Gugulethu Ntombela
Gugulethu is an ambitious women who is passionate about being a successful creative. She aims to use each of her talents in order to make a career out of them. She is a freelance videographer who films and edits videos for a company called Portal Publishing. This is not all, however. From 2016 until 2017 she worked at a wine company called The Drift Farm part-time as a Social Media Manager. At the same time, she was working as a Digital Assistant at Quazar. In 2017, she worked for The Drift Farm’s sister brand, Cluver & Jack Cider for a year as a Social Media Consultant. Early in 2018, she was a Trainee Junior Editor working remotely for Pixelogic Media. Currently, she is working at XO Africa as a Digital Media Intern where she takes care of their social media, where she posts to their accounts, plans and creates content. She also helps edit and write articles for their blog.
Gugulethu plans on making and selling her own hair products to help other people with afro-textured hair, as she believes that, “the products we have in this country that are aimed at afro-textured are full of nasty chemicals and are not gentle enough for our fragile hair”. She says, “I know my social media marketing skills and web design skills I acquired at UCT will help my business grow and prosper”. She, furthermore, stresses that her degree has been invaluable in the workplace. She says that “I use my research and writing skills that I obtained during my university career, from my Bachelor’s to my Honours. These skills are useful when I am copywriting and copyediting, which is a big chunk of my job. I am also using my Interactive Media Production degree whenever I do social media, work with WordPress or do some graphic design, all of which are relevant to my job today”. She speaks fondly of the amazing relationships she built at the department especially with Leslie Marx. Gugulethu explains that “As a lecturer [Leslie] was always warm and kind, and would make me very excited for my next Film seminar and essay hand-in”. Gugulethu encourages new students to open their minds and to really think about their futures and follow their interests.