Sue Chigorimbo spent nearly 15 years working in a bank. Today she is known as the KraftsQueen, the Zimbabwean crafter behind the handmade brand byMapara. She crochets bags, teaches classes and sells her work to customers around the world.
But the road between those two lives was a hard one, and Sue has chosen to talk about it openly.
A career in banking and business
Sue studied for a degree in electronic commerce and went on to build a long career in banking. Alongside that, she helped run a successful milling company.
From the outside, things looked settled. Inside, she was struggling.
The quiet weight of depression
Sue's marriage was falling apart, and it took a heavy toll on her mental health. In 2018 she realised she was living with depression, and a doctor later confirmed it.
When she tried to talk to people about what she was going through, many didn't take her seriously. She was told to hold on, that marriage is just like that. Because there were no physical scars, it was easy for others to look away.
At her lowest point, Sue attempted to take her own life. She survived and was taken to hospital.
Picking up the needles again
During her recovery, Sue went back to knitting. It had always been a comfortable place for her, somewhere she could escape the noise in her head.
Some people didn't understand. After so many years in banking, they wanted her to give up the needles and go back to her old job. Sue kept knitting anyway.
She started sharing her work on social media, and people noticed. One woman encouraged her to start a knitting movement. Before long, Sue was leading a community of more than 500 women who knit. She opened a YouTube channel and began teaching classes online. She says it felt like being born again.
From knitting to the KraftsQueen
With her confidence back, Sue began experimenting with other crafts. She worked with rope, made baskets and turned old wine bottles into something new. Within just two weeks, orders were coming in from all over the world.
Crafting, she says, is what brought her out of depression. Looking back now, she puts it simply: "I do not want to die anymore."
That work grew into byMapara, where Sue brings together her love of handmade crafts and what she learned studying e-commerce. Her crocheted bags are now bought by customers on different continents.
Teaching and lifting other women
Sue believes in empowering people through skills. She runs monthly workshops to train new crafters and future business owners. She has also taken part in business events such as the 7th SADC Industrialization Week, hosted by Zimbabwe in 2024, where she speaks up for women in business.
She uses her voice in another way too. Every year, on the anniversary of the day she tried to end her life, Sue reflects on how far she has come. She began sharing her story online because she knows many women are quietly struggling in their marriages and don't know how to get out. If her story helps even one of them, it's worth telling.
A mother first
Sue is a mother of three: two boys and a girl. They are her biggest inspiration.
Where she once believed her children would be fine without her, she now wants to be there for every milestone, from graduations to weddings and everything in between.
Shop byMapara
Every piece Sue makes carries her story of strength, healing and a love for the craft that saved her.
