The Good Business Journal: Tell me a bit about where you grew up and the kind of example your grandparents set for you early on.
Tumi:
I grew up in Katlehong and was mostly raised by my grandparents. What was remarkable was that both sets of grandparents were entrepreneurial. They built a thriving textile business and did it all without the kind of access to capital people speak about today. Everything had to be built through hustle, discipline, and consistency.
Only later did I really appreciate what I had seen up close. They created stability, opportunity, and access for the family, and I think that planted something in me very early, even if I did not yet have the language for it.
Stefan: When did you begin to see business as something you might want to pursue for yourself?
Tumi:
I was always interested in business and was a big reader from a young age. I worked in a bookstore for a time, studied finance, and eventually started my career at Rand Merchant Bank as a structured lending specialist and private banker. It was a valuable environment because I was exposed to deals, to how businesses are funded, and to how capital can either unlock growth or constrain it.
But even while I was in corporate, the entrepreneurial instinct never really left me. After about seven years, I realised the corporate path was no longer enough for me. It was a great learning ground, but I knew I wanted to build rather than only support other people’s businesses from the banking side.
Stefan: How did your transition from corporate to entrepreneurship happen?
Tumi:
It happened quite organically. I was at a braai when the conversation turned to a new venture capital fund that had just been launched. They were looking for entrepreneurs, and one of my colleagues mentioned that I was always talking about business and exploring ideas.
At that stage, I had already been trying to figure out what kind of venture I wanted to build. So when the introduction happened, it did not feel completely random. It felt like one of those moments where opportunity arrives when you have done the preparation in the background.
Stefan: That conversation obviously resulted in funding being approved for your venture. How did that feel?
Tumi:
Yes, I was granted R5 million in funding. Funny enough, I was not excited.
I knew there was a massive responsibility attached to it, and I felt the weight of it more than the thrill.
That is something I still think about today. Capital is a responsibility. If you do not manage it properly, it can be taken away from you, and rightly so.
Because I had worked with money before, I understood that early. The funding was not a reward. It was a burden I now had to carry well.
Stefan: And that meant walking away from the comfort of a salary and a fairly secure career.
Tumi:
Exactly. That was one of the hardest shifts. I had a job, a salary, medical aid, and the predictability that comes with formal employment. I even went through a kind of separation anxiety after leaving.
When your whole adult life has taught you that your salary lands on a certain day every month, and then suddenly you have to create that certainty for yourself, your mind has to adjust.
I also had responsibilities. I was supporting my mother financially, so this was not a casual decision. I had to have real conversations with my family. I remember telling my manager and colleagues that I was leaving, and people were genuinely confused.
But I had support where it mattered. My mother encouraged me, and that gave me confidence. Looking back now, twelve years later, it was a life-changing decision.
Stefan: Where did the inspiration for the Zenzele model come from?
Tumi:
I noticed that corporations were taking employee wellness seriously. That surprised me at first, but I began to see that forward-thinking businesses were investing in the health of their people because they understood its effect on productivity, retention, and long-term performance.
I saw an opportunity there and built a case around it, but I also knew I did not have direct operational experience in the industry. What helped me was being honest about that and surrounding myself with people who did.
I had zero experience in the fitness industry, but in my funding pitch, I spoke about bringing together more than a hundred years of experience through the team around me. The investors were not backing my technical fitness knowledge. They were backing my ability to assemble the right people.
That became a core principle for me very early. I did not need to be an expert in every function. I needed to know how to find the right people and create the conditions for them to do excellent work.
Stefan: How different was the reality from what you first put down on paper?
Tumi:
Completely different.
I remember confidently telling the investment committee that we would be profitable in six months. Six months in, we did not even have a website. We were still figuring out how to position the business and how to make the model work in the real world.
That was a humbling lesson. The version of a business that exists on paper and the version that must survive in reality are two different things. I think things only really started turning around after about three years.
Stefan: What was your biggest takeaway from that early period?
Tumi:
The ability to negotiate is just as important as strategy. You can have a good model and a good idea, but if you cannot negotiate your way through difficult phases, you may never survive long enough to prove the model right.
Stefan: You mentioned that the initially planned timeline didn’t come to fruition. What motivated you to stick with it?
Tumi:
I was motivated by purpose.
For me, entrepreneurship was about taking something that existed as a concept in my mind and turning it into something real, something that could create impact. It was about employing people, creating jobs, building something recognised in South Africa, and contributing in some way to the economy.
If money is the only reason you started, what happens when the money is not there? What happens when the timeline is longer than you imagined? If there is no deeper reason, that is when many people give up.
Stefan: Covid must have tested that sense of purpose quite severely.
Tumi:
It did. Covid was one of the hardest periods we have ever faced. Our business was directly affected because fitness centres were simply not allowed to operate.
We had to make difficult decisions. We shut down some operations, cancelled contracts, and I went through my first retrenchment process, which was emotionally very difficult. At the same time, no one knew how long the situation would last, which made planning incredibly hard.
That period also forced us to evolve. We moved into digital services and remote offerings so employees working from home could still access our programmes.
Surviving that period mattered. We did not close down, and in many ways, it confirmed that the business was built on something more solid than momentum alone.
Stefan: Your initial funding pitch was based on your ability to assemble the right team. What is your philosophy on recruitment, and has it evolved with the business?
Tumi:
Early on, I was mainly interested in skill and experience. That still matters, but over time, I learned that talent on its own is not enough.
Now I pay much closer attention to alignment, character, and integrity. You can have highly skilled people, but if there is too much ego or values are not aligned, that can damage a business very quickly.
One principle that has stayed with me is that I never want to be the smartest person in the room. I want people around me who are better than I am in their areas, people who solve problems and can see things I cannot. That is how businesses grow.
Stefan: Zenzele has since expanded into premium sportsware through APARA. How did that come about, and what did that process teach you?
Tumi:
It was my brainchild, but it also came from a very practical experience. Palmer Mutandwa, APARA’s COO, was in the textile space and was the first person to tailor a suit for me. I was so impressed with my experience with him as a customer that I approached him with the concept, and together we started working through the look, feel, and product side of the business.
What that process taught me is that even when you have had success in one business, you cannot assume the formula will simply transfer to another. We have not shot the lights out with it yet, and that is intentional because I have learned that businesses do not succeed overnight.
We started with a minimal viable product first, rather than rushing into a full retail footprint. We tested it within our existing gym environment, where the cost was already absorbed and where we could listen closely to what customers were responding to. The market tells you what it wants; your job is to pay attention.
Stefan: What does long-term success look like to you?
Tumi:
It means being intentional. It means building with integrity. It means not taking shortcuts.
One of the dangers in South Africa is that entrepreneurship can sometimes be presented as glamour, speed, and access. It gets painted as if success is simply about being connected or finding a shortcut into money. But that is not the kind of blueprint I want to follow.
If you want to build something that lasts, the foundation matters. You cannot build it unethically and hope it survives in a meaningful way. When businesses are built badly, or capital is misused, the damage is wider than just one person.
So for me, legacy is not only about whether my children inherit a business. It is also about what kind of values they inherit with it. If it takes twenty years to build something properly without taking shortcuts, then so be it.
Stefan: South Africa is prone to losing its best and brightest. What would you say to those looking at the supposed greener pastures?
Tumi:
There are unresolved problems here, but unresolved problems create room for meaningful entrepreneurship.
That is what many people miss. In a highly developed economy, many systems are already established. In South Africa, and in Africa more broadly, there is still room to solve real problems, build real businesses, and make a visible contribution.
History shows that great nations are built by people who choose to take responsibility for where they are.
Yes, we have challenges, but this is still a beautiful country, and for entrepreneurs who are willing to think long term, there is still so much room to create something meaningful here.
Stefan:
Tumi Phake’s story is grounded less in theory than in experience: choose your people carefully, stay patient, and do not mistake momentum for something built to last. It is a sober view of entrepreneurship shaped by risk, responsibility, and the long work of building over time.
