Medical doctor Karabo Tlale expands horizons with skincare line

Dr Karabo Tlale

According to Tlale, some women can feel demotivated to pursue careers in medicine because they regard it as a male-dominated field. She feels that a concerted effort should be made to attract more young women to the profession and equipping them with the necessary career guidance from early on.

“Medical institutions and the Department of Health should create programmes to guide learners into the medical field,” she says.

While Tlale enjoys her career in medicine, she says she faced challenges when trying to enter the space. “I had to do a BSc as a degree, then an Honours in Microbiology before getting admitted into medicine. Resources were also a problem, including getting sufficient funding for my tuition fees and achieving overall survival during my studies," she explains.

Tlale believes her entrepreneurial skill started to show when she began selling different items to raise pocket money, and has resurfaced with the recent launch of her skincare range.

"Reinventing oneself and creating elements to diversify one’s portfolio is one important aspect in life. It brings along a break in what turns out to be a monotonous career path. As it is, I have just launched the Sensual You body care range, which in essence, is not a different line from medicine, but it does bring out other skills, like business savviness and creativity," she says.

#WomensMonth: Sheba Feminine shifting the narrative around menstrual health

Lauren Hartzenberg  12 Aug 2020

As entrepreneurship isn’t an easy journey, Tlale says we should play our part in supporting female business owners. “We can support them by looking at their emotional wellbeing since one faces a lot of challenges in setting up and maintaining a business. Funding also has to be made accessible for new ventures. Once established, engaging direct contacts becomes key and supporting local makes it easy to grow one's business.”

Tlale says that to support more female entrepreneurs, women's networks need to be expanded. “This can be done by women telling their stories so other women can relate,” she explains. “Sharing information and working together is beneficial. Holding seminars, workshops, etc. to enlighten women and to recruit women when projects are launched in the communities is essential.”

She also believes in the power of mentorship and would consider mentoring another woman not only to uplift them, but also because imparting knowledge is one of the best ways to assess one's own abilities and achievements. “I personally would be really happy to mentor another woman. It surely would need time invested in it and commitment, but at the end of the day, it would be rewarding," she says.