2018 Top 35-under-35 Finalist: Léan Boezaart

After completing his articles in 2011, Léan was fortunate to receive a sponsorship from Deloitte to chase a childhood dream of his of becoming a professional golfer. He turned pro in 2012 and gave it his best shot in South Africa (Sunshine Tour) and abroad. Although the golf dream didn’t quite work out, it did teach him many valuable life lessons and was an experience that he will treasure forever.

In 2013 Léan started a business called Freedom of Movement with his brother Roal in a very small room at the University of Stellenbosch, with the vision of creating a proudly South African lifestyle brand. Today, five years later, they have an established brand that features a range of premium leather products, footwear, timepieces, sunglasses and accessories. In a relatively short space of time they have managed to establish a large online presence and a retail footprint across South Africa. They currently have six of their own FOM retail concept stores and have recently secured two new locations in Johannesburg where they will be opening their seventh and eighth stores in September 2018. They have also exported to Europe and Australia and are in the process of securing more opportunities in the export market.

Léan believes CAs(SA) are extremely well equipped to start a new business but the financial safety net that comes with the qualification in most cases stops them from even trying. He is hoping that his journey will inspire more CAs(SA) to start new ventures, to explore uncharted avenues and to have a little bit more Freedom of Movement.