Warona Tsiane

At 19, Warona Tsiane is proving that age is no barrier to leadership, innovation or impact. As co-founder and co-CEO of Tee Sisters, she leads a growing youth enterprise that includes a flower and gift business, a published entrepreneurship guide and an expanding mentorship network for young entrepreneurs. Motivated by South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis, Warona saw entrepreneurship as a tool for community change. She manages operations, finances, customer engagement and marketing  — using digital platforms to empower others with practical business knowledge. Her impact has reached international stages. With her sister Onalerona, Warona represented South Africa at the SAGE Global Teen Entrepreneurship  Competition in Japan, placing in the Top Three globally and winning awards for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). Warona is a regular speaker at youth events and plans to study entrepreneurship and innovation. She remains driven by one belief: “When youth believe in themselves, they don’t wait for opportunities — they create them.”

Matriculated at Evolve Online School, which is part of Crawford Schools in South Africa, achieving two distinctions.

• Being the only multi-winner of the annual company team award – the award rewards teams who have collaborated to deliver above and beyond customer and business results.
• Key contributor to the Dialdirect Pothole Patrol – alongside Discovery Insure and the JRA

A person I truly look up to is Oprah Winfrey. Her journey of overcoming challenges and using her platform to inspire, educate and empower others deeply resonates with me. I admire her resilience, generosity and commitment to making a positive impact in the world. My mother and father have also been incredible mentors throughout my life. As entrepreneurs who have run multiple businesses — some successful, others not — their experience and knowledge have been invaluable to the growth of Tee Sisters and me. Their unwavering support, guidance and belief in my dreams have given me the confidence to pursue entrepreneurship and give back to my community. Another key mentor is Dr Thabo Pitse, the founder of SAGE South Africa. He played a crucial role in helping my sister and me take our work to the global stage by supporting our participation in the entrepreneurship competition in Japan. His mentorship taught us valuable lessons about leadership, innovation and the power of believing in the potential of youth.