Palesa Mabuse
Palesa Mabuse is a 37 year old who holds a BA in Motion Picture Studies (MCP). She co-founded her own Out Of Home Media company with her sister Naledi Mabuse (39) called Nalesa Media in 2015. After Palesa had learnt the trade of out of home media she approached her sister then an accountant in profession to join her in putting together a 100% black female owned media powerhouse.
Nalesa media saw a gap in the market where they promote and advertise big brands across Soweto, Alexandra, Thembisa, and other South African townships. So she aligned with the SMME market in the townships to allow them to also promote and build their brands on Nalesa Media platforms. Nalesa Media is trying to help grow and facilitate SME/township economy by allowing these small businesses to reach the right audiences and consumers that are further away at a minimal cost.
Nalesa media have managed to grow into a multi media organisation now specialising in out of home advertising, digital advertising, business marketing consultancy, events management, promotions. Having started with just the two entrepreneur sisters working together, Nalesa Media now employs 10 full time staff and have partnered with small black owned businesses for production and installations.
– Waitress (Kippies)
– Retail sales (Original Marines, Cellini, Official 2010 World Cup Store)
– Events (Kippies Poetry Evenings)
– Lecture (Nemisa)
– Film and Production (Cast and crew)
She started Nalesa Media in 2015, at the beginning of 2021. Since then, Nalesa won the sole rights to handle all Maponya Mall advertising inventory (static and digital) and has grown it to a multi-million operation by 2023.
Palesa Mabuse has a key interest and desire to help, develop, train and mentor youth. Palesa first grew this motivation to help the youth whilst she was a lecturer at Nemisa teaching television and camera studies in 2011 and 2012. She has since been involved in numerous youth development ventures namely:
– Judge of the 2023 Standard Bank Youth Owned Brand Awards – helping youth owned brands gain recognition for the hard work in entrepreneurship and promotes the top 16 award nominees to free advertising on all Nalesa Media digital platforms to further boost their brand awareness.
– The Legacy Gala and Mentorship programme 2022 and 2023, – helping a group of 30 disadvantaged matric school girls from different township schools in their final year of school. The girls are assisted through mentorship, extra school learning, self development training, and an event to celebrate the hard work and evolution of the young ladies over the year.
– Empowaworx Youth Empowerment Summit 2023, this is a summit for tertiary students where Palesa was invited to speak and educate the audience about Media and the different opportunities in the advertising and media industry.
Palesa has worked very hard learning the reigns of entrepreneurship by being placed in different types of roles and work situations. She held multiple service jobs in retail, restauranting, film, teaching, promotion and sales, and events management. This has allowed her to be a very hands-on leader, leading in action and example.