Coming from a family of five with two brothers and two sisters, Emily Nikanor was born in the northern region of Namibia at the settlement of Oshikuku in the Omusati Region.
Growing up Emily’s mother was a teacher, a fact pushing Emily to strive and achieve top results in her grade. Emily attended the Nukata Primary School before moving to the Etosha Secondary School where she finished her secondary education. “My mother was a teacher at Nuukata Primary School where I attended my primary education. I would put in extra work to achieve top marks and be number one in my class. I remember in Grade Five the second semester I came in at second place, I cried my eyes out and I made sure it would not happen again.’
At the Etosha Secondary School competition was much tougher but Nikanor managed to keep her grades up and stayed in the top ten students. She played hockey for her school in which she hugely impressed, securing a place in the regional team. She managed to secure trials with the national team but nagging back problem cut her promising hockey career short. She graduated from Etosha Secondary School and moved to Windhoek in 2006 where she applied to the Polytechnic of Namibia where she studies Economics. She studied Economics for two years before she enrolled for a degree in Transport and Logistics also at the Poly. “I changed to Transport from Economics as I felt it was my calling and what I should be doing. I was very intrigued by import and exports which I always had an interest in.”
During the course of her studies Nikanor worked for her sister’s company called Wonder Zone Tours as a Logistics Officer during which she gained valuable experience in the tourism industry. As part of her Transport and Logistic course she did her internship with Transworld Cargo throughout her degree course. After graduating in 2010 she was employed by Transworld Cargo until October when she moved to the coast in Walvis Bay where she followed a new challenge at DHL Global Forwarding as a Freight Forwarding Coordinator from November 2010 until May 2012, when she started her own business. Nikanor got married in September 2011 and faced a lot of work to make her special day a reality and the experience was life changing.
“It was not something that I decided overnight but I was hugely inspired by the experience of preparing for my wedding that I started doing my research in that industry, once satisfied I started working on an exit strategy and things came together in 2012. Satisfied with my research I took a leap of faith and left my job with my experience and knowledge an added bonus.”
Lavender Tales Bridal Consultants is the company she founded supplies wedding dresses, special occasion gowns, wedding supplies and does wedding décor and coordinates corporate events. Nikanor is also a wedding planner. Starting a company is not easy and as she experienced the first few months. “Starting anything from scratch is never easy but this has taught me many things and it has edified in so many ways. I do not believe that there is a right time to start a business or go into business but I believe preparation is key and saving up some money is vital for any new business as you will have to continuously invest in it before seeing any dividends.”
Lavender Tales Bridal Consultants is going from strength to strength and Nikanor is hungry for more with plans to go back to the Poly to finish her Economics degree and using her Transport and Logistics degree to do consultancy for public and private stakeholders. Nikanor has these words of wisdom and encouragement for the youth. “Preparation is key to any success and never give up on your dreams. Go out there and make them come true.”
By Kevin Kamati