By telling the stories of game-changing entrepreneurs in a celebratory, entertaining and accessible way in snappy YouTube videos, former East Londoner Caley van der Kolk hopes to hook them up with international investors.
UCT business science graduate Van der Kolk, 28, who matriculated at Hudson Park High, works for an outfit called Heavy Chef, which provides events and media for go-getters in the field of tech, leadership and entrepreneurship.
She has interviewed heavyweights such as DJ Sbu, author and entrepreneur Simon Dingle and software coding academy founder Arlene Mulder, whose stories serve to inspire entrepreneurs in the start-up phase.
“We saw a gap in that our entrepreneurs are not selling themselves on a global stage, so my role as interviewer is to tell their stories so that they will appeal to investors in London, Israel or Silicon Valley, and open doors for them.”
Van der Kolk is herself a “heavy chef” and as the CEO of Artisans in Africa (AIA), is developing an e-commerce shop.
Having grown up in Willowvale, she speaks fluent Xhosa and through AIA, works with rural and township bead artists to develop modern products and include them in the global economy.
Van der Kolk was in East London this week visiting her parents before heading to the Wild Coast, where she will meet with seven beaders in Qora. She also has five women who do beadwork in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape.
“My job at Heavy Chef is to follow successful entrepreneurs for a day because we produce immersive content which gets to the heart of what makes people successful or not.
“I have a knack for detecting the secret business ingredient that makes them succeed. I am very analytical and can figure out where the gaps lie in what people are saying, and I’m also good at seeing what sells.”
Heavy Chef currently has 25000 followers on its database, a figure that is set to multiply once it partners with a South African online news publisher in August.
“We are going to produce five video stories a week and so we are going to go all over South Africa looking for the doers to give them exposure.”
Van der Kolk said international investors were on the lookout for innovation emerging from this continent.
“Africa is hot right now.”
She is on the lookout for game-changers and “people who think big” in the Eastern Cape.
“YouTube has democratised media and we are no longer bound by what the producers of [television] channels want.”
If anyone would like to nominate a “remarkable” entrepreneur who is succeeding despite the odds and could be a candidate to be featured on Heavy Chef, please e-mail Van der Kolk at raw@heavychef.com..