Changing perspectives with creative writing

In 2015, three months after his mother died, Adwela Ntombini resigned from his job as an electrical artisan in the City of Cape Town to pursue his love for creative writing.

Today, that passion has evolved into a passion for marketing and he is one of the graduates given an opportunity to carve out a future in the advertising and marketing industry via Boomtown’s Bayeza Graduate Internship Programme.

This programme strives to not only equip graduates with work experience but to foster a passion for the industry, grow talent in the Eastern Cape and share this talent.

We asked Ntombini – the writer – to share his journey:

From that moment I decided to follow the instinct inside of me since my mother’s passing, that instinct that I would only be happy writing and creating, my passion for building brands was ignited and as they say, the rest is history.

Well, not quite yet …because the history is still being written. Before I tell you how, let me take you back to 1987, three years before I was born.

My mother had just been told by her doctor that she would never be able to conceive again and, if by some miracle she did, that baby would be stillborn. I guess that changed when she gave birth to me in Beyele, a village in the small town of Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape.

 And, that is what fuels my passion for advertising – changing perspective. Change how people see products and brands. Change what each product means to each person’s daily life. That, my friend, is why I left my career as an electrician – to change perspective.

That sounds all inspiring until you remember I have never studied advertising or marketing, nor do I have a single course certificate to put on my CV supporting my claim for a career in advertising.

All I had was faith, a drive to change perspective and just over 100 poems and a couple of short stories. That was my ticket, my [CV] if you will. Short stories and poems; wild, I tell you, but someone had to do it and that someone was me, Adwela Ntombini.

The journey has not been short of challenges or mistakes. But, with perseverance and faith, moving between agencies, starting failed businesses and dealing with anxiety and depression, I refined as a writer and strategic thinker.

Because, as I embraced each challenge, because I had faith that I could change perspective. I have a different opinion, and that opinion needs to be heard.

Being self-taught is no easy feat. It means going the extra mile and pushing beyond what is humanly possible.

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