Veronica Molaolwa Moleleki of VMM Beauty has collaborated with SOS Botswana to offer their youth free nail technology training.
Moleleki, who has been in the beauty industry for 18 years, is the driving force behind VMM Beauty that offers beauty treatment services and tutorials on all things beauty. The brand comprises nail products, VMM Gel Polish, VMM Nail Polish, VMM Cuticle Oil, and VMM Nail.
In an interview with The Business Weekly & Review, Moleleki said the collaboration with the non-profit organisation has been on her mind for some time going back to her days as a lecturer at Baisago University where some of her students were SOS youth beneficiaries and regularly confided their hardships in her. “They used to share with me about their lives in general,” she recalled. “Some would even appeal to me to teach them my skills as a beautician and nail technician. This is when I realised that I had to do something because I know full well that possessing these skills can change one’s life for the better.”
Coming from humble beginnings, Moleleki says what urged her to give back through SOS Botswana even more was the resonation she had with the youth because she herself grew up orphaned and came from an underprivileged background. However, she says this has never been an obstacle in her path because of her deep-rooted and sealed belief that a humble background does not define anyone’s future. “People close to me know very well that I value helping and giving whenever I can,” she explains.
“It’s a fulfilling and satisfying ritual for me. Above everything else, I am a Christian and it is there in the Bible at Luke 6:38 that says ‘Give and it will be given to you’ while Proverbs 22:9-19 says ‘Generous hands are blessed hands because they give …’ I have lived by these ideals and indeed have seen them manifest in my life.” Noting that the nail industry is very lucrative, Moleleki says the SOS youth are passionate about earning a living in the beauty industry believes that acquiring the right skills would enable them to do so, noting that most of them are unemployed.
The idea is for the training to become nail technicians offered by VMM Beauty to give them a head start in their ambitions to own beauty spas and/or nail salons. “It is a very profitable venture for which I left my job as a lecturer to pursue,” Moleleki says. “I have used the profits from the nail industry to invest in other businesses.” The self-made beauty guru intends to run the training courses on an annual basis in her quest to be a destiny helper to the more than 100 young women who have so far shown interest in the programme.
“I appeal to those willing and interested to come on board and sponsor us with training kits,” she told The Business Weekly & Review. “Youth empowerment is one of SOS Botswana’s core values and there is always a need to empower young people for self-sufficiency, employability and independent living. This will also help curb social ills caused by youth unemployment.” Incidentally, her given name of Veronica means bringing victory.
