We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tlhologelo Mabelane a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tlhologelo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

MabuTribe is in the business of celebrating identity—and we’re doing it through hair.

I didn’t start this brand because I had it all figured out. I started it because I realized there was a part of myself I didn’t understand. When I began losing my hairline, I stopped using chemical relaxers and encountered my natural hair texture—coily and tight—for the very first time. I wish I could say it was a magical moment, but it wasn’t. I felt frustrated, lost, and honestly… less beautiful.

The pressure to conform to straight hair ideals ran deep. And even after knowing the damage, I went back to relaxers—because it was familiar. Because I didn’t know how to care for what naturally grew from my scalp. That broke my heart. It showed me how deeply disconnected I was from something so fundamentally mine.

In prayer, I found clarity. I was reminded of the story of creation—how the Maker went to the soil to form mankind. I was reminded that nothing about us is a mistake. Everything is by design. That’s where our name comes from: Mabu, meaning soil. And Tribe, because healing, identity, and joy are journeys best walked together.

When I began embracing my natural hair, I experienced a quiet confidence I didn’t even know I was missing. And that shift changed everything. I wanted to create a brand that helped others experience the same freedom—especially those with coily, kinky, tightly textured hair.

Our mission is the celebration and redemption of identity—African identity in particular. We want textured hair to feel seen, honored, and innovated for. We want mothers to confidently care for their children’s crowns. We want busy people to have clean, healthy solutions that work in the 21st century without compromising their health or heritage.

At MabuTribe, we believe that how you see yourself affects how you show up in the world—and that in matters of identity, nothing is small. Everything matters.

MabuTribe was never just about products. It’s about dignity. It’s about joy. It’s about finally seeing yourself—and choosing to love what you see.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Tlhologelo Mabelane, and I’m the co-founder of MabuTribe. While we operate in the haircare space, we like to say we’re really in the business of celebrating identity—through hair.

MabuTribe was born from a deeply personal place. I was losing my hairline as I began my career, and in trying to restore it, I made the decision to stop chemically processing my hair. That meant dealing with it as it grows—tightly coiled, textured, and often misunderstood by most mainstream products. What began as a journey to regrow my hairline turned into something much deeper: I uncovered a confidence I didn’t even know I had been missing—one that I deeply desired to help others discover. A groundedness. A sense of wholeness that comes from embracing who yoou are and how you have been carefully created.

And that’s the heartbeat of MabuTribe.

Together with my co-founder, Funani Nyamande, we’re building a brand that goes beyond surface-level beauty. We offer pro-health hair products, and we’re developing innovative tools specifically for textured hair. But more than that, we’re on a mission to help people with Afro-textured hair rediscover joy, ease, and pride in caring for it.

Because how we see ourselves affects how we show up in the world—and there are no small matters when it comes to our sense of identity and self-esteem. Hair is not excluded.

At MabuTribe, we create non-toxic, moisture-rich products designed to work with, not against, tightly coiled hair. Every formula is crafted to retain moisture, support healthy growth, and simplify routines. We’re also in the process of developing a new detangling tool designed specifically for tangle-prone textures—shaped by both science and the lived realities of our community.

What sets us apart is that we’ve built this brand by listening—first to our own needs, and then to the needs of the people we serve. We’re deeply rooted in community, identity, and care. Whether it’s a mom learning to style her child’s natural hair, or someone rediscovering the beauty of their coils after years of hiding them—we walk that journey with them.

We’re most proud when we see our clients—especially children and families—stand taller because they finally see the beauty in what grows naturally from their scalp. That’s the impact we live for. Because for us, this is not just about hair. It’s about identity, dignity, and joy.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the hardest lessons I had to unlearn in business was tying my self-worth and identity to my business results.

I used to believe that if my business wasn’t succeeding, I wasn’t succeeding. But when you look at the numbers—how around 80% of small businesses fail—you begin to see how dangerous that thinking can be. If we attach our worth to outcomes like that, it means there are a lot of incredibly broken people walking around, and I was on my way to becoming one of them.

After leaving corporate to pursue entrepreneurship, I went all in—heart, time, resources, everything. I believed focus would bring success, but slowly the line between who I was and what I was building began to blur. I remember feeling deep shame during a season when the business was struggling. That was my wake-up call. I realized I was holding on too tightly—not just to the business, but to what it meant about me. It impacted my ability to think clearly, make sound decisions, and let go of what wasn’t working. It wasted time, drained creativity, and became a mental trap.

I had to unlearn the belief that I am my business. The truth is: I’m valuable first—before the revenue, before the results. Our careers, our ventures, they are ways we contribute. But they are not where our worth begins.

Now I show up differently. Grounded. Detached from outcome, but committed to purpose. And I wish I had learned it earlier—but I’m grateful I learned it at all.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of my biggest pivots came during a season when our business hit rock bottom. We’d faced multiple losses and major changes, and for the first time, I had enough emotional distance from the business to ask: Should we continue or call it quits?

My mentor encouraged me to take a pulse check on the market—so we did. This was just as COVID was winding down. While we had grown digitally, the numbers weren’t adding up. We had to get honest.

I conducted deep market research and asked our customers: With so many products now available for Black women, are your needs actually being met? Do you feel confident and comfortable wearing your natural hair?

The answers surprised us. Many said, “Yes, we love our hair. Yes, there are products. But it’s still too painful. Too dry. Too time-consuming. We don’t even know how to style it.”

That insight changed everything.

We realized the gap wasn’t just about product—it was about innovation. Black women didn’t just need more creams or oils. They needed tools and solutions that made textured hair easier to live with in the pace of modern life. That was our pivot: from simply being a haircare company to becoming a hair innovation and technology company.

We’re now focused on making natural hair not just beautiful—but more manageable, more joyful, and more doable for the busy 21st century lifestyle

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mabutribe.com
• Instagram: would be great to get tagged on both business and personal: https://www.instagram.com/mabu_tribe/ personal: https://www.instagram.com/tlholomabelane/
• Facebook: would be great to get tagged on both business and personal: https://www.facebook.com/mabutribe and personal : https://www.facebook.com/tlhologelo.mabelane/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlhologelo-mabelane/
• Twitter: would be great to get tagged on both business and personal: https://www.tiktok.com/@mabutribe. and personal :https://www.tiktok.com/@tlholomabelane
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mabutribe4040

Image Credits

credit Unathi Mbonambi for pictures please : except the product pictures and the no professional https://www.instagram.com/unathimbonambi_photography/