Resilience and adaptability have kept Thung-Thung’s carpentry business Catch Creations thriving despite being a female-owned business in a male-dominated sector. In an interview on Ubuntu Radio, she detailed how her business survived challenges caused by the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

When she resigned from her corporate banking job to pursue a carpentry business, she was excited for the road ahead. “I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in my corporate job, and I wanted to turn my hobby of doing DIY furniture projects into a business,”. After she completed a carpentry course and used a portion of her provident fund to buy machines to start her business, she was positive and did not expect the challenges that lay ahead.

Since money was tight, she started working from her mother’s garage and a year into her business COVID-19 lockdown restrictions hindered her business from operating. “The pandemic brought me to my knees; it was a depressing time which led to loss of my house and car. I had to downgrade to survive but I persevered because I knew these sacrifices were momentarily,”.

Today her , Gauteng-based business is fully operational and has residential, corporate and hospitality clients.  Catch Creations offers bespoke carpentry solutions for all their client’s interior furniture needs. They design, manufacture and install furniture items such as kitchens counters, cupboards, wall units, and shelves.

“We are branching into making multipurpose and convertible furniture pieces. My team and I have designed a chest of drawers’ unit that also converts into an office station with a pullout desk.” This is one of many creative and innovative ideas that Thung-Thung believes will lead to the success of her business.

Now that she has overcome some of her challenges and has honed her carpentry skills, she is looking forward to continuing to grow her business and create jobs.

Listen to her inspirational story that was aired on Ubuntu Radio.

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