Diary Entry
From Systems and Sisterhood
One App,
Many Uses
Tonight, I need to pause for a moment.
To sit still.
To breathe.
And to remind myself why I began this journey in the first place.
When I look back at where I started, it feels as though I am remembering someone else's life. I spent more than two decades navigating the structured world of corporate financial services. It was a career that taught me discipline, resilience, and strategy, but despite surviving it, I never truly felt at home there.
Leaving that world in 2015 to start my own virtual assistant business, and later building an online business management practice, was one of the most frightening decisions I have ever made.
I still think about the determination it took in my thirties to bet on myself. To pursue an IT Management degree through MANCOSA while carving out a completely different future. There were moments filled with uncertainty, moments when giving up would have been easier.
But I refused.
Not because I was fearless, but because I believed I owed myself the chance to build a life aligned with my purpose.
Looking back now, I realise that my qualifications and professional titles are only part of the story.
At my core, I have always been someone who finds fulfilment in bringing order to chaos.
I have always been the person people turn to when everything feels overwhelming, when systems break down, or when the path forward seems impossible to see. That instinct has guided every chapter of my journey. After leaving corporate life, I began noticing something that I could no longer ignore.
I kept meeting brilliant, talented brown and Black women with extraordinary skills, remarkable ideas, and incredible resilience. Yet so many of them remained stuck, not because they lacked intelligence or determination, but because they lacked practical guidance, sustainable systems, and genuine support.
The entrepreneurial world often tells women that success requires constant hustle, endless working hours, and an exhausting presence on social media.
I watched too many women burn themselves out trying to fit into that narrative.
And I knew there had to be another way.
I wanted my work to make a difference in people's everyday lives, not simply contribute to another corporate balance sheet.
That vision became CoCo Africa Hub.
It is far more than a business.
It is a community built on the belief that practical systems create freedom.
Motivation fades.
Algorithms change.
Online trends disappear.
But well-designed systems create stability.
They create sustainability.
And they allow women to build businesses that support both their ambitions and their wellbeing.
Nothing brings me greater fulfilment than knowing that a single mother, a woman changing careers, or an aspiring entrepreneur can sleep a little more peacefully because her business finally feels manageable.
That is success to me.
The past year has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Sometimes I still struggle to process everything that has happened.
Graduating from UPG Biashara with Distinction.
Being recognised on the LEAP Leadership Accelerator Top 10 Leaderboard.
Watching CoCo Africa Hub progress into Phase 2 of the United Nations SDG Acceleration Pipeline for Gender Equality.
These are milestones I once only dreamed about.
Yet I constantly remind myself that they are not trophies.
They are fuel.
They are evidence that women like us belong on global stages without sacrificing our connection to the communities that shaped us.
Recognition only matters if it strengthens our ability to create impact.
And for me, the next chapter is even more important than the last.
Our vision is ambitious.
By 2030, we aim to support 500 women through our digital business school, helping them build sustainable businesses rooted in confidence, capability, and long-term independence.
Pursuing this vision means asking others to believe in it too.
Launching a crowdfunding campaign has been one of the most vulnerable experiences of my journey.
There is something deeply humbling about admitting that you cannot carry a dream of this scale alone.
But perhaps that is exactly what leadership looks like.
For years, I believed leaders needed to have all the answers.
Today, I understand something entirely different.
Leadership is not about carrying every burden yourself.
It is about creating spaces where others can contribute.
It is about inviting people into a shared vision.
It is about trusting a community enough to walk alongside you.
Throughout this journey, one lesson continues to return to me again and again.
Leaning on a village is not a weakness.
It is one of the strongest expressions of leadership we can practice.
None of us are meant to build alone.
None of us are meant to solve every challenge in isolation.
The most sustainable movements have always been built by communities that believe in one another.
That is the future I hope to continue building. One where women are empowered not by endless hustle, but by practical systems. Where success is measured not by burnout, but by balance. Where entrepreneurship becomes a pathway to dignity, peace of mind, and economic sovereignty.
Because when women are equipped with the right tools, surrounded by genuine support, and trusted to lead in their own way, they do far more than build businesses.
They transform families.
They strengthen communities.
And they reshape economies.
If there is one truth this journey has taught me, it is this: We rise highest when we rise together.
Rukeya Mall