One on one with Themba Makamo.

On image: The new Vaya Footwear store in Newtown Junction Mall, Johannesburg.

One of the best growing sneaker brands in South Africa named Vaya Footwear has officially opened their first physical store in Newtown Junction Mall, Johannesburg, on the 6th of November 2021. Given Siwela from our JHB team was present at the store opening and managed to get a one-on-one engagement with Themba Makamo, the founder and CEO of VAYA Footwear, below is what they engaged on.

Please tell us about your sneaker brand, what inspired you to go for it, and what makes your sneakers different from the others out there? “VAYA Footwear is a sneaker brand that’s all about ambition, all about people and helping them achieve their goals. The inspiration came from when I was growing up, I noticed that there’s a relationship between confidence and the sneakers or the shoes that you wear and growing up I would find myself declining invites or attending functions because I felt like I didn’t have the correct shoes to attend the function with. So, I realised that that confidence the shoes that you wear are very important in terms of motivating somebody to go for their dreams and that’s how VAYA came about, I wanted us to design a sneaker that inspires whoever is wearing it to be motivated enough to go for their dreams. At times in not about going after a dream, you could be going on a date, a sporting activity and we just want to give you that confidence boost”.

What does today mean to you, family, and friends? “Today is a big milestone for us as a brand and going forward, this creates jobs and will be feeding a lot of families and to see all this happen in a space of 9 months is quite amazing. We’ve been putting in so much work and effort throughout the year, it’s God’s Grace and we’re very thankful for the people’s support who have been going out to buy the sneakers from ever since we started selling without any packaging up to the point that we now officially have our own store”.

Do you remember anything about your first client and what that moment meant to you? “All I could remember is that moment was the stamp of approval, because the person who saw us with the shoe in Sandton wanted it and was willing to pay on the spot, even though we told him that we didn’t have his size and we’d have to order he paid and told us that he’d wait for delivery”.

What has been the most challenging thing since you started with VAYA? “Capital is always a factor, and we came to a market that is now growing and people honestly want to see if you’re authentic. You want to appeal to people so one biggest challenge came in building the ethnicity and the market reach but by God’s Grace we manage to building up support through our social media campaigns and we’ve seen great response even on this day”.

2020 March was the beginning of COVID and I just want to know from your end what kept you going and moving forward? “For me it’s purpose and I know that when one is focused on purpose, you never look at what is happening around you, I’m lucky my purpose what revealed to me and that is impact other people’s lives, despite unfavorable conditions I have learned to use my voice, contacts, my talents to do so and has been my driving force”.

Do you think you will ever expand the brand into maybe clothing or other products other sneakers? "That is the pipeline but for now we want to establish ourselves as a footwear brand and once we have solidified our brand then we will look at our avenues and expanding the brand. People have been complimenting our because we wear our brand and always matching outfits and is also a space we’re looking to explore".

Now the first store is open, where do you see yourselves as a business in 5yrs time? "In the next five years we want to see ourselves as an impactful brand in the community, creating jobs and opening several branches all over South Africa, hopefully expand into Africa and in the next ten to twenty years from now we want to be found all over the world. But in the next five years we want to be located at every corner of South Africa, not only through job creation but also through programmes that will empower the youth and give back to the community for the love and support we have received".

Lastly, I could see so much excitement in your team, friends and everyone who was there for the opening of the store and just I just wonder if you have inspiring words for others out there going after their dreams? "When we started, we didn’t have much capital and had to start with 20 pairs and in recent months we bought about 1200 pairs. That alone should be inspiration to someone that you can start with the little that you have, and we’ve seen that through shear dedication and continued hard work you can build something and we started small and today all this and going forward".

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Website: Vaya Footwear

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