Graduation was supposed to open the door to Umhlali resident Lwandile Mhlongo’s dream career.

Instead, it introduced her to rejection, uncertainty and lessons no classroom had prepared her for.

The 24-year-old interior designer has turned those early career struggles into The Realities of the Design World, a book she hopes will make the journey easier for young creatives following in her footsteps.

For Mhlongo, the book is more than a career guide. It is filled with advice she wishes someone had given her before she left university and entered the demanding creative industry.

Originally from Pinetown, Mhlongo attended John Wesley Primary School and St Benedict School before studying interior design at Inscape.

Her creative interests soon stretched beyond interior design. She developed skills in graphic and publication design, working as a graphic designer for three years before recently moving into interior design in Ballito.

But it was the difficult period between qualification and employment that helped shape her book.

Mhlongo discovered that having a degree was only the beginning. Young designers still had to learn how to build portfolios, tailor CVs, make industry connections and deal with the disappointment of job rejection.

“Nobody told me that confidence comes from experience, not the qualification,” she said.

She also interviewed students, designers and interior design business owners to include different perspectives.

Readers are given space to journal, sketch and reflect on their own journeys.

Mhlongo’s first edition was released online in 2024 but she admits she did little to promote it because she lacked confidence.

“I didn’t feel confident in myself because it was my first book,” she said.

That has changed with the second edition, which will be available from September 30. The book can be pre booked at a cost of R290 and once published, it will retail for R320.

Mhlongo has also launched a publishing company, Asisilo Published, through which she hopes to help aspiring authors navigate the self-publishing process.

To pre-order a book you can whatsApp her at 073 366 1872 or find her on TikTok and Facebook: Asisilo published.