ENTREPRENEURS ANNIE & KGOLO MTHEMBU ARE THE SECRET TO EACH OTHER'S SUCCESS.
We find out more about how power couple Annie and Kgolo Mthembu have helped each other grow in their careers and businesses.
Annie Mthembu is known across the city as Mrs Annbition. ‘Mrs’ because she’s married to prominent hospitality industry dynamo Kgolo Mthembu – but the ‘Annbition’ is a title fully earned herself. From a dance agency to marketing firm and beauty emporium, she’s got a knack for turning ideas into thriving businesses.
At a young age, the serial entrepreneur realised that she did not enjoy working under another person’s rules. As a result, she pushed herself to work hard so that she could be her own boss and pursue her own dreams and goals. Today, she is the owner of the successful Annaesthetic Beauty Studio.
I wanted to take people back to the 1960s when women would spend a lot of time in the salon,” she explains, “I wanted to recreate that glamour of the salon in a more luxury and more efficient environment.” Although focussed on divine femininity, Annaesthetic Beauty Studio caters for both men and women, and one of their most popular clients is none other than Kgolo Mthembu.
“I’m not how the concept of a power couple works but I think both of us are quite ambitious, we are always trying to change the game and that makes us a couple that can achieve a lot together as individuals,” he says.
Kgolo’s venue, Views at Twenty5, is testament to what brought them together. As Annie’s dance agency gave her insights into Durban’s top venues, she began to create event concepts. Presenting some to then promoter Kgolo, he asked her to join him as a P.A. and so, winning ideas and ‘love’ blossomed.
“It started as a speakeasy concept, but it has evolved with the demand of food and people love it, it is a feel good space,” he exclaims. For a venue which began with no culinary ambitions, today the menu is one of its greatest draws. Not least for The Mthembus.
Like the best cocktails, partnerships which become classics are those with just the right balance of fireworks and character. This accomplished, creative and hard-working generation of entrepreneurs is just what our country needs.
