Forging Your Own Path: How Banesa Tseki Built a Multi-Faceted Career on Wellness, Passion and Community
In today’s rapidly changing economic landscape, young professionals are increasingly called to redefine career success. Building a meaningful, resilient career isn’t about following a pre-written template. It is about listening to your inner drive, nurturing your mental health and diversifying your talents. Linear career ladders are increasingly becoming a thing of the past; young professionals face a unique challenge: how do you build a sustainable, fulfilling career on your own terms?
Banesa Tseki, interdisciplinary creative, wellness entrepreneur, activist and Head Coach at Nike Shapa Soweto, shares that the answer lies at the intersection of passion, mental resilience and financial independence. Her journey offers insights for young professionals looking to monetise their talents, cultivate multiple streams of income and protect their mental well-being along the way.
The Evolution of an Entrepreneur: From Nightlife to Wellness
Banesa’s career path is a masterclass in adapting your skills as you grow. Her entrepreneurial journey began in 2009 in her first year at UCT, studying Politics, Philosophy and Drama. She co-founded B.A.N.K Productions with three friends and ran it for six years. As an all-black, female-owned entertainment promotions agency, B.A.N.K identified a major gap in Cape Town’s nightlife, bringing Johannesburg entertainment concepts and black artists to an underserved student and young professional audience.
She later moved to Johannesburg, joining the Koolout collective and launching Alchemy, a brand that brought international acts like Tom Misch and BADBADNOTGOOD to South Africa.
By 2018, she compounded her entrepreneurial drive to create spaces and opportunities that empower communities with her personal growth through yoga. She partnered with Dr Anesu Mbizvo as co-owner of The Nest Space, creating an inclusive, multi-faceted wellness hub featuring a yoga studio, vegan café, zero-waste grocery store and teacher training. Her community-driven work subsequently led to corporate partnerships, organically opening the door for her role as Head Coach at Nike Shapa Soweto and ambassador for the athletic brand.
“Do what you love and find a way to get paid for it.”
The Power of Alignment: When Strong Values Meet Clear Vision
Banesa’s journey into yoga began as a way of managing anxiety and depression. Once she had embodied the benefits of yoga, meditation and breathwork, she felt a strong sense of responsibility to share these practices with her community.
She wanted other people of colour to have the opportunity to experience that for themselves, particularly those from communities where these practices weren’t readily accessible. Becoming a teacher was her way of sharing something that had profoundly changed her own life. Although she initially embarked on the yogic journey for her own wellbeing instead of a career, it evolved to become a significant part of her life’s work.
Monetising Your Passions & Building Multiple Income Streams
Banesa teaches us how diversifying your talents creates both financial security and creative freedom.
For young job seekers and self-employed youth looking to build a multi-stream career, she shares this advice:
- Start with what you love and take your ideas seriously: Identify your genuine interests, understand who would value them and determine how to solve a problem for them. Passion fuels the energy required to master skills that can be monetised.
- Allow yourself to be a beginner: Fear of failure or appearing inexperienced keeps many people from putting their work into the world. Entrepreneurship requires a willingness to fall, learn, iterate and reiterate.
“Allow yourself to be seen trying” - Formalise, systemise and scale: Learn the fundamentals of brand building, business strategy and digital marketing. Register your business, establish separate accounts and develop operational systems so your revenue can grow beyond your personal labour.
- Leverage your network: Your immediate community and peers often possess complementary skills or connections that can open doors.
“Your network is your net worth”
Strengthening Your Mental Health is an Asset, Not an Afterthought
Pursuing multiple income streams and navigating economic instability requires internal strength. For Banesa, mental health practices are not a luxury; they are the foundation of long-term career growth.
- Quiet the noise: Mindful practices like meditation and breathwork help regulate the nervous system and help build internal clarity so that external circumstances do not define your worth.
- Set boundaries to prevent burnout: Pushing hard without rest leads to burnout. Banesa emphasises that you cannot continually pour into your work or community without taking time to replenish yourself.
- Build internal capacity: While wellness practices do not eliminate social or financial pressures, they equip you with the internal capacity to navigate those challenges without letting circumstances define your potential.
Challenge the Status Quo and Craft Your Own Path
Operating simultaneously across disciplines, Banesa proves that you don’t need to fit into a single box.
She encourages young professionals to challenge maya, mental illusions, as well as societal limitations that tell us what we can or cannot achieve. Lack of representation in an industry should never be a barrier to entry; rather, it is an invitation to be the pioneer who opens the door for others.
Define success on your own terms, honour your well-being and give yourself permission to begin again, as many times as you need to.
