Supporting Local: How YuLife Found a Win-Win with Talented Artist Stella Dadla

If you know any of our employees or supporters, you may have noticed the beautiful beaded figurine of Yugi. And we wanted to reveal the incredible individual behind these works of art.

Meet Stella Dadla.

Stella is from Soweto and has been making a living from creating works of art from beads and wire. From jewellry and decor to these beaded giraffes of Yugi, Stella can create any work of art you can imagine.

Stella started beadwork at the age of 10 while living in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Her mother passed down this valuable skill – and Stella’s been passionate about it ever since. 

In 2000, Stella started turning her art of beading into a business. She began selling her beadwork in Rosebank on the street corner. Then, in 2002, Rosebank African Craft Market was built and Stella landed her own, dedicated stall to sell her items. 

Beadwork has been Stella’s main form of income her entire adult life – and she’s living her passion. But it doesn’t mean it was easy getting there. 

It all started back in 2017, when Stella met a lady who really admired her work. She ordered 10 pink giraffe keyrings – then in 2018, she got an order of 100. Soon enough, that number jumped to 300.

The orders kept rolling in from then on, and this afforded Stella the ability to provide for her family and pay the children’s school fees. And before she knew it, Stella hired seven employees to help keep her business going.

It wasn’t long after her orders sped up in 2018 that she met YuLife’s very own co-founder, Jaco Oosthuizen.

She created this beautiful beaded figurine of YuLife’s mascot – Yugi. And the YuLife team hands them out to partners, clients and supporters of YuLife to not only spread the message of YuLife, but to spread the love of Stella’s work. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, YuLife committed to continue ordering from Stella to help her keep her business thriving.

Now, Stella is selling an average of 40 beaded items per month from the Rosebank African Market

“Thank you so much to YuLife for your big support to me and my family”.

Like Stella, there are many incredibly talented entrepreneurs around the country who make a living from craftsmanship. Keep supporting your local artists and businesses – it helps them more than you may know.