Strength in power

In Zimbabwe, women carry their babies and their communities on their backs.

Though significant strides have been made since the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1980, Zimbabwean women still face deep-rooted barriers to education and employment.

Once known as the “breadbasket of Africa” because of its food exports and vast natural resources such as diamonds, copper, lithium and more, Zimbabwe has experienced significant political instability. According to official statistics, its unemployment rate is around 9%, but other organizations estimate that at least 70% of the labor force is unemployed.

The women of Zimbabwe are seen as the greatest forces in their communities. They do not just raise their own children, they also raise siblings whose parents have died and care for older relatives. At the same time, they struggle to find whatever work they can for whatever money they can earn.

These are the women Chiedza Mushayamunda Hooker (MBA ’24) wants to help and whose strength has inspired her since she was a child.

A 3-year-old Hooker visits Victoria Falls with her mother, Yvonne Mushayamunda.

“My paternal grandmother died when I was young, but my dad always speaks about her power, independence and entrepreneurial spirit,” says Hooker. “My maternal grandmother is still alive and has overcome so much to be where she is today, including starting over after losing everything during the economic downturn in Zimbabwe. And since I was young, my mom has encouraged me to be creative, be myself and have fun when getting dressed. She is my style icon and is a huge part of my style journey and starting this line.

“I think of these three women as the quintessential Zimbabwean superwomen. Someone who takes on so much, emotionally and physically, but who is so strong.”

Hooker was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, four years after her parents emigrated from Zimbabwe to the U.S., but she is very much a part of the Zimbabwean community of women. She has visited the country on average twice a year for over 20 years and stays for weeks at a time in the rural village her grandfather once led.

Now through Changu Chedu, a clothing and accessories company that she launched while in the Full-Time MBA Program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Hooker is working full time to bring her passions for clothing, people and business together to empower the women of a country she holds close to her heart.

Each piece of Changu Chedu clothing directly supports the Zimbabwean artisan who crafted it. The clothes tell a story as strong as the women who make them. The cotton fabrics are bold and colorful and unique, sourced entirely from southern Africa and reflective of Zimbabwe’s rich culture.

Changu Chedu means “mine and ours” in Shona, a national language of Zimbabwe. While sales support the artisans and the company is solely Hooker’s, she sees it as a collective that benefits entire communities by supporting female artisans and educational opportunities for children.

“The first time I went to Zimbabwe as a child I felt a warm and familiar feeling,” she says. “That’s still the feeling that I have each time I return. As soon as I hit the ground, my body knows that I am home. Warmth overcomes me; I’ve never experienced that feeling anywhere else in the world. These are not random people that I want to help. This is my community.”

A new confidence

When Hooker came to UNC Kenan-Flagler, she knew she wanted to start her own business one day. She had long been sifting through ideas, but she wanted it to both reflect her various creative passions and help others. It needed to have purpose.

Changu Chedu, which Hooker has been working on full time since earning her MBA, is an amalgam of those passions.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Wofford College because she loved storytelling and worked in marketing before coming to Chapel Hill. Hooker also explored healthcare. During the pandemic she worked in clinical research, conducting clinical trials for Moderna as it developed its COVID-19 vaccine. While at the Business School, she was a retail strategy intern at CVS Health.

Hooker models a Changu Chedu dress

A love of fashion led her to work as an MBA consultant at Ferragamo in Florence, Italy, through a Doing Business In elective, one of several global opportunities offered to MBA students. The experience reminded her that fashion is where she wanted to be, but she wanted to enter the industry on her terms.

At UNC Kenan-Flagler, an entrepreneurship course with Professor Atul Nerkar swiftly built the confidence she was looking for to turn her ambitious ideas around advocating for women into something more tangible.

“It was different than any other class that I’d ever taken,” says Hooker. “It got me to think about entrepreneurship and business in a way I have never done before by asking myself how I can serve others and bring value to the market. Then it was like everything started coming together from there.”

She felt more than just supported — she found an advocate in Professor Erin Long (PhD ’17), who became a mentor and business coach.

The two spent many hours chatting, with Hooker sharing her own story, those of the Zimbabwean women and how it could all translate to a business.

“Chiedza has an incredible entrepreneurial spirit grounded in her commitment to learning and sustainability and improving the lives of others,” says Long. “She is resilient. She cares deeply about building community and lifting others up. It is core to her. I’ve learned so much about her and am amazed at every turn.”

How Hooker spent her time at UNC Kenan-Flagler is a further window into her character. A Forté Fellow, she served as co-president of the Black Business Student Association and joined the Africa Business Club, Carolina Women in Business and the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club.

“Community is an important word for me, and it’s the community at Chapel Hill that really drew me in,” she says. “I soon realized that a lot of people at UNC Kenan-Flagler were community-focused. When I reached out to students while making my final decision, they were more than happy to host me in Chapel Hill and speak about their experiences in the program. That made a huge impact on my decision to attend Carolina. I wanted to go to a place where I knew people had my back.”

She stopped asking herself, “Can I do this?”

“The answer at UNC Kenan-Flagler was always, ‘anything is possible,’” says Hooker. “I gained such a deep trust in myself that I didn’t have just a few years before. “For me, the Business School education was learning to bet on myself and believe in who I was.”

“I wanted to go to a place where I knew people had my back,” Hooker says about coming to UNC Kenan-Flagler. 

Standing tall

Hooker’s goal now is to work with more women who can benefit from the mission behind Changu Chedu and use it as a reliable income source that can grow. In Shona culture, there’s a belief that nothing cannot be done alone.

Hooker hopes to expand the scope of her company and remain based in North Carolina. In addition to employing women, Hooker sees a future for her company in which she provides equitable access to expanded educational opportunities for children and women, and a variety of workforce training programs.

One day, she hopes Changu Chedu can help women in Zimbabwe start their own businesses — not just to help themselves but to benefit the communities that stand on their strength and spirit.

“I used to think that to be a businessperson, you had to fit into a certain box,” she says. “What I learned at UNC Kenan-Flagler was that it’s never one size fits all. I can be a businessperson and pursue work that is also meaningful to me with authenticity. I learned so much about business, but I also learned so much about myself.”