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Home / Popya with Staden Siyoka .....Young entrepreneur talks about success
Popya with Staden Siyoka .....Young entrepreneur talks about success
2017-11-22Staff Report 2 Ocrhain Samapaya Windhoek-It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because all that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” Mark Cuban. The young, driven and ambitious 28-year-old Staden Siyoka is the founder and mastermind behind the Ongwediva Career Fair and Youth Expo, dating back to 2011 in which over 5000 learners participated. This was his first success story, the beginning of a new different chapter from a common graduate from the Namibia University of Science and Technology(NUST). “After NUST I started to practice business, my first pilot project was the first ever Ongwediva Career fair and Youth Expo in 2011. We did that with my then business partner Mwala Chenjekwa, and we did a lot of great business ideas together, we were having the times of our lives,” says Siyoka. His humble beginnings in his career, draws a touchline in Tsumeb where he started his primary till his high school. “I started school long time ago, in 1995, while the born frees were still running around in diapers as he chuckles, and matriculated in 2006 from Tsumeb High School,” he recalls. Growing up with his father who he says was the model behind his success was the best thing that life did for him. “When I was growing up, my father was a no nonsense type of guy, he was known as Shylock Siyoka, he always pushed me to do my best, he did not want me to settle for ordinary, he always told me that ‘I’m hard on you because I want the best out of you’, he made sure I went to the best schools, in my early years of school he put my brother and I in private schools so that we could do better in life and stand out, he told us how he did not have the privilege to attend school during the colonial era. But he lost father his mentor. “After my father’s death I was totally devastated, but I wanted to stand tall. I began to think long and hard during the whole of 2010 as to what should I do with my life? Ambitions, Siyoka took to business. “While my father’s words and business inspired me, in 2011 I met a man called Simon Kapenda, a PHD holder in Economics from Harvard in USA, he spotted my potential in business as he loved the passion I had for business, he became my mentor.’’ Sailing the boat with much enthusiasm, Siyoka made it in the world of big business joining Joined Groot Management Systems (Pty) Ltd as the Vice President Chief Communications Officer in 2015. Through hardwork and clear vision, he quickly moved from one rank to another, becoming a board member at the age of 27 years. Currently he is the president and CEO of Groot Properties (Pty). Siyoka believes he will never stop growing, as the sky is the limit. “I’m a go-getter, I still hustle everyday, if you want to make it in life, the ball is in your hands.” 2017-11-22Staff Report 2
