Join us as we get to know Rhulani, the multifaceted Founder of Lunartic Adventures—a company providing beautiful travel experiences across Africa—as she takes us through what it means to create a life where your different passions coexist. We will touch on her early life and journey toward becoming the person and professional she is today.
Who is Rhulani?
So, I'm Rhulani Shabangu. My parents were from the villages of Limpopo and from Mpumalanga, and they worked very hard to make a life for themselves. I was born in Cape Town where we lived for about a year, and then we moved to Johannesburg where I spent most of my life in the suburbs.
My parents worked very hard to put me through really good schools where I eventually studied Accounting. I must say I was also a drama kid in school, and I was very passionate about drama and sports, but my mom was like, 'mm mm darling, This drama-ness...is not going to work.'
I ended up studying accounting and eventually then qualified as a Chartered Accountant, which was really cool, but it's been really fascinating how the journey has allowed me to integrate all my interests. So I have lots of interests that are outside of accounting, mainly in theatre - my first love - and then I started exploring more about contemporary arts - I spent a year working in a bookstore and a gallery which was really cool as it taught me a lot about art.
I'm also very keen on eating well and moving my body. I like to practise yoga and anything that involves moving your body, i.e., dancing. Obviously, travel is a big thing for me and will always be a big part of my life… I am very interested in travelling, especially in Africa.
Why did you start Lunartic Adventures?
My baby, Lunartic, makes my heart warm when I think about it. It has a deeply meaningful place in my heart, and trying to convey that to people is probably very challenging.
I started it because I was very curious about African stories. At Lunartic, we get to learn and experience a place in a way that we can come back and tell stories about it authentically. There is this need for Africans to tell stories about Africa, and we need to see it from our perspective. That's why I wanted to create a space where young Africans can experience their own continent.
As travelling within the continent is harder, it means that we know less about different countries on the continent. Some of the least visited places on earth are in Africa, and it's so funny because the continent has some of the most beautiful places undiscovered and unrepresented. People don't even think of exploring them because it's just not in their peripheral vision or it's not the content they're constantly interacting with.
So I thought there was a big opportunity to tell stories about places that are very misunderstood and under-represented. And then also tap into that opportunity by getting more people to travel to these cities and these places in Africa, which would lead to us all actively contributing towards the solution. Because if more of us go and we travel there, then that will ultimately have a better economic result for the industry and for tourism and travel within the continent itself. And that's probably the two facets feeding into the 'Why'.
The next Lunartic trip is in May, and you are going to Dakar. How are you feeling about that and what should people expect?
I'm so excited, and I'm so glad you brought that up. I must first say that it's a discovery trip, and I get to experience it with a group of people for the very first time. It's lovely being able to bring people along on that journey and set a space where we can all have a collective story formed around individual experiences.
So yes, I'm very excited about this discovery in Dakar. I've always wanted to travel to Dakar—a city at the crossroads of art, a rich culture and a deep history. There's so much to explore! We're travelling there during Dak'Art—Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain, which is an event that happens every two years. It's one of the biggest arty gatherings on the continent, where people come and galleries from all over participate.
We'll be doing a lot of exploring. So, the trip starts off with a surf camp, and I'm very big on movement. There aren't a lot of us represented in that space, and surfing is such an amazing activity. Surfing is huge in Senegal, and I can't wait to have that experience and share that with people.
Senegal is also known for amazing hospitality, so we're going to go visit some cool places and eat beautiful food.
In your childhood, you moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg and you’ve now moved from Johannesburg to London. How has what you’ve understood to be “lifestyle” changed?
It’s definitely very different in a way that I appreciate a lot. Having grown up in Johannesburg, I’ve been used to big spaces, and there's the obvious thing that your living conditions are a little bit different in London.
Then there's the reliance on public transport here, whereas back home, I would get into my little car and go anywhere I wanted. But I prefer the lifestyle that I have here now... It's weird, I love a good walk. It's so great, and let me say, moving is such a natural part of the lifestyle here. It's a place where people naturally are trying to move their bodies, and I appreciate that for the impact that it has on me. For example, in London, a lot of people go to the park and share space together. In SA, most people would be confused if I suggested going to the park to chill over groove or brunch. Also here [London], I think there's this appreciation for small things; there are people living very different lifestyles, and everyone's enjoying that. And I like that appreciation for different lifestyles and small wins.
But I stay in touch back home through the people that I love, i.e., staying abreast with what's happening in their lives. So I stayed connected with the people that I love… and when I moved, I realised I had an auntie here who made food for me, and it felt so good - it reminded me of home.
Let’s delve deeper into Rhulani’s professional life and how it influences the way she thinks about her identity and passions. Together, we explore the challenges that can arise from keeping so many plates spinning and how to achieve a state of ‘balance’.
Moving to your 9-5, your life in financial services. Watching your interview with LifeWithVal on youtube, what stood out was how you value and the importance of purpose and impact in what you do. How does that merge with audit?
Ironically, people think that those in audit might not have an impact on other people. But I look at it very differently and I think that there's such a big opportunity because that is the way lots of Chartered Accountants are trained.
Firstly, there's a development opportunity. I think it's been very fulfilling to be able to work with teams in which you can actively participate in someone's growth and you can actually influence their ideas about how they look at the problems that we work on solving.
A really big part of why I enjoy my job is being able to work with teams and enabling them to see audit in a different light. We can ask questions such as “How can you make this process more efficient? How can you make this more digital? How can we use different tools to solve this problem differently or look at it in different ways?”.
There's a lot of thinking that happens there. Being able to mould that in other people and see how they think about different problems is very inspiring to me.
I'm very passionate about how I train my teams as well as learning on my part. I always say it's so funny, I didn't like reading when I was young. Now, I love reading and in my job you read a lot..I love learning and studying things and seeing how to translate that in the work that we're doing. It's this process of constantly innovating the way that we do things that inspires me to keep going because the world and the financial services industry is moving so quickly with technology.
People thinking about starting a business or passion project sometimes struggle with guilt because the corporate environment has not enabled them to pursue other interests. What are your thoughts on navigating that?
When I started my career in South Africa, I had this idea that accountants solely focused on accounting and were always inspired by reading accounting stuff. I asked myself, "Does this mean I need to stow away my big stage personality, my love of art, and all these amazing things in a little box? Where does that fit in?". I later felt ashamed about all the things I was truly interested in.
Fortunately, I was privileged to work with people and have mentors who inspired me to bring my whole self to work. It was less about being Rhulani the accountant and more about being the real Rhulani. Understanding that I could be Rhulani at work meant that the Rhulani - who is a great public speaker due to her interest in theatre or her passion for art- could bring a different perspective to her role.
For example, see how your photography business or your interests outside of work make you a better professional who stands out more in corporate, because those are skills that you can transfer. The way you look at your photography interests might inform decisions that you make in your job. See yourself as this well-rounded entity, and recognise that every realm in which you operate has different things to teach you that will allow you to validate all aspects of yourself. Know that “all of you” is the photographer, your profession at work, and more.
When I started realising that, it made me feel safe to continue pursuing my business working as an entrepreneur as well as pursuing wellness and active pursuits because it's what makes me Rhulani.
Yes I love that, this ties into the last section which is “unapologetically living outside of work you do”, and this kind of speaks to the boundaries you set to make sure that you are not drowning in that one world but that you are feeding the other parts of your life. How do you do that and what empowers you to draw that line?
It's funny because right now when work is so intensive, I don't feel balanced. I am very much over indexed on my job but it's important that we look at life over time as I have goals in different areas for the long haul.
Generally, something I'm working towards is being more and disciplined in the hours that I work at work. Then, I honestly assess the times when I won't be working my nine-to-five job and ensure I dedicate time to my travel business consistently. I make it a point to have a weekly session dedicated to writing for my business and treating it as a commitment then I prioritise resting on Saturdays as part of this balance.
While there are times when things feel out of sync and you are very over-indexed in one area of your life, it's always about being willing to keep going. Everything, I believe, revolves around finding the right rhythm and movement. Keeping the thing going and not just letting it die by not nourishing it. It's never perfect and I think we're in this constant state of seeking that balance but also appreciating that sometimes balance looks like being off balance, and then giving yourself the time to get back on it.
It's not going to be the perfect balance all the time and sometimes you'll get it right and sometimes you won't but it's about staying in Rhythm making sure that you're still pouring in…even if it's not in the same doses.
Written by: Confidence Nkem-Okorie
Interview by: Tomisin Amsata-Awani
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