When Sisipho Mbukuqwa completed her journalism qualification from Walter Sisulu University, she did not imagine that her career would take off at an East London-based media outlet.
Initially, she had envisioned herself in the newsroom, but the 27-year-old became a social media manager at Digitl Sky Media Company — a role she has held for the past few years.
Born in Mthatha, she studied public relations management and journalism.
“I wanted to take the route of PR, but when I had to complete my in-service training, it landed me in the heart of the newsroom at a local radio station. While I really liked the writing aspect of it, I realised that I was not fond of its environment.”
She said she saw that it was an emotionally demanding environment, which would be ideal for a person who thrived in real-life deadlines.
“I consider myself a creative in the industry, but was not drawn particularly to journalism. Taking that into account, I reflected on whether I wanted to pursue PR as an advanced diploma or journalism.
“While I was doing my undergrad, we had marketing as a module, which I fell in love.”
Mbukuqwa said the skills she was equipped with helped hone her interpersonal skills.
“During my studies at WSU, I was also introduced to Adobe InDesign, which I fell in love with. I loved seeing a vision come to life through creativity, coupled with creating videos.
“I was able to use all my abilities including my love to talk, design, and create videos. In my last couple of months during advanced diploma in journalism, I had the opportunity to be part of the Spar FutureMe go getters challenge.”
She said it introduced her to a world of retail.
“It was a national campaign split into provinces, and I got to sit in meetings with people from Spar who are in the corporate space. It opened a door to venture into marketing space as an intern.”
Mbukuqwa said she was then introduced to her current boss and mentor Alexi Carreira who held her by the hand as she settled in the industry.
“He became a mentor. He taught me a lot and unlocked new ways of thinking, which completely changed how I view the world.”
She said the pressure of handling different projects with timelines is totally different from the newsroom scene.
“In the newsroom, everything is in real time, while in her role, there is a social standpoint to which she can stand for. It is not just you and the content you put out. It is basically you, the content put out, the client, and how they will be perceived with the work put out.”
One of her key fundamental aspects that has helped with her line of work is a welcoming culture and mentorship.
“My role is to take care of my client and fulfil their marketing needs for their business. We take the client through on what they need, research, and develop a content strategy.
“We understand the landscape, analyse it, and present it to them, and if they are pleased, then it gets executed over the agreed upon period to run it on socials. It is also important to track its progress and its return on investment through the client’s sales.”
Daily Dispatch
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