Heavy Chef SA Top 5 Women Entrepreneurs: Christine van Niekerk

Christine, CEO of The Local Edit, is a creative leader inspiring her team and supporting South Africa’s entrepreneurs. Christine is co-founder and CEO of The Apiary Group, the holding company for The Local Edit. The Local Edit is an innovative e-commerce brand where consumers can discover and shop a curated collection of artisanal South African designed products.

She has 20 years of experience in visual communication, online media and digital content creation which has shaped her ability to see simplicity and structure in complexities, though design constructs. She's passionate about innovation and her natural ability to creatively solve problems and connect dots, helps her to bring structure, process and simplicity to businesses.

She is extremely passionate about entrepreneurial journeys and hosts a podcast called Behind The Edit, where she facilitates honest and raw conversations between creative entrepreneurs.

Apart from her ability to create businesses, she is also an artist and has a natural ability to express her creativity. In 2009 she was appointed as the first female Nikon Premium Ambassador for Southern Africa, and her work has been featured in numerous national and international publications.

In 2010, she also co-founded The Pretty Blog, South Africa's biggest niche digital publication for women, which won multiple awards and was acquired by The Apiary Group in 2019.