We’ve made TECH our business
‘Our interactive platform was a game changer’
BARBARA MALLINSON, 39, lives with her husband Ennis, 42, and their two young children in Melrose. She is the co-founder and CEO of Obami, a digital learning-solutions company.
* THE IDEA I’d been working in the UK for five years, doing marketing and website design when, in 2009, I pursued my entrepreneurial spirit and decided to start a company of my own. At the time, social-network platforms like Facebook were just taking off. I knew I wanted to create something similar, but with stricter privacy and security settings. So, I quit my job and hired a freelance developer to help create the first iteration of Obami.
* WHAT HAPPENED NEXT As Facebook grew, mammoth online platforms like Twitter also entered the social-network arena and within a year, my small start-up crumbled. But, instead of throwing in the towel, I moved back to SA and changed Obami’s business
