Image via Twitter/Rabiaghoor
Young South African beauty brand founder Rabia Ghoor switches it up
Young beauty entrepreneur speaks out on Black Lives Matter and her hopes for Swiitch Beauty and its products.
Image via Twitter/Rabiaghoor
Beauty entrepreneur Rabia Ghoor was known as South Africa’s very own Kylie Jenner when she stepped onto the skin-care scene while still a teenager
With the help of tutorials, reviews from customers and an interactive Instagram page, she gradually developed her products. Swiitch Beauty today sells brushes, makeup and skincare products.
Ghoor used her brand recently to take a public stand in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and those speaking up on racial inequality and human injustice.
Specifically, Swiitch offered a cash grant towards a black-owned business. She also partnered with an up-and-coming black-owned e-store as the brand’s first official reseller.
Earlier this year Ghoor featured in a television interview on Expresso, and since then lockdown has not dampened down her colourful brand.
Q&A with Rabia Ghoor
How has the year 2020 been since lockdown started?
Adjusting to the new normal has been such a crazy experience as a business person. It is so reassuring to see how robust and adaptable we are as a species.
I am very excited to see what the world looks like following the reset.
I have yet to make banana bread in lockdown but have definitely dealt with the global existential crisis in other self-destructive ways, lol!
What has changed since you started Swiitch Beauty at the age of 14?
Haha, I think 20 looks a lot better on me than 14 did!
I have learnt so much about myself and definitely have more of an understanding of exactly what it is I’d like to do in my industry.
You are working on a new beauty serum and there may be an interview with Forbes Magazine. Tell us more?
Both are massive milestones for me and Swiitch! I am still very much mentally processing the Forbes interview and I am super, super excited for the launch of our first serum.
It’s been in development for a number of months and I am incredibly keen to make South Africa dewier, one bottle at a time.
Swiitch stood in solidarity with #BLM. What did all that mean to you?
At Swiitch, we had a moment of: Okay, these things are happening around us but how do we address them in a tasteful, impactful way?
I think from the get-go it was just really important for us to say something as early as possible and vocalise our stance.
Our initial #BLM post went up on 30 May and included a poem written by one of our black team members.
It was just a tribute to George Floyd (who was killed on 25 May) and Collins Khosa (killed on 10 April). It was also a way of highlighting police brutality against the black body.
After that I went back to the drawing board and felt: Okay, now that we’ve said what we’ve said, how do I back it up and actually aid in change?
This led to the now viral statement that went out on 7 June. I was adamant on a cash grant because there are a million black squares on Instagram right now.
While awareness is incredibly important, I am lucky enough to have found myself in a position to create progression through dedicated, conscious action.
Own boss at 20
Juggling her time between her new business, tests, exams and extra-mural activities in high school must have led to many sleepless nights.
But now, at the age of 20, Rabia Ghoor is her own boss in the beauty business
