“The coronavirus left me jobless while needing to oversee my almost one-year-old daughter at that time. I was faced with devastation and plenty of discouragement.”
These are the words of Caren Alexander from Ruyterwacht, who was working as a guest relations officer – and when she was on the verge of changing her life for the better, the company she was working for laid everyone off due to the international Covid-19 outbreak.
Her father has been diagnosed with arthritis in his spine. He suffers from pain daily and the pain medication does not help much anymore. According to Alexander, her mother has been a stay-at-home mom for more than 30 years. She hardly took care of herself due to being a full-time mom of five children.
A passion
Growing up as a teenager, Alexander says she always rubbed her parents’ aches away “and it has been then that I realised that I love the flow of my hands”.
Alexander says her love for nail polish started when she was in high school.
“It got to a point when my mom thought I am addicted to the strong smell of the polish, but all the time I fell in love with the assortment of colours and art one can do on the nails itself,” Alexander explains. Her older sister inspired her to start her massaging business after always wanting to be massaged, so much that Alexander thought she could monetise her gift. And she was just 14 years old when she started.
“Never have my parents had the opportunity to walk into a beauty spa or salon for self-care and neither have they done it themselves at home. The price range out there is extremely high in the beauty industry.”
In October 2020, against all odds, Alexander launched “Keep Healing”.
Fast forward to 2021, her innovative business model not only bagged a spot in the Top 10 of the City of Cape Town Entrepreneurial Challenge, but also made her a proud member of the YoungPeople@Work’s Youth Business Network. The milestones do not stop there. In 2022, the department of social development recognised her talent and sponsored a seven-day business management training trip to Johannesburg. According to Alexander her business ensures the elderly, disabled and vulnerable feel the magic of her healing hands. “It is not just about profits; it is about passion.”
