Cape Town – He is a public relations guru, and yes, he is also one of the young South African entrepreneurs who are diligently trying to promote business in townships.
Meet Shorn Khumalo, the owner of Client Media.
Khumalo spoke to African Insider recently and revealed how he ventured into the business of public relations.
“I established my own public relations agency in 2018. I think that came as a result of the universe telling me that it was time to leave what I was busy with at that particular time and focus on something new and challenging.
“I was working in a private education institution and I was frustrated, as I constantly asked myself whether that was going to be my job for life. I was young and I wanted something better,” said Khumalo.
His life was to take a turn when he got a call from one lady in Bloemfontein.
“I got a call from this lady who was looking for someone to do some public relations work for her. The next thing, she sent flight tickets, arranged accommodation and a car for me to do the work. At that time, I thought the universe was communicating with me – so I asked myself, why not take this up.
“I went to Bloemfontein and I had such a wonderful time. I loved what I was doing.
“I realised during that time that this was my forte and that was the reason why I needed to leave the education institution and establish my own business,” Khumalo said.
So that was how he left his job and started Client Media.
He never looked back.
“Client Media is a small PR and marketing agency. Over the years, we have developed and we have also done television productions. We used to shoot for Okuhle media, the producers of Hectic Nine 9 on SABC2, which is a youth programme, and Hectic On 3 on SABC3.
“So we were tasked with producing inserts for them because at that time, they didn’t have a Johannesburg office. So we used to take care of all their content in Johannesburg, Mpumalanga and Bloemfontein. Effectively, that was how we branched into television,” said Khumalo.
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And talking about the Client Media team, Khumalo said:
“It’s a very small team. Because of Covid-19, we had to scale down – initially, we were operating on a staff of about 6 people. But I think subconsciously, the universe worked in my favour.
“Before Covid-19 happened, I had initially decided that I was not going to have an office. I told myself that I was going to work remotely. So when Covid-19 happened, I had staff members but they were not permanent. I was trying to run away from the burden of having salaries to take care of every month.
“So people worked as and when, there was a project to work on.
“Basically, we were paying salaries for 6 people, including ourselves. But now we have reduced the workforce to only two people. Covid really hit us hard,” said Khumalo.
He that when the pandemic hit, Client Media lost a number of clients and events.
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Khumalo said, however, that he was proud to have been involved in the establishment of the Spade Boutique Hotel and Spa in Cape Town’s sprawling township of Khayelitsha.
The luxurious hotel is the first of its kind in the township.
“We did what we needed to do to help open and position the Spade Boutique Hotel and Spa. We made sure that it was in line with well-known hotels in the Western Cape.
“We did our research, we ensured that it gets credit. It’s a black-owned business – so we didn’t want any second thought when people sought services there.
“We also arranged for them to be affiliated with Cape Town tourism,” said Khumalo who was born and bred in Khayelitsha.
He said he was also proud to do some work for The Milk Restaurant & Champagne Bar – also in Khayelitsha – when they re-launched this year.
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So how has business been going this year?
“Well, I’ve been fortunate to sign a few new corporate clients this year and I’m expecting to sign more as the year progresses. All I can say is that it’s humbling and exciting to see that big names that we have been hoping to get are finally coming through,” he said.
Khumalo is himself a graduate of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He holds a national diploma and a BTech in Public Relations Management.
He grew up in a family of four and was raised by a woman who became a widow at the age of 33.
“I’m quite vocal, opinionated, a believer in self, a believer in uplifting people around me. I’m also an avid believer in education – I see what it has done for me, my family and my friends,” said Khumalo.
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Written by Betha Madhomu
