Unearthing Raw Talent

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jackie Van Graan founder and CEO of Raw Talent Builders which is a skills training and recruitment company which she has just started with the hope to curb the lack of skilled young people in South Africa.

“It actually all started with the state of the nation address, I felt a desire to build something that I can eventually leave for my kids. I realised that there are so many opportunities in our country but there is no one that is taking the time to upskill our young people, so I decided to start my own company.” Jackie explains about what inspired her to start Raw Talent Builders.

Lured by the desire to make a better life for her family coupled with the passion she had to empower the youth of the country, Jackie left a management position with a lucrative salary and pursued the lonely life of entrepreneurship

“It wasn’t a challenging decision to make really, there wasn’t anything that could stop me. I just woke up in the morning and told my boss that I am resigning, somehow I felt like everything will be okay. It was a risky decision really because I am a single mother of three and I had to think about them, but I am happy and I am fulfilled, I am doing what I love.”

“I have always wanted to be the CEO of a company but then I realised that being CEO means that I still have to report to someone so I decided to be my own boss. I knew I was going to do something around education because I have always found pleasure in upskilling and coaching people hence I started Raw Talent Builders.”

Raw Talent Builders is an innovative skills training company that helps young people develop the necessary expertise required in the workplace to help them flourish. Its services are beneficial for the both the employee and the employer, it also caters for both junior level employees as well as managers.

“It works in a two fold process for both job seekers and employers and there are three legs to the process. We get guys that are looking for jobs and place them in a four day intense workshop where we train them in all the basic call centre skills that you need to help you prosper. The great incentive is in that you only pay us 50% for the workshop and the other half you will pay us once you have a job.”

Raw Talent Builders focuses greatly on sales, customer care and retentions training. Jackie has over 7 years of experience of which 5 years are in management ranging across all three skillsets and she uses her wealth of experience to help develop world class call centre agents that put client centricity at the helm when executing their duties.

The service includes lifelong mentoring and coaching sessions to help you climb up the corporate ladder. They train you to have a billionaire mind-set and always thrive to do the job better than anyone else and this is an initiative that starts from the first day in class until you feel that you don’t need their support anymore. The workshop is designed for both job seekers as well as anyone else who already has a job and feels that they need a bit of upskilling to push them to the next level in their current position.

" We are now also moving onto the retail industry to train on front line sales and customer service"

In the next three to five years Jackie hopes to open branches in all the nine provinces in the country and build a sustainable training centre that can help alleviate the lack of skilled youth in the workplace as well as establish South Africa as a country known for great customer service. Jackie believes that the only way we can reduce the high employment rate in the country is through entrepreneurship, she has seen a huge gap in the market and has taken an initiative to fill it.

If you are struggling to get a job interview or maybe your current employer is not seeing the potential you have to take you to the next level then get in touch with Raw Talent Builders and you can be guaranteed that your career will take a turn for the better, you will be able to reach heights you never imagined possible because they will help you unleash your full potential.

If you are a retail store or call centre HR, Manager or owner looking for super selling machines who give world class service contact us to ensure you get the best person for the job

 

Contact Raw Talent Builders for a career opportunity you don’t want to miss.

www.rawtalentbuilders.com

Jackie Van Graan – 0824095430   rawtalentbuilders@gmail.com @RAW_T_B

Make Life's Richness A Full-time Job

If you quit before the work is completed, the work you’ve done is wasted. Honor the time and effort you’ve already put into it by finishing what you started. 

If you plant a seed, and water it just for a few days, and then stop, you might as well have never planted it. Remember to direct your focus again and again toward those things you’re committed to completing.

Being inspired for a few minutes or for a day or two feels good. Being inspired for a lifetime is what actually achieves good and valuable results.

Remind yourself what a truly extraordinary opportunity you have by virtue of being you. Then remind yourself again, and again, on every day, in each new situation.

Feel the exquisite joy and purposeful power of being alive. Then commit yourself to staying connected to that feeling.

Don’t settle for just a few moments here and there of brilliance and inspiration and true richness. Make life’s richness a full-time job.

A Network Of Talents

This quote is the exact opposite of the well known Les Brown Quote that states “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry their dream.”

This reminds us just how important it is to use our many God given talents before it is too late and the only time when it’s really too late is when we pass on because that is when we can do no more on earth.

We were all born a blessing and given a set of gifts that are not only meant to help us achieve our purpose on earth but also help those around us discover theirs once we become confident about ours because the more people we take along on our journey to the top, the greater the chances of us going even further as we build a stronger network of soldiers to help us carry the burden when times get tough along the way

A single step is all it takes at the moment because that is what will ensure that you are on your way and once you take that step, you will begin to open your eyes and see those ahead of you with a helping hand to help you reach the next level.

The great thing about living in such a diverse universe is that we all have something unique that we do best and as we build networks we discover people that are better at something else that can help us take the next step and our unique talent helps them to do the same, this where growth and prosperity begin which is why when we hang on to our God given talents, we are not only shooting ourselves in the foot but we are also standing in the way of someone that could do with our help to help them progress to the next level.

We were not born in a world with so many people to only serve our own purpose, if it was just about the individual then there would not be a need for billions of people on earth. We need to look beyond ourselves, we need to humble ourselves and ask for help when we need it and be kind enough to offer help where we see it could benefit another person because we cannot do it all by ourselves and many people who perished without fulfilling their potential kept it all to themselves and were to proud to ask for help.

Receiving is heavily linked to giving and we all have something that we are good at, let us all make a pledge to make full use of our talents to not only help us fulfil our potential but also to help those around us that are in need of that specific talent to compliment what they are good at, that way we are creating a whole new network that could potentially drive us to make even better use of our gifts.

Keeping it real with 

Rori Matsetela

Lamo Solar - Keeping The Energy Alive

Lamo Solar is a renewable energy company co-founded by Elmond Khoza and Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu. Elmond is currently the President and Chief Operating officer of Lamo. 

 

Lamo Solar was implemented as a company that was going to build and protect the renewable energy industry by providing specialized services and building a culture of high standard and safe installations.

 

 Elmond Khoza had his first interaction with a solar power system when he was 13years old. His parents bought a 50w solar panel, an inverter and a car battery in their effort to shield the household from power blackouts which occurred frequently in the area. This was the first system he installed. He later enrolled at the university of the Witwatersrand to pursue a degree in electrical engineering, and that is where the founders of Lamo Solar met. Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu has a background in leadership, and he is currently pursuing his MBA at the Wits Business School. Elmond and Tshibvumo partnered for their honors year lab project. The project was in renewable energy; titled, "grid tied photovoltaic system feasibility study for the Genmin Laboratory".

 

Lamo Solar was not my first interaction in business, during my undergrad I owned a tuckshop at one of the university's residence, called EOH. That is where I learned valuable lessons about business. Rules of business are the same, whether you are running a multi-national company or selling sweets at a street corner. The most important thing is that you must have satisfied clients.

 

When we started Lamo Solar, with our background and skills set, we knew that technically we were in the right industry. But we had to distinguish ourselves, and we decided instead of designing solutions for electricians to install, we would ensure that at least one engineer is part of each and every installation team. This at first met criticism that we are wasting valuable skills by using scarce skills in an unconventional way. This is really proving to be our biggest strength because we are able to evaluate risks on site and deal with problems quicker and thus always complete quality installations on time.

 

The Lamo Solar project was implemented without any startup capital, and this was only possible because of our education and zealousness. We borrowed tools for our first project and since then we have been reinvesting our profits towards building a sustainable company. Today if there is any advice I can give is, entrepreneurs should not dwell in planning to do business, they must start now and move fast, and until they have their first client they should know they do not have a good business idea.

 

Lamo is not a one man or two men idea, we believe in an open platform model. We believe that getting people involved is the only way we can be a renowned youth led renewable energy company in the world. Within the Lamo team we boast some of the great young minds who would like to apply their skills and energy towards building sustainable communities and ultimately a great country. Our Chief Technology Officer, Didier Iradukunda, is one such individual. Didier is currently pursuing his masters degree in renewable energy at the Wits University.

 

Education, in a big way contributed and is still contributing towards the Lamo Solar movement. The Lamo Team is passionate about education and we believe that no child should receive low grade education because they do not have electricity at their schools; thus one of our goals is to install solar power system at a thousand rural and underprivileged schools by 2020.

 

The biggest trials we have encountered today are barriers of entry into specialised businesses. For a youth led business to be taken seriously proved to be a challenge, but once we had our first client, we are ticking off challenges everyday. 

 

I personally get the biggest fulfillment when, after commissioning a project a client comes and says, "thank you Lamo Solar, you guys really know and specialise in renewable energy." It is only when you have met the expectations of the client that you can be proud of your work and know that you are in the right business. The messages of appreciation get us going, they keep us working at wee hours of the morning.

 

South Africa boasts one of the best conditions for solar power solutions. If young people can get involved, we would be able to come up with life changing solutions to electrify not only the country, but the whole continent.

 

Regards, 

Elmond Khoza

 

President/Chief Operating Officer

BSc. Electrical Engineering (Wits)

 

LAMO SOLAR

Engineering Our Installations 

Email: elmond@lamosolar.co.za

Mobile: +2778 489 3398

Fax: 086 718 3378

www.lamosolar.co.za