APRIL 2023 THE VOICE
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Lifestyle
Peppah proving to be very hot property
Meet the three women who have got tongues wagging in the music business. By Joel Campbell
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ANAI MAVUNGA, Beverley Akom and Sade Salami have known for a while that when it comes to their respective areas of expertise, they were hot stuff – and that was before the three came together to launch their company, Peppah. A bespoke events, music and PR organisation, Danai told Lifestyle that Peppah is for us, by us, a business that aims to elevate and positively promote the culture. Only a year down the road as an official company eppah have got tongues wagging, having garnered the attention of and worked with some big players. In their first months working across the Tech, Music and Entertainment industries, the company boasts a glowing reputation with clients such as TikTok, Google, Empire, Black Tech Fest, Translate Culture, NHC Carnival, MOBO Awards, Ghana’s rising star and Black Sherif, as well as South Africa’s Amapiano twin pioneers, Major League Djz. It’s quite a remarkable feat and a glowing testament to the tenacity of the three Black women who run the company. Speaking on their ambitions in the space, Danai said there were big inspirations who have helped to shape how they build for the future. “We recently asked ourselves what we want out of this, and legacy is definitely at the forefront,” Danai enthused. “We’re only a year in and we’re really in this for the long run. So it’s about how do we really want to be remembered? What is it that we want to leave behind?” She added: “RIP Jamal Edwards. When he passed away one of the great things that people kept talking about was what he left behind, what he gave to
the culture. SBTV inspired Link UP TV, etc. “Things like that, what he gave us, is priceless. “So for us, that is exactly what we want to do for our sector. How do we inspire young Black girls that look like us? What blueprint are we leaving for them?”
“We asked ourselves what we want out of this. Legacy is at the forefront” Peppah services include, Ideation, Creative, Contracting, Gifting, Events Management and Consultancy. Sade said nearly two decades of event delivery at the highest levels has put her in a position to bring real value to the Peppah partnership. I ve been doing events for years. Mainly corporate, working with big tech companies, ones that everybody knows and uses
on a daily basis, and I have always had a passion and love for it,” Sade explained. “I think what we bring to the table is that we are three very dynamic, very focused, very driven women that have come together to create this company, out of hard conditions because of the pandemic. We just thought ‘you know what, let’s bring our skills together and create something which is Peppah’. “Last year we had back-toback events, and we’re a baby in terms of the business world. “But we are really focused on creating great events for Black people and want to work with brands that also want to do the same thing. “Speaking to the culture, that’s what we’re all about. Our tagline is ‘We’re Driven By The Culture’, so everything we do we’re thinking about how are Black people placed. How are they being perceived? How can they connect with this agency, this company or this business? How can we have them have a great experience and tell really interesting stories through events and PR and music?”
GOOD TIMES: The talented trio have found a winning formula through Peppah Bringing a sharp focus on managing the pennies, Beverley said her role came about as a direct result of her former vocation. She said: “My role is operations and finance so any events that do come up or PR, I deal with most of the background and logistics. “Primarily, my background is corporate finance I ve known Danai my whole adult life and I’ve worked with Sade on events
for two years now. When I started, I was like, this is something that I want to get into fulltime. So as of anuary Peppah started. Danai and I had another events company, so we already worked closely in that aspect, but she suggested it would be good if we all came together. “We’ve got Sade’s expertise, Danai’s knowledge in events
PARTY TIME: Peppah are helping make a mark with bespoke events (photos: Digitally Kreative)
and music and me trying to merge the two together, making sure everything works more efficiently more effectively With over years of e perience between them in the industry, Peppah pride themselves in having a unique understanding of event execution, solving pain points and raising brand artist profiles within the media. Underscoring their determination to make significant inroads is their belief that the time was right for a unique company like theirs to take a stranglehold of how the best of Black culture is presented. In short, few can deliver the way that they can. Danai added: “We really understand what it takes to bring profiles to the forefront how to run sweet events and how to rere ally honour the culture. “Black people, we run tings. Let’s be real, we are at the forefore front of the culture, we are popupopu lar culture. “And we see a lot of brands that would want to buy in, but then there is that whole thing of not paying people and not giving credit where it’s due.”
