African Consumer Culture, Celebrity Marketing, Women Power
Farah C. Fortune
Entrepreneur, PR Consulting, Gender Equity Champion
Farah Fortune is the Founder & Managing Director of African Star Communications (ASC) and the much-awarded business brain behind many successful celebrity brands and corporate campaigns across Africa.
Born and raised in Cape Town, and educated in Europe, Farah returned to South Africa in 2004 as a 25-year-old, landing roles with Ster-Kinekor (market leader in cinema & film) and Alchemy Publishing, the leading publisher of parenting magazines.
Her big break in PR came when the South African film “Tsotsi” for which she was the publicist, took out the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign film.
Inspired to take a risk to secure a brighter future for herself and her toddler, this single mom decided to build her own business which she bootstrapped with a few hundred dollars, a laptop, and a cellphone whilst living in her car. Within 3 weeks, she signed AIG Insurance and Manchester United for the Vodacom challenge as her first client.
ASC functions through 3 divisions: Celebrities, Corporate Public Relations & Event Management.
Farah attributes much of the company’s success to “finding her niche” in promoting hip-hop stars and emerging musical talent. Her high-profile client list includes A-list celebrities like AKA, Cassper Nyovest, Pam Andrews and Terry Pheto. Corporate and event clients include big brand names across the food, beverage, alcohol and spirits categories, as well as the beauty, CPG, lifestyle and not-for-profit sector.
She has expanded her business with offices in Nigeria, Botswana, and Ghana, and today, the “Pitbull in heels” as she is affectionately known for her fierce determination, is recognized as one Africa’s most influential businesswomen- an award she won twice in the last 10 years.
Farah is a fierce champion for girls and women’s issues and a much sought-after motivational speaker. She has mentored girls around the world as part of the UK’s Cherie Blair Foundation since 2015.
Her leadership has been recognized with a string of awards year-on-year since inception: The Mail & Guardian’s ‘TOP 200 SOUTH AFRICANS’ (2011 & 2012); the annual Cool & Black Directory; the ‘Top 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators’ by ‘World CSR Day and World Sustainability’ in 2017 & 2018; Glamour’s Woman of the Year (Business) 2018. And in 2019 at a function in New York, the UN’s Chairwomen Awards for her work in empowering women.
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Farah Fortune is the Founder & Managing Director of African Star Communications (ASC) and the much-awarded business brain behind many successful celebrity brands and corporate campaigns across Africa.
Born and raised in Cape Town, and educated in Europe, Farah returned to South Africa in 2004 as a 25-year-old, landing roles with Ster-Kinekor (market leader in cinema & film) and Alchemy Publishing, the leading publisher of parenting magazines.
Her big break in PR came when the South African film “Tsotsi” for which she was the publicist, took out the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign film.
Inspired to take a risk to secure a brighter future for herself and her toddler, this single mom decided to build her own business which she bootstrapped with a few hundred dollars, a laptop, and a cellphone whilst living in her car. Within 3 weeks, she signed AIG Insurance and Manchester United for the Vodacom challenge as her first client.
ASC functions through 3 divisions: Celebrities, Corporate Public Relations & Event Management.
Farah attributes much of the company’s success to “finding her niche” in promoting hip-hop stars and emerging musical talent. Her high-profile client list includes A-list celebrities like AKA, Cassper Nyovest, Pam Andrews and Terry Pheto. Corporate and event clients include big brand names across the food, beverage, alcohol and spirits categories, as well as the beauty, CPG, lifestyle and not-for-profit sector.
She has expanded her business with offices in Nigeria, Botswana, and Ghana, and today, the “Pitbull in heels” as she is affectionately known for her fierce determination, is recognized as one Africa’s most influential businesswomen- an award she won twice in the last 10 years.
Farah is a fierce champion for girls and women’s issues and a much sought-after motivational speaker. She has mentored girls around the world as part of the UK’s Cherie Blair Foundation since 2015.
Her leadership has been recognized with a string of awards year-on-year since inception: The Mail & Guardian’s ‘TOP 200 SOUTH AFRICANS’ (2011 & 2012); the annual Cool & Black Directory; the ‘Top 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators’ by ‘World CSR Day and World Sustainability’ in 2017 & 2018; Glamour’s Woman of the Year (Business) 2018. And in 2019 at a function in New York, the UN’s Chairwomen Awards for her work in empowering women.
