A smart grid technology engineer triumphs in the design industry

Saarty Mikka, the owner and founder of Windhoek Interior Designs, is currently in her final year pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering specialising in smart grid technology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. She recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the same institution. She has meanwhile enrolled at the Interior Design Institute of South Africa for a diploma in interior design.

She kicked off primary education at Madume Primary School in Okatope, Ohangwena Region. She matriculated at Etosha Secondary School in Tsumeb, and it was there that she found her entrepreneurship calling as she used to sell lollipops for pocket money to her peers at school. After acquiring her degree in 2019 at Stellenbosch, she then decided to explore her entrepreneurial passion and started WHK Interior Designs.

“My business originated in Windhoek and designs customised furniture of all sorts. It also does interior designs and manufactures its own furniture for design projects,” said Mikka.

The business works together with professional artisans, and carpenters who design and manufacture the customer’s products as per their specifications. When Mirkka moved out of her sister’s house, she struggled to find customised furniture as the ones she liked were overpriced and had to be shipped from abroad. “It was at Stellenbosch University that my interest in interior design began, and it equipped me with a good eye for art,” she says.

She was also obsessed with home-makeover shows, becoming a home-makeover connoisseur. Her urge to continuously look for solutions to various problems prompted her and before she knew it, she was helping clients attain the eye-catching living spaces of their dreams at an affordable cost and selling them products via her online store at www.whkinteriors.online.They also have accounts across social media:

Facebook: Windhoek Interior Designs

Instagram: @whk_interiors / the_dopest_namibian

Twitter: @WHK_interiors / the_dopest_namibian

WHK Interior Designs, like any other business, has had its ups and downs. They had to start from scratch and struggled to continuously learn, research and deal with new technical problems in finding the proper materials for design and there was even a point they found themselves with inadequate material supply and funding. Despite all this they triumphed in the end. Mirkka spent hours watching YouTube videos to perfect her craft and she acquainted herself with people skilled in furniture designing and manufacturing.