#WIB – Q&A With Raeesa Gabriels CEO & Co-Founder Of Level Finance
1. Can you please tell us more about your business?
A. Level Finance is a majority black female-owned team disrupting access to pay for South African households. Our holistic approach to employee financial wellness provides immediate financial support through on-demand pay, assisting employees to get out of debt, and building financial muscle through emergency funds and savings.
Our vision is to create financial agility for the formally employed by offering holistic financial wellness tools that empower employees who currently live pay cheque to pay cheque. The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the current global economic downturn, forced many employees further into debt.
Employees are not able to effectively use their income to get out of a vicious cycle of debt or contribute to the economy in more meaningful ways.
Level’s short-term solution creates wealth and dignity, while offering employees a better alternative to exploitative high interest loans/credit that fuels the vicious cycle of indebtedness.
2. When, how and why did you start your business?
A. I came across the idea of earned wage access to on-demand pay in 2018. I didn’t plan to become an entrepreneur. However, I realized that this innovative solution called on-demand pay could be the answer to the indebtedness problem that the 30-day pay cycle created – a problem I was all too familiar with thanks to my working-class upbringing.
I come from a community and system that intentionally excluded a demographic of people from two critical assets: education, and the financial system.
Back in the day, the greatest resource that kept my family out of debt was the fact that my dad got paid weekly. The frequency of his pay allowed my parents to match their timing between income and expenses as they happened and because my dad earned less money more frequently, he was able to budget and manage his finances more carefully and save a percentage of his weekly wages to assist my mother with her debit orders at the end of the month. The situation changed when my dad got into a 30-day cycle. My parents started eroding their savings to cover sudden expenses and emergencies and started borrowing to see themselves through the month.
I had a personal eye-opening experience when my car got stolen. At the time, I had finally gotten myself out of debt and I didn’t want to get back into credit to finance a new car. I approached my company and was referred to the employee benefits portal, which couldn’t help me in any way or prevent me from getting back into debt. Unfortunately, there was nothing that I could utilize from these benefits my company offered, and this what ultimately led me to starting Level Finance.
3. What is your role in the business?
A. I am a co-founder and CEO, involved in strategy, driving and creating culture, keeping everyone focused on small weekly tasks and wins that enable our short- and longer-term strategy and objectives, dealing with and managing investors, doing feasibility studies, as well as experiments for new products. We are a small team, so I am involved in everyday operations from sales and marketing to product sprints, on-boarding and activating customers, as well as dealing with end-users when I need to.
4. Where did you study and what did you study?
A. My parents did not have the funding for me to study and I was not sure what I really wanted to do or specialize in. I was very fortunate as I went from working in retail as a 16-year-old, to managing a franchise when I finished school. I worked in education, SME’s, parastatals, public service and blue-chip companies. I leveraged off every opportunity and sponsor to skill and study during this period and eventually specialized as an IT Service management consultant for multiple blue-chip companies globally. My background and qualifications are within the Information Technology and cloud solution space. I also have extensive background and experience in skills development, Training, facilitation as well as adoption and consumption of new products within organizations and now in entrepreneurship. It’s a life-long journey of learning.
5. How did you finance your business?
A. When Level Finance was just an idea, we entered the AlphaCode Incubator competition, sponsored by RMI, and was one of 8 start-ups chosen to receive grant funding to build our business. We currently have international and local investors in our business. Our investor journey and process are an entirely different interview on its own or maybe a book for female founders one day.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
A. My most effective time for working is at 5 am in the mornings, with a 45-minute power nap during the day. I usually do all my administrative stuff in the mornings and have a checklist that is tracked on a daily basis. My team and I do weekly sprints and closeouts where we track our deliverables for each day. I wish I could say I have a typical day, however, between having a full-time job, a business, being a mother and undertaking little projects every single week, it’s impossible to maintain a scheduled routine for every day.
7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?
A. I believe the work/life balance is a myth, especially if you’re an entrepreneur/ woman and mother.
I make sure I get enough sleep every night, eat well and schedule quality time with my family. I intentionally create the time and space for my loved ones.
My distraction/ hobby is in creating beautiful spaces, so I am always redecorating, breaking down walls, plastering, painting or gardening and, because my love language is in cooking, I am usually surrounded by my family or friends in the kitchen discussing either business or the most mundane things. In fact, that’s how Level Finance started, in my kitchen with my husband who is also a co-founder.
8. What drives you and inspires you?
A. Being mindful, being intentional, being deliberate and being impactful. It is very important to me in the work that I do, in how I invest my time or even when I speak, to do it in this manner or form. I know that there are many things that we must do, where you don’t see immediate results, however, whether it is making a meal for someone or taking up someone’s time, I try and use these principles as much as I can in everything I do.
9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
A. When I am in a creative space, a space that is less pressured and allows for engagement, dialogue, debate and sharing. This is usually in my kitchen when I am cooking and engaging, around the dinner table or when I am surrounded by people who are intentional and generous with their time. I believe that space, freedom for expression and energy is where great ideas are born.
10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?
A. I try and leverage off as many of my networks as possible through referrals and introductions. However, we do use lead generation tools like Linkedin sales navigator and Dripify as we are B2B2C business.
11. What is next for your business?
A. I am always thinking about how I can create more impact, do good and make money. It would be in the space that allows for women to build ecosystems that leverages off their businesses, skills, products, solutions, experience, networks, investments, and opportunities. There are more of these starting and growing in comparison to when I started my business in tech, however very disparate. There needs to be one place that connects all aspiring and young female entrepreneurs.
12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?
A. Becoming an entrepreneur will probably be the hardest yet most rewarding thing you will ever do especially as a woman. You will constantly question your sanity, your capabilities and whether it’s something you can do, so it’s very important to surround yourself with people on a similar path. Not every person is going to be supportive of your chosen journey, women undermine other women, so always lead by example, and find your entrepreneurial tribe.
Impostor syndrome never goes away, so always be mindful of your ego and insecurities. Find a business coach/ mentors as early as possible and most importantly make sure that the investor you choose is the right investor for you and your business. Always trust your intuition and your gut feeling when choosing an investor. If you have a great product, passion and traction, you will attract the right investor.
Contact info:
Email: raeesa@levelfinance.co.za
Website: www.levelfinance.co.za