We’re celebrating this month, because women like Lessa Gordon make us feel so! Lessa is no stranger to the Lead family; her laundry – one of the very first opened in Sea Point in 1985 is fuelled by Speed Queen and Girbau machines.
What started out as ‘just a little business on the side‘ back in ’85 proved to be a viable livelihood for both Lessa and her husband who both quit their full time jobs to provide laundry services to the hotels, guest-houses and residents of Sea Point. Now, 32 years on, Lessa still has the same staff, the same premises, the same customers and business is thriving!
“We bought Speed Queens from Lead and have done so the whole way through!” “My Speed Queens are my children!” she states.
For Lessa, it’s more than just her livelihood, it’s an extension of herself, her ‘stronghold’ as it has been the constant in her life, all these years. Open seven days a week, she has chosen to make it so. “You can’t leave your business,” she says. “I deal directly with my customers. I do my own deliveries; they see my face and they know the job is being done right.”
Lessa’s motto is: “We have choices in life: to be bitter or better. I’ve chosen to be better – to continue to be positive and grateful for everything that I have.”
To the women of South Africa, she says: “Own your own business. If you have a passion, follow it!”
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
Lessa has inspired her children to stand on their own feet. Her daughter Lori Weiner is a dynamic independent woman with her own successful business with a staff compliment of twenty!
“At the moment we are in the beauty space and do influential marketing.” she reveals. The business, aptly named Beauty Bulletin is South Africa’s largest online beauty community and product review club. “We work with all the beauty brands and we do sampling to all the women of South Africa. We sample products out to them to experience products and write reviews on their own social platforms, so it’s a way to make brand awareness on-line.”
Mum of two, Lori advises South African women: “Don’t feel guilty when you working. Be proud of your work. Let your children see that work is valuable.”
WASH WORLD Laundrette
126 Regent Street, Sea Point, Cape Town,
+27214345885