Allegro Dinkwanyane is a force to be reckoned with in the business world. In fact, her success is rather intimidating. Yet beyond the boardroom, she embraces motherhood, Instagram and all foodie things in the most humble and charming ways.
You can learn a lot about Allegro Dinkwanyane from her Instagram grid…
She’s a mother, bookworm and fashionista – honestly, her shoes are to die for! She’s humble, candid and most definitely a foodie – the pics of her dishes are droolworthy! She’s a savvy businesswoman, influencer and serial entrepreneur – seriously, she built her business from a blog to nine entities under one umbrella group.
To put it frankly, Allegro is an absolute powerhouse. And she’s refreshingly authentic too.
What you see on Insta is what you get in real life – or, as this Waterfall City resident and businesswoman puts it, ‘I really just post what I like and I guess the likeminded people or people who find my content interesting will follow.’ And they do – her following is substantial, yet she says she doesn’t obsess over social media numbers.
‘I love the opportunities social media offers us to connect with people we probably would have never met. I personally just like sharing some parts of my life as well as my business so that my followers either relate or see a different side to me they never knew existed.’
It’s unsurprising then, that this social media-savvy businesswoman’s background is in media. Allegro majored in communications and philosophy for her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and she has a social media and marketing qualification from the University of Cape Town too. Yet, a lot of her business knowledge comes from on-the-job learning as, during the final year of her degree at UJ, the then-21-year-old Allegro started her blog, Orgella Entertainment.
‘I took the leap of faith to start my business with no prior work experience because I wanted to learn from a young age and have the opportunity to make all the mistakes that needed to be made in the early stages of my business,’ explains Allegro.
‘A lot of people told me that I’m too young and inexperienced to run my own media company but I did it anyway. I don’t regret the step I took, although it was not easy, it has been rewarding.’
Seated at coffee shops in those early days, and later converting a bedroom into a home office, Allegro built up her business. Soon she added a charity foundation and public relations agency to form the Orgella Group.
Just nine years later, nine entities now fall under the Orgella Group, including events management, private property and farming. Allegro has hired staff and moved into office space in Waterfall City. ‘Every business in Orgella Group is something that I am passionate about and saw a gap in the market to offer something unique or simply a service that people needed as a better alternative.’
Her business is most certainly a passion project – so much so that the name ‘Orgella’ is Allegro spelt backwards. ‘The name itself was inspired by Oprah Winfrey. She has a company called Harpo, which is her name backwards, so I also used my name Allegro backwards to name my company.’
Her goal is for the Orgella Group to be one of the biggest 100 per cent black female-owned companies in Africa. ‘We’re going to achieve this by being consistent in the work we do and always showing up.’
Already within this first decade of running her company, Allegro has been ‘showing up’ in business circles for her efforts. In 2017, she was named as a Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 honouree. ‘It’s one of my great business accolades and it all happened when I was 27! It goes to show that sometimes all you really have to do is put in the work, and the accolades will follow. The right people are always watching.’
Entrepreneurship runs in Allegro’s veins as she says she was raised by a family of entrepreneurs. Her uncles and aunts ran supermarkets, and her mother, who is a teacher, also started her own business on the side. ‘It was encouraging and I knew back then that one day I would also like to create a legacy of my own in the business world.’
Building a legacy and creating jobs for youth are the best parts of being an entrepreneur for Allegro. These are also what feed the Orgella Group’s ethos, as Allegro says the group aims to be informative, empowering and entertaining. ‘It always comes back to leaving a great impact, changing the people around us for the better and empowering not just the consumers or audience but also ourselves as a team.’
Yet, Allegro admits it’s a journey that isn’t for the fainthearted and can be lonely. She says her team, family and small circle of friends are a great support system, while her biggest motivator on those tough days is her 22-month-old son, Elohim.
One of the advantages of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic for Allegro has been that she’s been able to spend more time with Elohim in-between working from home and, being a ‘foodie by nature’, she has enjoyed spending time in the kitchen. ‘I love food, cooking and trying new recipes. And now that I have a little human being to share my food with, I love creating different dishes for him to try. My favourite things to make include pasta, seafood dishes, healthy treats or snacks and baked goodies.’
In fact, Allegro enjoys cooking so much she has an Insta account dedicated to showcasing the mouth-watering treats she whips up in her kitchen.
Beyond the boardroom, Allegro says she’s actually ‘quite the introvert’ and she maintains her positive mindset by praying, meditating and spending time with loved ones, and, at the end of a long day, she loves to soak in a bubble bath. She finds journaling therapeutic, and, to cope with the pressure of running her business, she takes time to rest every so often. ‘I unplug, travel to somewhere with a beach, spend a few days there just relaxing and praying and recentring myself then come back to tick more goals off my vision board.’
This really characterises Allegro: She’s a dynamic businesswoman who’s focused on growing her company to greater heights, yet she’s humble and genuine which makes her so relatable.
‘I just want to be the best version of myself in this new decade of life and be the best mother my son could ever ask for.’
Details: Follow Allegro on @allegro_d as well as her foodie delights @allegroskitchen and find out more about the Orgella Group on orgellagroup.com
* Text: Daniella Graham. Photograph: Katlego Mokubyane. Make-up artist: @makeupbyzodwa
