Durban blogger runs SA’s biggest blogging community

HE may not have passed matric the first time round, but local creative, Sandy Nene, is definitely proof that hard work, passion and a go-getter attitude is the main ingredient for a successful career. Next month the young entrepreneur will be speaking to corporates at the It's OK Conference in Johannesburg.

The vibrant 22-year-old Durban blogger, who founded SA Bloggers, the first and largest community of bloggers in the country, recently quit his job as a senior digital content creator to freelance and concentrate on his 'baby' SA Bloggers.

It wasn't easy for the youngster who grew up in Inanda, to get to this point in his career. But, Sandy says, his love for reading as a child opened many doors. “My mum is a fashion designer and would bring home the newspaper and magazines from her office for me. I entered the Jet Jumpstart Kids poetry competition and my poem on Aids was featured in the magazine. In high school I read about auditions for a Gcina Mhlope play at The Playhouse, African Mother Christmas, and wanted to audition,” he said.

Despite no speech and drama background, Sandy was a born star who shined brightly in the spotlight. Gcina Mhlope was impressed and young Sandy got the part. Unfortunately, as he continued high school and came out of the closet, he was bullied and abused for being openly gay. “As a result I would rather bunk and spend the day in town than face these bullies in my class,” said Sandy. Failing matric was an eye opener for the youngster who realised he couldn't let others impact on his destiny. He went back to school and passed his matric and never looked back.

His mother hoped he would follow in her footsteps and enrolled Sandy into fashion school, but after dabbling in blogging while in school, he decided to start a blogging community, learn more about bloggers around the country, share ideas and content and that's how SA Bloggers was born. “I started it to make friends with other bloggers but within a week my Twitter handle had 500 followers so I started a Facebook page and then bought a website. Since we started more than two years ago, we have collaborated with Samsung, Demologica, Phe Zulu Safaris and Make Up Mob. The conversation Lab has helped me further my studies in social media and grow SA Bloggers and I am very grateful to a host of people that have believed in me and supported me,” he added.

The It's OK Conference is a corporate conference held in Johannesburg, which aims to address prejudice, one of South Africa's challenges of society and the workplace. Sandy will be speaking about the prejudice he experienced as a youth and how he overcame it to develop himself as a freelance creative in the country.

Sandy said he was proud to be part of the corporate conference because, “It's okay to be different, disabled, abused and okay to be you, to ask for help and to excel despite all of this.”