#WomensMonth: Thembe Mahlaba on winning a Daytime Emmy and doing it scared
After working on projects like #CreatorsForChange, meeting Michelle Obama, and working to stop the spread of misinformation on the Covid-19 vaccine through her work on the Vax Live campaign, Mahlaba has some significant experience in how to work for what you believe in.
Here, she tells us more about her role at Eclipse, her involvement in Vax Live, and what advice she holds dear…
Tell us more about your role as content creator for Eclipse Communications and what your day-to-day looks like.
I work on one client and a lot of my work is tailored to that brand. My daily duties consist of compiling videos and relatable memes for our audience to engage with.
What do you love most about your work?
Seeing the campaign you have worked so hard on to go live and see how people interact with it.
Tell us more about the campaign you are involved in - Vax Live 2021?
I was part of many international contributors that were encouraging our citizens to get vaccinated, helping debunk some of the myths that have been circulating. We spoke to medical practitioners about herd immunity and also advocated that countries that have an abundance of vaccines to donate to other countries in the world, like South Africa.
Why do you think campaigns like Vax Live are important?
I think it's important for campaigns like Vax Live to exist because we need to keep having the conversation about vaccinations and their impact. As they say, bad news spreads faster than good, and we need to keep counteracting the myths and misinformation.
What was your role in this campaign?
I was a contributor for South Africa and helped answer some of the questions specific to our country. These questions included topics like vaccination hesitancy, the vaccine rollout before it started, and how soon we would get access to it.
What other initiatives have you been a part of, that you are proud of?
#CreatorsForChange was a documentary I was involved in with Youtube and the (Michelle Obama Foundation) Girls Opportunity Alliance. It was showing the impact of girls getting educated and how it can help communities and the types of opportunities it gives them. It has since won a Daytime Emmy.
How important is it to you that women have significant space in the creative workforce?
I think women should have significant space in any space, forum, industry, environment. Basically any and everywhere. We are a large majority of society in the world, and the barring and barrier to entry of certain spaces means we are underrepresented - our needs are not being met as human beings. That is not sustainable for the world we live in now (which hasn't changed significantly, but some strides have been made).
What are the best means to give space for women to be part of this industry?
Opportunities. Give us jobs, offer us a chance to pitch, fund our projects and businesses, promote us, share information with us, pay us what we ask for (not what you think we're worth). There is this notion that women need to be treated differently from what is being done for men - some needs might be different, but the basics are the same.
What is the best advice someone has given you?
I've received a lot of great advice that helps me out in different kinds of situations, but one that I've seen recently that stuck is "Do it scared".
