Confidence is the new Currency by Alaweyah Patterson

A thought piece by Alaweyah Patterson

There’s a new kind of rich in Cape Town - and no, it’s not soft-life rich. It’s confidence rich. The type of energy that can turn a casual idea into a statement and a quiet post into a viral moment. Some people spend their confidence like its spare change. Others, like Aakifah Slarmie, invest it like its gold, so let’s cash in!

Confidence is the cash you can’t hold, but you can spend it everywhere - in your content, your career, and your captions. And if we’re talking big spenders? Aakifah Slarmie claims billionaire confidence energy. Every outfit, every post, every collab - it’s all a transaction paid in self-worth. Because when confidence becomes currency, Aakifah isn’t saving - she’s investing, and baby, the returns are golden!

Confidence fuels opportunity, it doesn’t just make you seen - it makes you memorable, for example Aakifah is best known as the girl who’s “Doing things before work to make me feel alive.” and honestly as a South African doing things before work in the early hours of the morning should be a crime! Most of us either don’t want to be looked at, spoken to or we are still sipping on the last bit of our coffee but all of a sudden, the entirety of Cape Town is singing the same tune. It’s like Cape Town collectively decided, ‘We ride at dawn.’ She’s turned morning misery into movement - and that’s the power of confidence, it’s contagious. Confidence IS money - When you know how to spend it wisely - When you invest it in the right places, the right people, the right moment - it multiplies.

In today’s digital age, everyone’s selling something; a product, a lifestyle or a version of themselves but what really sells is your energy - your authenticity and most importantly, your confidence! People don’t follow the product; they follow your presence. So, if your presence screams “I believe in what I’m doing and you should too.” automatically, people will naturally gravitate towards you irrespective if they enjoy your content or not - the thing is, you need to have that “IT” factor about yourself, that they can’t look away.

That’s why confidence is the real algorithm. It’s what turns a casual collaboration into a headline moment, what makes a brand say, “We want her.” and what turns a two- minute TikTok into a full-blown movement. And that’s how Aakifah landed her second interview on Espresso Mornings earlier this year, a Nivea collab with Rocking the daisies, My Runway collab, Beauty Box TFG, getting invited to events such as the Mr Price beach club and Cotton on, and ended up in the Women’s Health July issue, and so the list continues but I’m running out of keys.

Aakifah is the girl who’ll try something new just because she’s never done it before - the cold plunge mornings, hikes, running marathons, the chaotic laughter, the soft, sunlit kind of self-love. she’s proof that confidence isn’t about control; It’s about courage. She doesn’t wait for the perfect plan, she just moves - and that movement is the magic.

Think of it like this-it’s better to fail falling forward that to fail falling backward because when you fall forward, at least you fall with something to your name. You gain a lesson, a story, a little more grit. Falling backward means you stayed still. No progress, no growth, no return on investment. Confidence works the same way. It’s currency - literal money. If you spend it right, it multiplies. If you save it out of fear, it just sits there, collecting dust. So don’t be afraid to spend it (wisely of course). Don’t be scared to invest it in yourself, your ideas, your dreams because confidence, when in circulation, always finds its way back to you - with interest.

For GenZ, confidence has become more than a feeling. It’s survival. It’s walking into a room where you might not fit the scene and deciding you still belong. It’s what builds brands, creates opportunities, and opens doors that talent alone can’t. In a world that’s consistently scrolling, the ones who stand out aren’t the loudest - they’re the surest.

Now, my question to you…If Confidence was the New Currency what would you buy?