As an orphan, Hloni and her two younger siblings, grew up in an overcrowded one-roomed ‘house’ in Alexandra. There were more than 15 people, mainly children, with only her Aunt as breadwinner. This convinced Hloni to work hard at her education. She matriculated in 2012 from Realogile High School, with 63% average.During her gap year she did career guidance with Ignition, worked at Pick ‘n Pay and through Ignition worked in office administration. This confirmed her desire to study Human Resources. Registered at University of Johannesburg for a BA Human Resources, Hloni passed all her courses first time. This despite many difficulties such as daily commutes of over three hours between her home in Alex and the university campus, and giving birth to her first born 2 weeks before her first year final exams.

“I was the first one in my family to go to university. It was very difficult for me. Through the training, Ignition helped me adapt fast to the environment because I had no idea of what to expect at university and instead of being confused I was able to adapt quickly. Another topic that really helped me was the study methods I used to increase my results throughout my first year to my final year. In third year the job preparation workshop that was teaching us about what to expect after graduating, writing a good CV, and how to prepare for an interview was so important. From my mentors I gained self-confidence and the mind-set that nothing is impossible. When I came to Ignition I was shy, I couldn’t talk to people, I couldn’t even face people. But Ignition helped me to be confident, to be able to face people and follow my dreams.”

It took her 8 months to find her first job after graduating, but has since held various roles in admin and HR. As of 2023 she works as a Service Manager. She has moved out of Alex with her two children. She says that she loves buying books and reading to her children, like she wished she had been growing up.