On Point with Sandy Nene

21 year old Sandy Nene is a well know Durban Blogger, who started SA bloggers and writes for zalebs.com , voices.news24.com and yomzansi.com/mag. He has been published on many others, including: agossip.com, a fashionfriend.co.za, blaque.co.za, durbanzone.co.za. He also writes for print mag called Deelish Life 'N Style Mag and all this, while he has a full time job.

When he worked at the Conversation lab, up the road from us, in the Richefond office park, he would pop in to visit in his lunch breaks to engage in Skill Share sessions with Lauren.

He first heard about The Sett from the Uber Team and is very supportive of co working in general.

“Like most people, I used to think that I couldn’t work from the Sett because I already have a full time job, but it’s a great place for personal meetings or to host workshops from. Also, because it’s open from 7.30am, I can pop in for a coffee before work too.”

Sandy is known for speaking out and having strong opinions about important issues, so we asked him 3 important questions…

Why co-work?

“The corporate culture of the past is changing to become a more creative free space. We all have a voice, we can all be our own bosses and so co-working spaces are really the way forward for the future of office spaces. It’s a great way for the youth and fellow south Africans to get to know each other, interact, develop friendships and start to break down cultural barriers through understanding each other better and learning more about each others goals and dreams. We have a very opinionated youth with lots to say, and an open free flow space, promotes starting the conversation.”

Why collaborate?

"It takes a lot of confidence to be creative these days. Although more and more people are understanding the importance of sharing ideas and not holding back – it’s vital not to feel threatened by others (those that do will try to bring you down and holdback their own ideas from you). We are all creative in our own ways, with our own strengths. I will never have certain skills that come naturally to others and that’s why collaborating with them is such a good solution – you are able to learn and grow from those who support and encourage you and you may be able to teach them something new too. We all have different things to offer. That’s one of the things that makes life interesting!"

What's your advice for budding bloggers?

"Don’t get into blogging for the wrong reasons: to get free stuff, be invited to cool events and get paid for advertising. Those things can happen, but if you are going to blog: Blog for Love! It’s a lot of hard work and dedication and you are always striving to learn and improve. You are there to tell stories, document your life and share your opinion. You need to be brave and fearless as not everyone will like what you have to say. Make sure you have a good support network who will encourage you even when times are tough and get to know other bloggers out there. We are all in this together!”