We love synchronicity. Not only has Toasted, a women-led community and collaboration space, made a home between two slices in the hearts of many in Johannesburg and recently in Cape Town, but they’re also soon turning two – right in the vicinity of our own second birthday celebration. We spoke to Marea Lewis, who is one of this year’s Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in the Business & Entrepreneurship category, and certainly one to watch as her star continues to rise.

What was the lead up like before starting Toasted?

Marea: How the initial thing came about, my housemate at the time and I would drink wine and make toasties every Wednesday. We’d make the most delicious toasties and we kept saying, “Imagine there was a place you could go and just get toasties!” Eventually, I was like, this is actually a really cool idea. Everyone has a toastie, but there’s no dedicated toastie place and there should be. So then, the idea sat with me and I explored it. The next step was finding a space – I started looking around and walked into the empty courtyard where Toasted is now in Parkwood and I could just feel everything coming together. You can have events there, shoots, co-working… You can just create an environment.

The ideation was so much fun. What a lot of people don’t know is that I have an advertising background in strategy. Ideating the business took a strategic approach. I loved being able to do that. The fact is, because of Covid-19, instead of three months to do it, I had six months. So, I had time to think about everything about the business, not just the food but the experience, community and revenue stream too. Ideating the concept – the business as a whole – continues to be very intentional. Nothing happened on the fly. I built the space based on my concept. If you don’t get your idea before you start spending money, you’re going to waste it, and I knew I didn’t have that luxury. So, I ideated every aspect to a T – I had moodboards, pitch decks; I spent months researching. It was so much fun.

What role has collaboration played in your business? You’ve collaborated with Beijing Opera in Johannesburg and recently did a pop-up at Beau Constantia in Cape Town for five weeks

Marea: Collaboration is everything we do – I couldn’t get here by myself. The designer I partnered with, Larissa Elliott, had a network of people I didn’t know. The artist I collaborated with for murals on the walls was also a woman of colour and part of a network that I wasn’t a part of yet. All of the people I collaborated with, leading up to Toasted, opened us up to who knew about it at first. Everything was intentional – I thought long about every collaboration.

Chef Yang Zhao from Beijing Opera – she’s just legendary and her food is delicious. I knew I wanted her to hold space within the space. We have so much fun collaborating in this way.

What are some of the milestones that have stood out to you?

Marea: Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans was something I really wanted – in Business & Entrepreneurship. To get that recognition was massive for me. I’m really glad that it happened. And also, within months of me turning 36. So, it was my last year to make it! To have made the list for a business that is my own made it even more special.

Yoco also profiled me and Toasted in one of their campaigns, Rise of the Underdog, which is still running. I was also the profiled merchant at their annual conference for merchants, which was really cool. Out of 200 000 merchants – it was amazing. That’s a lot of people who do phenomenal work.

I’m just always happy to share the realities of being an entrepreneur. It’s hard and it’s not for everybody. When I talk, I like to highlight the difficulties over the success stories. We all know the success stories, we don’t always know what goes on behind the scenes. That’s what makes the milestones so much sweeter.

I’ve also started doing masterclasses for entrepreneurs at the Goethe Institut's entrepreneurial hub. Teachable moments and mentorship have been milestones for sure. Also, having a team that enjoys coming to work for the most part, and creating an environment that I never had in the industries I worked in have been pretty special.

In terms of Toasted itself, these are the things that made it so intentional: I sold my car, left my job and moved in with my mother when lockdown hit. I had a lot of time with myself and HJ (she’s the best). The vision board I made during that time, had VISI on it. Being acknowledged for the aesthetic beauty of the space was huge for me. Beijing Opera was on my vision board. Mamakashaka was on my vision board – working with her, being a part of Women in Bloom was massive for me. The recent Beau Constantia pop-up was massive too – to be in another city before two years was amazing.

Many milestones were achieved over this time and some were changed. The ones I got – particularly creating space for collaborations with women – have just been so nice.

What’s next for you and Toasted?

Marea: I think just getting through the year and finishing it off strong! I’ll be in Johannesburg. And, honestly, what’s also next is also allowing Toasted to become what it is with the team running it and for me to start thinking about scaling. A milestone worth pursuing is creating a business that can run itself within two years.

Marea Lewis is the owner and founder of Toasted.