How Baliwe Sibisi turned her love for clay into uBaliwe.
Paying attention to the things you do daily, the things you play with daily and the things you say most often can unlock dreams you never knew were waiting for you. I say this because, most of the time, we go about our everyday lives doing things that bring us peace, sometimes overlooking the fact that what we love doing could one day become our bread and butter. And yes, some people turn their hobbies into businesses because they pay attention to what happens within them when they create, explore or simply lose themselves in something they enjoy.
Baliwe Sibisi is one such example. What began as a pottery hobby in Ghana in 2022 has since grown into uBaliwe, a ceramics brand that brings together her professional background in architecture, her passion for design and her personal connection to love, memory and belonging. Her journey reminds us that sometimes the things we turn to for peace can lead us towards a purpose we never imagined.
Born and raised in Inanda, just outside Durban, Baliwe has built her professional career around architecture, design management and large-scale infrastructure projects. These experiences have shaped how she approaches her ceramics, particularly her understanding of form, function, materials and the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit.
Yet her journey into clay was not simply about finding another creative outlet. It became an opportunity to reconnect with a part of herself that had been waiting for attention.
“There was something incredibly grounding about working with clay, learning to be patient with the process, and accepting that not everything can or should be controlled,” she explains.
Interestingly, the connection may go back further than she initially realised. Baliwe remembers watching someone pull clay when she was around six years old. Looking back, she sees her ceramics journey as less about discovering something entirely new and more about returning to something familiar.
Today, that connection has found its home in uBaliwe, a brand that brings together her architectural eye, her design sensibility and her belief that everyday objects can carry extraordinary meaning.
For Baliwe, uBaliwe is not simply about making beautiful ceramics. It is about creating objects that become part of people's lives, from morning coffee rituals and shared meals to the conversations and memories formed around a dining table.
How Baliwe Sibisi turned her love for clay into uBaliwe.
The name itself carries a personal history. Baliwe is associated with being counted, acknowledged and recognised. Her grandmother named her “Baliwe ezintombini zakwaSibisi”, a phrase that holds a special place in her family story and connects her to her mother and her experience of being the firstborn child, daughter, niece and granddaughter.
That sense of being seen has become central to the brand's philosophy.
“For me, being counted is about more than being noticed. It is about being considered, valued, loved and knowing that your presence matters. Those are the feelings I hope people experience through uBaliwe,” she says.
Its tagline, “To be seen • To be loved,” captures this intention. It is a philosophy that moves beyond the product itself, inviting customers to consider how the objects they choose for their homes contribute to their everyday experiences.
Baliwe believes love is an essential part of that relationship, particularly in a world that can encourage people to become hardened. She continues to return to love as her default setting, allowing that belief to guide both the creative process and the experience she hopes to offer customers.
In this way, each piece becomes an invitation to slow down and appreciate the ordinary moments that make up a life.
uBaliwe describes its aesthetic as Afro-modern, grounded and quietly expressive. The work sits between functional design and artistic expression, creating pieces that can be appreciated visually while remaining practical enough for everyday use.
Her architectural background is evident in the attention she gives to proportion, silhouette, balance and texture. But technical consideration is only one part of the process. She also wants each piece to evoke a feeling.
“I want a piece to feel like a hug, familiar, comforting and quietly special,” she says.
Her inspiration draws heavily from Southern African heritage, landscapes, traditional vessels and the people and places that have shaped her life. Rather than chasing trends, she seeks to create work with a reason for existing and a story worth telling.
Two collections, Isibomvu and Umhlaba, offer a glimpse into this approach.
Isibomvu draws on the richness of red earth and memories of home, including the vegetation, the soccer field next to her grandmother's house and the curves of her father's homestead. Umhlaba explores the relationship between contrasting clays, allowing differences in colour and texture to become part of the finished work.
These collections show how personal experiences can be translated into objects that resonate with others. A memory that belongs to one person can become a point of connection for someone encountering the piece in an entirely different setting.
For Baliwe, the objects we use every day deserve the same thoughtfulness we give to the spaces we inhabit. A cup, bowl or serving vessel may appear ordinary, but it can help make a shared meal, a quiet morning or a family gathering feel more meaningful.
A significant milestone came in 2026 when uBaliwe was selected as one of the winners of the Woolworths Youth Makers initiative. For an independent creative business, recognition through an established retail platform offered an opportunity to introduce the brand to people beyond the audience it had built organically.
Behind every finished ceramic piece are hours of experimentation, developing forms and finishes, navigating production challenges and learning how to turn a creative practice into a sustainable business. Having that work recognised was an important affirmation of the potential of independent South African makers within the broader retail landscape.
The opportunity also prompted Baliwe to think more deliberately about growth. Greater visibility brings new possibilities, but it also requires a business to be ready to manage customer expectations, production capacity and the demands of an expanding audience.
“Visibility is valuable, but what matters just as much is what you do with it,” she explains, pointing to the importance of communicating the brand's story, nurturing customer relationships and turning interest into a sustainable business.
Her ambition is not simply to secure more exposure. She wants to build relationships with retailers, hospitality businesses and creative partners that align with uBaliwe's values, allowing the brand to reach more people without compromising its artistic integrity.
That balance between creative ambition and commercial sustainability is especially important for a business producing handmade work.
Ceramics is an exacting craft. Clay and glazes can behave unpredictably, pieces can crack during production, and even a finished item can break in transit. Each product passes through multiple stages, from preparing and shaping the clay to drying, glazing, firing, finishing and packaging.
For Baliwe, building uBaliwe alongside a demanding professional career has also meant learning to understand her capacity and make realistic decisions about production and delivery.
“One of my most important lessons has been that passion is necessary, but passion alone is not a business model,” she says.
It is a lesson that extends beyond ceramics. Creativity may inspire a business, but systems, financial discipline, production planning and customer communication help sustain it.
Pricing is another important consideration. Handmade products involve more than the cost of raw materials. Time, studio expenses, equipment, failed pieces, packaging and administrative work all contribute to the true cost of producing an item. Underpricing can make a product appear accessible while leaving the maker without the resources to invest in the business or pay themselves fairly.
Baliwe believes creatives must learn to understand their numbers, document their processes and establish systems that support consistent delivery. At the same time, they must protect the individual perspective that makes their work distinctive.
“Treat your creativity as both an art and an asset,” is her advice to other creatives.
Her experience offers a useful perspective for entrepreneurs operating in creative industries, where personal passion and commercial realities must work together. Sustainable growth requires an appreciation of both the product customers see and the work that happens behind it.
As she continues, Baliwe wants uBaliwe to become a recognised design-led ceramics brand rooted in African heritage and the universal experiences of love, belonging, memory and gathering.
She sees the dining table as an especially meaningful place for the brand. It is where people share food, celebrate milestones, exchange stories, disagree and reconcile. She hopes uBaliwe will become part of these moments through collaborations that bring together ceramics, food, culture and hospitality.
Her time in Ireland has introduced her to different creative environments and materials, deepening her curiosity about the relationship between place and the objects people make. Internationally, she sees opportunities to work with retailers, chefs, hospitality businesses and other creatives who appreciate thoughtful design and products with a story.
She also holds a longer-term vision of establishing a creative space in South Africa where making, nature, hospitality and community can come together.
For all its ambitions, however, Baliwe remains clear about what she wants to preserve. Growth must not come at the expense of the qualities that gave uBaliwe its identity in the first place.
“I do not want uBaliwe to grow simply for the sake of becoming bigger. I want it to become more considered, more sustainable and more meaningful in the lives of the people who encounter it,” she says.
That may be the most compelling part of Baliwe's journey. She is not only creating ceramics; she is building a business around the belief that objects can hold emotion, carry stories and connect people to a sense of home.
The journey began with a hobby and a willingness to explore something beyond her professional life. It has since grown into a brand with a personal story, a distinct creative voice and the potential to travel across markets and generations.
And if one day a uBaliwe bowl becomes part of a family meal, a favourite mug accompanies someone through an important chapter of their life, or a ceramic piece reminds its owner of a place they once called home, Baliwe will have achieved something beyond making a beautiful object.
She will have created a vessel for someone else's story, carrying forward the philosophy at the heart of uBaliwe: to be seen, to be loved.
For more, visit: uBaliwe
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