From One Big Week to a Real Career

For many young South Africans, becoming a creator can feel like chasing a dream without a clear career map. Kgomotso Masebuko’s latest chapter offers a different picture: what happens when creative talent is connected to actual opportunity.

The Johannesburg-based creator has turned her standout performance at the Dentsu School of Influence, in partnership with CSA, into two career-building opportunities — an internship with Dentsu Influence powered by CSA and an ongoing content partnership with FoneYam.

And that matters because the creator economy needs more than viral moments. It needs pathways.

From Recognition to Real Experience

Masebuko was awarded the FoneYam Content Creator Excellence Award after impressing judges with her authentic storytelling, strategic thinking and ability to connect culture with commercial relevance.

Rather than ending with an award and applause, her experience is moving into the professional world.

Through her Dentsu Influence internship, Masebuko will work alongside strategists and creators, gaining practical exposure to how influence, creativity and brands come together.

At the same time, her partnership with FoneYam gives her an opportunity to develop content as an ongoing brand storyteller.

That combination is significant for emerging creatives trying to understand what a sustainable creator career can actually look like.

When Authenticity Becomes a Career Asset

Masebuko’s story also reflects a generational shift in how young people view creative work.

Her family initially struggled to understand what building a career in the creator economy could mean. But as she explains, seeing the vision helped change that perspective.

For a generation growing up in a world where TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms can become launchpads for careers, that validation matters.

Her biggest lesson from One Big Week? Standing out means being unapologetically authentic.

That message resonates far beyond influencer marketing. South Africa has no shortage of young people creating, experimenting and telling stories from their own perspectives. The bigger challenge is connecting that talent to mentorship, industry access and paying opportunities.

Beyond the One-Off Campaign

Davin Phillips, Executive Director and Managing Partner at CSA, argues that the country does not have a talent problem — it has an opportunity problem.

Masebuko’s journey puts that idea into practice.

The bigger opportunity for the industry is moving away from treating creators as temporary campaign assets and towards building long-term commercial relationships that allow them to develop their skills and businesses.

For FoneYam, partnering with Masebuko is positioned as part of its investment in emerging creative talent and its broader focus on giving young South Africans access to technology.

That makes this more than another brand collaboration.

It is a reminder that when brands, agencies and creators build together, a single opportunity can become the beginning of a much bigger career.

For Masebuko, One Big Week may have been the breakthrough.

Now comes the real-world chapter.