After spending many years trying to find herself and travelling the world, businesswoman Masechaba Portia Mokhemisa decided to start her own company called CharityM Travels.
Mokhemisa is founder and CEO of Mokhemisa MC Attorneys and Charity M Travels who is a passionate entrepreneur and leader.
Mokhemisa was born in Kroonstad in the Free State and later moved to Orkney in the North West, where she completed her high school education at Vaal Reefs Technical High School.
She then returned to Kroonstad and studied at Kroonstad Technical College, where she completed her N6 in Marketing Management.
In the year 2000, she moved to Pretoria and attended the Tshwane University of Technology (Soshanguve Campus), where she obtained her Diploma in Information Technology.
After graduating in 2002, she relocated to Johannesburg, where she worked for several companies while building her professional career. In 2012, she enrolled to study for her LLB degree part-time. Through determination and perseverance, she completed her law degree and was admitted as an Attorney in 2021.
“As you can see from my career path, I spent many years trying to find myself. However, from a very young age, I always had a deep desire to travel. My late father played a big role in shaping that curiosity. Every Sunday he would wake me up early to go and buy a newspaper for him, and when I returned, he would ask me to read it out loud to him.
“Through those newspapers, I discovered that there was a whole world beyond what I was exposed to at the time. That is when my curiosity about the world began. I became fascinated by different places, cultures, and opportunities beyond my surroundings,” she said.
Mokhemisa said that as she grew older, she started travelling on her own and with friends.
“I was always the one organising the trips, planning everything and becoming the “lead passenger.” At the time, I was simply doing it out of passion, not realizing that I was slowly building the foundation for something bigger,” she said.
Mokhemisa said that in 2023, she met Christina and Lawrence Mosia, the founders of AirRose, a network marketing business.
“They asked me to assist them in organizing a trip to Dubai for 46 distributors. Little did I know that this opportunity would become the beginning of CharityM Travels. I successfully organized the entire trip for the group from flights, accommodation, visas, and activities. The trip was a huge success. After that, I went on to organize more international trips for them, including Bali and Thailand. Alongside those group trips, I also began organizing travel for individuals. However, AirRose continued to trust me with larger groups, which helped me gain valuable experience and confidence.
“Around 2024, I had a moment where I thought to myself, “Why not start my own travel agency?” I sat down with my son, who was 12 years old at the time, and explained to him the idea I had in mind. To my surprise and pride, he came up with the name CharityM Travels.From that moment, CharityM Travels was born, and we officially began trading as a travel agency, built from passion, courage, and a dream that started many years ago,” said the proud mother of three.
Mokhemisa said it she had to use R500 to register the company and after everything fell into the place.
“Luckily, with my idea, I didn’t need much money to start. At the time, I had just resigned from a company and had gone three months without any income. Despite not having much, I used the little I had, less than R500 to register my business. I then downloaded an app to design posters and started advertising my services on social media. I also asked family and friends to help spread the word.
“My very first trip was to Bali (Indonesia) and can you imagine… only four people booked the trip. Four people meant there was barely enough profit for me to travel with them, and I always travel with my clients. I had to use the little profit I made from other bookings just to secure the flights. I was travelling with my sister friend Khauhelo Ramatlo, and I remember telling her about all my struggles. She simply said, “Don’t worry. When I get paid, we will use my salary for everything we need for the trip,” she said.
Mokhemisa further said: “So there we were in Bali on the 16th May 2025, and on the 20th of May when she got paid, we finally managed to cover all the remaining costs of the trip. Looking back now, it feels unbelievable, but that’s how determined we were.
“From that point, the rest became history. The next trip was again to Bali, but this time with more than 20 people. That was the turning point. I finally made enough profit, and the company was able to cover my travel expenses.”