Meet Dimakatso Lekekela | Nutritionist, Brand Specialist & Founder of Zuri Nutrition

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dimakatso Lekekela and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dimakatso, what matters most to you?
I would say it is to maintain an uncompromising attitude in all that I do. I am incredibly uncompromising and this feeds into every single aspect of my business and any other thing that I put my mind towards achieving. I always ensure that I give my best in everything I deliver, whether it is the formulation of a new supplement in my business, marketing, design, customer service etc, I never want to owe myself an explanation as to why I didn’t give my best. My ability to be uncompromising makes me a very hard worker. I have carried this mentality from my schooling days all the way through to this present day and I believe it is why I managed to do so well at school, to perform at my previous jobs and ultimately starting my business, Zuri Nutrition. I started the business after a previous entrepreneurial project ended and I was left unemployed, with no savings and very little money to start with, and even with that being the case, I was still not willing to compromise on the product that I was manufacturing, the packaging, marketing, design, web development, social media marketing and many other aspects because I was undercapitalized. If I couldn’t afford it, I learned how to do it myself until I perfected it, rather than to put out something I was not proud of.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Zuri Nutrition is a health and wellness company driven by Registered Dietitians and Nutritionists. We formulate solutions-driven health supplements that assist our customers recover from hair and skin care issues such as hair loss, acne, eczema, hyperpigmentation, oily and problematic skin as well as gut issues. Our products are vegan and veggie-friendly, locally manufactured and made from locally sourced ingredients. Apart from selling our products, we are an educational brand that works with a team of RDNs to educate our audience on the importance of physical health, immunity and beauty through our curated content on all our platforms. I started from humble beginnings, drafting this idea while going through unemployment after a failed business venture. It was in this time that I decided to combine my passion, skills and knowledge for health and beauty to formulate my own complementary medicines to help South Africans (and Africans as a whole) to attain their beauty goals through nutritional science. Today, Zuri Nutrition has it’s own dietary supplement formulas which are helping our customers optimize their health as they regain confidence as well.

What sets Zuri Nutrition apart is in the solutions-driven manner in which we work, from formulation and product development. We carefully research and assess the issues our customers face first, before creating the solutions. Our audience suffers from hyperpigmentation, acne and hair loss – in that order, apart from many other issues, so we made sure that we understood their lifestyles to better understand the triggers for these issues with a nutritional lens. It is from here that we formulate the solutions – and they work! This is one of the things I’m proud of.

What we do is truly fulfilling and I think there is a lot that can be done through nutritional science. Apart from our products, we are also invested in being a healthy brand that does not take away more from the world, than what we give back. We currently work with The Lunchbox Fund as our official CSI partner to help fund nutritional feeding schemes at schools in disadvantaged communities, which provide young children across the country with at least one nutritionally dense meal per day. Thus fighting against malnutrition and stunting. I think there is a lot we can do through nutrition and this is how I want the brand to be remembered.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who are deserving of this shoutout but I would definitely love to send a shoutout to my wonderful group of family and friends. From my mother being an inspirational figure in my life, showing me support and encouraging me to push forward with my business. I would like to send a shoutout to my father who is my biggest cheerleader and my sister who helps me stay focused even when times are tough. And lastly, my friends who showed continuous support, guidance and business mentorship. In South Africa, we have a saying, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” which literally translated into English means that a person is a person through other people. My story wouldn’t be the same without any one of these people in my life so I am honoured and eternally grateful.

Website: www.bezuri.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zuri_nutrition/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zuri-nutrition/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZuriNutritionZA