My name is Mabore Masipa, founder of Belly Buster Polokwane.
I studied Process Instrumentation with dreams of building a successful career. Like many graduates in South Africa, I believed that once I had my qualification, opportunities would follow.
They didn't.
For almost ten years, I submitted countless CVs, hoping someone would give me a chance. The calls never came. Rejection became part of my daily life.
Instead of giving up, I turned to farming.
I had no start-up capital and no borehole to irrigate my crops. Every day we would have to come up with a way of carrying water from a nearby river to our farm because that was the only way I could keep my vegetables alive. It was exhausting, but I believed that hard work would eventually create an opportunity.
There were days when I could barely afford to pay the women from my community who helped me on the farm. I remember sitting on the floor in tears because I had no idea where the money would come from. In one of my darkest moments, a cousin unexpectedly called to check on me. After hearing my situation, he paid my workers and simply said, "You don't have to pay me back. Just make sure you're okay."
That moment reminded me that even when everything seems impossible, hope can arrive in unexpected ways.
A new question that changed everything
As my vegetables began to grow, another challenge appeared. The local store I supplied couldn't buy everything I harvested, and much of it was going to waste.
I refused to let my hard work be thrown away.
So I asked myself another life-changing question:
"What can I create from what I already have?"
For years, I had been making my own natural wellness blend using ingredients that had become part of my daily lifestyle. Friends and family constantly asked how I maintained my weight, especially because I come from a family of naturally fuller figures.
I had never imagined turning it into a business.
Three customers. Three words. One turning point.
One day, I posted a picture of myself on my WhatsApp Status with one simple sentence:
"Ask me how I do it."
People started messaging me immediately.
I told them about the wellness blend I had been making for myself and that I had decided to sell it for R150.
Three people bought it.
I personally made every jar and hand-delivered each one.
A week later, every one of them came back with encouraging feedback about their experience using the product as part of their wellness routine. More importantly, they all told me the same thing:
"Go for it."
Those three words changed my life.
Those three customers became the beginning of Belly Buster Polokwane.
More than a product
Today, Belly Buster has grown into a proudly South African wellness brand trusted by customers across the country. But for me, this business has always been about more than selling a product.
- It represents resilience.
- It represents faith.
- It represents choosing hope when life gives you every reason to quit.
Every jar we produce carries the story of a woman who once carried buckets of water from a river, wondered how she would pay her workers, and refused to stop believing that tomorrow could be better than today.
That is the heart of Belly Buster Polokwane.
And our story is only just beginning.
