I was born in Germiston on Johannesburg's East Rand in September 1980 and grew up in the rapidly developing town of Boksburg during a time when South Africa was changing fast - on so many levels.

 

As a young teenager, I remember sitting on the roof of my house watching as thousands of mourners flocked to neighboring Dawn Park to attend the funeral of slain anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani, and just a few years later gathering in front of the television to watch the live broadcast of the release of Nelson Mandela.

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As a young adult, I began a career in journalism, a trade I plied for just more than a decade. During these years I lived through many stories, some happy, some sad, some horrific and some terrifying - but all of them beneficial to me on some level. After meeting the woman I would eventually marry and start a family with (not necessarily in that order) we decided to move to a farm, and now live in the Cederberg mountains in the Western Cape. Here we run a tourism establishment and make ointments, moisturizing creams, teas, tinctures and herbal salts using the medicinal fynbos plants that grow naturally on our farm.