Everything that started small, will eventually become big - Mwaalwa Justine Shikongo

Desiree Gases

Mwaalwa had no idea of her abilities until she took a chance on herself. Mwaalwa started this business with no background knowledge on importing products from overseas, nor did she receive help with figuring things out.

MJ Creations was founded by 22-year-old Mwaalwa and the online customising shop opened its doors to Namibians in October 2019 as an online and digital shop that offers a wide variety of customised products such as necklaces, keychains, bracelets, rings, earrings, pillows, cellphone covers, explosion boxes and photo frames.

MJ Creations is a product of the founder's passion for gifting, and her desire to create a platform that allows others to also express themselves through customised and personalised gifting. Mwaalwa and her team set and achieved a number of goals in the past three years and their team hopes that their vision for 2021 will be met accordingly, but at much as they achieved a lot, they also faced a couple challenges. The biggest one being the fact that they did not anticipate a whole global pandemic because it did affect the business, as shipments were slower and it delayed their production of products in the run. Despite that MJC was still able to overcome these shipment delays and find a good shipping company in FedEx. “They really make our business move smoothly during this difficult time,” says Mwaalwa. Customers can now get their products on time without any hustle or hiccups, and they are now moving a step ahead.

Mwaalwa and her team take pride in their honesty and outstanding service for their clients, as well as their ability to build relationships that are rooted in trust and efficient communication.

“Every client matters to us, and so does their satisfaction,” added Mwaalwa. As such, each one of MJC’s clients receives products that are of impeccable quality; the company ensuring that the first step of gifting (i.e. getting the product) is handled seamlessly, is definitely one of their top priorities. With all these values at hand MJC one day hopes to own a big factory in Namibia and have a shop in one of our shopping malls.

Careers asked Mwaalwa what advice she would give to the youth who also aspire to open a business of their own one day and Mwaalwa said: “Everything that started small, will eventually become big. Painting the picture that epic things start with small humble steps. Pay respect to your beginnings and if you’re just starting out, its okay to feel stuck and to be small. Just make sure you never stop dreaming.”