed up druggie”. What follows is a story of a young man who is infested with guilt about a decision he made but honestly – he didn’t kill his brother. The circumstances that lead to his brother’s death haunt him for a long time. He even infects himself with HIV to punish himself. There are so many “oh wow, he did that” moments in the book. The book also plays on the theme that “birds of a feather stick together” – his friends Ruan and Cecelia are as disturbed as he is. One cannot understand what their goals and ambitions in life are. I had actually convinced myself that the book would end with some, ‘assisted suicide’ mission. That’s how troubled these young people are. ...

I’ve been sitting on this review on Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by SherylSandberg , the chief operating officer of Facebook. I found myself in conflict with her message vs reality. I fully agreed that we, women, needed to make a conscious effort to be heard, lead and mentor. Her message was spot-on and encouraging. My concern though was with putting to practice Lean In in reality. I’m a young highly ambitious women and ever since I started my career journey I’ve gone from a starry-eyed-goals-slayer to ‘is this really worth it’. Lean In, and many books, like it fail to cover the brutal struggle that comes with leaning in. Unfortunately what I’ve witnessed as a young ambitious career women is that for women to actually really lean in – they must prepare for war. They must prepare to be pulled down by those older than them, fellow females and threatened males.  I’ve witnessed women who ‘lean in’ in the work place needing to be tough against all thes...

Brenda Fassie was untouchable. She was like a Phoenix – she’d be consumed by her own flames, but rise from her ashes. I grew up reading everything written about her, watching and listening to all interviews.  She was a subject in most of my speeches throughout primary and high school. I loved her energy – and mostly envied her ability to get away with saying the craziest things. When news reports announced her coma – I took it lightly – it was Brenda Fassie, she’d rise from this. Her demonic relationship with drugs didn't bother me. I always believed she’d kick the habit and live to tell the world how bad drugs were.  For me that coma  in April/May 2004 would be her final wake up call. But my Brenda Fassie didn't wake up . She didn't rise to tell us about her near death experience. My heart was broken. A collection of essays on an epic life.  Bongani Madondo’s I’m Not Your Weekend Special brought to surface all the emotions, good and bad, I ...