By: Slyvia Tadiwa
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You first tie your shoelaces, control your breathing and start running.
“Life is a marathon and all competition is not healthy,” advises Rashid Stewart Thobega in an interview with MotiMagz about his Landlords Foot-ware.
Landlord Sneakers, a foot-ware start-up led by Mr. Thobega seeks to motivate and inspire youths, with his brand expressing a symbol of ownership and power, a new sunrise for the young Africans.
2019 was the year the brand was founded and 2020 was the successful production of Landlords Foot-ware including a successful launch, with the advertising of its products on the internet and social media.
The brand earned recognition by being a participant in the Multichoice group for the Local Entrepreneurs Competition in South Africa.
Every business has its challenges and Rashid insights the challenges referencing to life problems also tapping on how Zimbabweans have generally become creative and that people should go an extra mile for the business to go forward.
Again he expresses how these particular challenges have made him yearn for growth for his business and do things correctly, an achievement that doesn’t end monetarily.
“Learning is a silly word and we need to know that learning does not pay the bills, shareholders and it just squanders the bank account if we going to make many mistakes… with me, the challenges are not challenges that are not going to take me 10 steps backward rather they are building blocks which can be physically and mentally done,” said Thobega.
The Foot-ware has a background of hip-hop just like the owner, the founder’s inspiration being the retro hip-hop of the likes of 2pac and the genre associated with clothing and shoes Rashid goes on to explain that the foot-ware they are designing speaks hip-hop and people wearing their lifestyles.
“There is a lot of money going around in the hip-hop industry and what we do can relate to the present hip-hop music,” mentioned Thobega.
During the interview, Rashid also mentioned that the sneaker brand speaks to Africans and builds businesses and his personal background of hip-hop plays a role in creative and critical thinking to the production of the products.
The brand in its growth according to Rashid is still underway and there is work still needed to be done.
In the interview, I had the privilege to know about the other local businesses that people are not aware of, like the selling of Brazilian weaves and jewelry.
In his previous interview with Start-up Africa, he mentioned the challenge of switching industries given his ambition and humility in being an entrepreneur, during the interview with Motimagz he elaborated that he wanted to do something that would opt for good profits.
He mentions that he wants to be a retailer and become huge in the African continent but also reveals the lack of recognition of businesses that are successful and through the growth of the on-ground business, the need to open other businesses not linked to Landlords.
