TASK Interior Styling, owned by Mali Langa, is a turn-key award-winning and black woman owned interior design studio born out of a love for beautiful objects, functional design, colour and a flair for luxurious living. They offer a full interior design service from space planning and remodelling, 3D visualisation, curated sourcing, interior styling, original artmaking, to full project management and installation services.
Their motto, “innovation through collaboration”, drives them forward as they aim to bring original interior designs, creative projects, and homeware products to market. TASK aims to be the leading authority in interior design on the African continent.
Mali Langa’s business grew out of a hobby and passion she had for beautiful interiors. While doing personal projects she realised that she had a knack for design and styling. It soon became evident to her, through the quality of her work, that she had a restless fire in her so she seized the opportunity to expand on it.
Even though Mali is not a classically trained interior designer, she feels that she has so many original ideas to offer the design landscape. Her intent is to make a lasting impression on South African interiors through her natural aptitude for the function and beauty of interiors. She still has so many fresh concepts that she wishes to bring to life on this journey with TASK and her team of qualified and experienced designers.
Mali says that it would be amiss of her not to mention that her aunt inspired this passion in her from a young age. As a girl, she loved watching her style their house back in Limpopo. Her aunt had a lot of pride in her home and that has stuck with Mali to this day.
One of the things she loves most about running her business is growing as a businesswoman. She believes that there are so many lessons to be learnt not only through successes but also through failures. She also loves working with a team of creative and talented people who she learns so much from every day. Each step they take together, teaches her more about design, about beauty, and about adding value to the world we live in.
During Mali’s business journey she has learnt that one should never think that one knows it all. She explains that a business is an organism that always continues to mutate and evolve and that learning and improving never stop. The lesson she has really taken to heart is that striving for perfection is a fantastic driving force.
She goes on to say that through failure, one should endeavour to do better next time. When criticism is received, it should be taken to heart gratefully and improved upon. It is also important not to sit down and give up after disaster strikes, but to rather take it in one’s stride and emerge stronger on the other side.
After asking Mali why she does what she does she responded by saying that one cannot define passion, because it’s immeasurable. She loves what she does and therefore draws energy from a bottomless well of passion for it.
This however doesn’t mean that it’s a walk in the park. Things get very difficult from time to time, and when they do, she deals with them by not breaking her focus and getting distracted by the hardships. She keeps her eyes firmly on the prize, which is to eventually emerge victorious as a leader in business and design. She says that one should look at one’s uphill climbs in business as an opportunity to find innovative solutions that others haven’t even thought of.
She believes that small businesses create opportunities for local talent to thrive. They open the door to empower women and the youth through creative business endeavours, allowing them to explore and build on their talents. She says that supporting small businesses does a lot of good for the people of South Africa and that it plays a vital role in our economy.
As an NSBC Member, Mali was invited to enter the 2020 South African Small Business Awards. In a year where the quality of the entries were exceptional, TASK Interior Styling, stood out with their class and business excellence and as a result was selected amongst the Top 20 Winners, also taking home the 2020 National Creative Award.
TASK Interior Styling is a proud Member of the NSBC