For an entrepreneur, social media is where you go to find your tribe, establish yourself as an industry thought leader, and connect directly with your market. Few South African entrepreneurs have done all three as consistently as branding specialist Joe Human.
From installing satellite dishes to building a national brand
Human’s path into entrepreneurship wasn’t linear. He installed DStv dishes for his uncle as a young man, then worked in artist management before becoming a senior designer at a retail company. In 2015, he co-founded Creative Mind Space, a digital agency, with business partner Elliot Sithole, the two having met and clicked while working together as senior designers.
Building recognition through consistency, not virality
Human built a genuine following by consistently sharing branding and marketing advice, contributing to industry discussions, and later launching his own podcast, Pioneers vs Pretenders, interviewing other South African branding and marketing entrepreneurs. That consistent output helped earn him recognition as a Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 honouree, and he has since become a national brand ambassador for an international spirits brand, built directly on the credibility his content built over time.
What landing a big client actually requires
Working with recognisable brands, Human says, comes down to genuine curiosity rather than a slick pitch. “It’s all about asking the right questions, trying to understand why a client wants what they want,” he says, describing it as a discovery process that ultimately lets you solve a client’s real problem rather than a guessed one.
The unglamorous truth about running a creative business
“You’ve got to become obsessed with the process, the un-sexy things you have to do to make sure you win,” Human says. He points to capital as one of the biggest challenges every entrepreneur faces, one his own agency addressed simply by starting small and staying true to its craft rather than waiting for ideal funding conditions.
His advice for SME owners
- Get your branding right and be findable. Being invisible online, including on social media, means losing out on opportunities entirely.
- Be patient, both with what you’re building and with yourself.
- Collaborate. The available opportunity is bigger when you work with others rather than compete alone.
- Own your narrative. People buy into people, not just products.
- Stay consistent and authentic. Audiences can sense when something isn’t genuine.
Frequently asked questions
How did Joe Human build his personal brand on social media?
Through consistent, genuinely useful branding and marketing advice shared over time, rather than a single viral moment, later expanding into a podcast interviewing other entrepreneurs.
What’s his core advice for landing bigger clients?
Asking the right questions to genuinely understand what a client needs, rather than pitching a pre-packaged solution before understanding the actual problem.
Is being visible on social media really necessary for a small business owner?
Human argues yes, being invisible online in a digital-first economy means losing out on opportunities that a more visible competitor will capture instead.
Consistency compounds
Human’s trajectory, from installing DStv dishes to national brand ambassadorship, illustrates a broader point: consistent, genuine content and collaboration compound over years in a way a single big break rarely does.
Further reading: How to Create a Customer Profile | South African Qualifications Authority on recognised creative industry qualifications
Originally published in March 2019. Updated September 2026 to confirm Joe Human’s continued success, including his Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 recognition and current brand ambassador role. The underlying branding advice remains durable.
