She is a social media influencer, hustler and businesswoman. She is also the oldest sister to Shaka Ilembe leading actress Nomzamo Mbatha and actor Zamani Mbatha. Wendy Mbatha has made a name for herself outside of her famous siblings as a hard-working entrepreneur.

SCAMMED!

Wendy runs a hair business, Perfect Crown, NCC Skincare and Wendy Online Clothing and she says her skin business recently took a knock after being scammed by family members, whom she had hired out of trust. "It was the highest level of betrayal for me," she says. The incident happened this year but affected her business and numbers throughout the year. "My skin products were stolen and replicated by people whom I trusted - family members that I had hired to run the business. A lot of money was lost," she says. "It was a grave loss for me and my business. I needed to sit with myself, close every door and speak to myself."

BAD FOR BUSINESS

Wendy says the family staff members duplicated her products. "Clients bought from them, thinking they are buying from me. People's skins got damaged and burned. I had to nurse clients," she says. "After that mess, they started their own skincare products with almost the same plan, their stickers and branding was similar to mine. They tried to replicate what I had done. They used some suppliers and did their own nonsense," she adds. Wendy doesn't know who to trust anymore. "It's really disheartening because you don't know who to trust. We are always advised to work with family and grow the business, others say, never work with family or friends. I had to help the clients who had lost money and those whose skins had been damaged. Financially I haven't recovered."

CONFRONTATION

She hasn't gotten the courage to sit down and address the matter. "I know I am talking about it now, but it's a way of healing myself. But I don't like not talking to people, it's draining. But sometimes confrontation makes you vulnerable." But she plans to recoup from the business mishap and start over. "That's the nature of business, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. But this has taught me to be careful who I trust and who I hire and the people around me."