For the love of the vine...

In her 20s, she attended her first wine tasting and the rest is history.

- Hein Kaiser

Sometimes, when the universe has a plan for your life, the inevitability of destiny can override the best-laid plans. Some people have known from nappies that becoming a doctor or an attorney or a rocket scientist was in their cards. Kwanele Nyawa thought so too, but then again, life had other plans for her. Today, she owns her own wine label Khulu Fine Wines and, instead of breaking a sweat for a salary on a corporate payroll, she's writing her own pay cheque.

But it was a path-and-a-half to get there, with a long and winding road still ahead. Growing up, she dreamt of becoming a doctor, a plan that faltered when her teenage mindset intervened. "High school happened, and I thought, 'I'm too cool for this'," she said. The idea of medicine was consequently tossed out the window, quickly.

Then, after captaining the school's debating team and winning numerous awards for public speaking, she considered politics. "I even studied it for a year after matriculating," she said. However, a combination of motherhood and introspection saw her also abandoning that path. "I realised I wouldn't do well in that space. I'm an emotional being, and politics requires a thick skin."