Acclaimed South African businesswoman Mel Viljoen is extremely passionate about the youth and wants to see more young people and South Africans in general starting to read more.
The Johannesburg-based businesswoman’s desire to write a personal development book – that will go a long in cultivating the culture of reading – was in part inspired after she came across some shocking statistics – by the World Bank – which showed that SA has an 87% adult literacy rate, ranking below countries such as Mexico (95%), Brazil (93%) and Azerbaijan (99.8%). The figure for South Africa represents a decline of about 7% in two years.
At a youth (and child) level, which concludes that eight out of every 10 children in South Africa can’t read properly, there are three explanations that bring us to this sad reality – according to Stellenbosch University economist Nic Spaull; first is that Foundation Phase teachers (grades 1-3) do not know how to systematically teach reading; another reason is that the poorest schools in the country are extremely text-poor. Lastly, there’s wasted learning time during the school day.
Viljoen strongly believes that if we can get more young people reading books, there’ll will be an enormous positive mindset shift, something which she hopes her book will inspire.
NOWinSA sat down with the first-time author to find out all the details about this eagerly awaited self-help book.
Why did you choose this title?
Everyone wants to be an overnight success because of the growth of social media platforms like Tik Tok. We see a lot of influencers and content creators build their following and income very quickly but even with that, there is almost always hundreds of hours of hard work behind it. If you look at the most successful people in the world they all share the same believe. They believe that no matter how hard you work and how smart your idea can be, if you don’t have the right mindset then you will never reach the levels that are meant for you. I want this book to change the mindsets of our people and get them into that winning mindset.
What do you think of the South African youth?
Africa has incredible youth, they are smart and innovative but a lot of them struggle with the most fundamental aspect of growing a business or even themselves and that is having a winning mindset.
Who is the book for?
The book is for anyone but is more focused on empowering and developing young people, especially females. I want to develop the next army of superwomen, I want to develop queens and young people that will not only dominate in their respective industries but also change the world. This book will open up their minds to a new mindset, one that will consistently improve them and make them the best that they can be. The book is all about developing the mindset so that the readers of the book can become the best versions of themselves. Mindset mastery is for the ambitious and the determined.
Can you share some of the themes explored in the book?
Some of the themes are centred around the importance of networking, self-branding, getting the right mentors, as well as understanding gratitude, dressing well, visualisation and more.
What inspired you to write this book now?
I am really passionate about educating our people on making small improvements every day and I know this book will take the reader on a journey to level up almost every single day.
We believe that you want to empower your academy (Tammy Tailor Nails) using this book?
Yes I plan on donating a number of books to the academy in Pretoria, our ladies will love this book and it will take them to the next level. I want to them to be the best that they can be.
How can readers buy the book?
The book will be available in all major book stores in South Africa, the Middle East and in the US.
