Karina Marais Buy the book

Karina Marais

Educator, entrepreneur, creative storyteller, songwriter, author and creator of Dinner with a Story

Karina Marais in a white blouse and black boots on a round red sofa.

Bio

Karina Marais in a black off-the-shoulder suit beside white orchids, the city lights at sunset behind her.

I’m a South African educator, entrepreneur, and now a creative storyteller, songwriter and author, possibly breaking new ground in memoir writing.

My book, Upstairs Downstairs – A Living Apart Together Musical Memoir, may be the first of its kind: told through words, lyric readings, music and video, it turns personal storytelling into a multisensory experience.

I also created Dinner with a Story at the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant at Forum Homini Boutique Hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. The dinner engages all the senses in a fantasy setting, where sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch come alive through an eleven-course FUN dining experience and a three-course breakfast inspired by the food in my book.

I wrote the lyrics of all 32 original songs on my three albums, the soundtrack of my life, blending themes of love, resilience and daring aspirations.

I co-founded BrainBoosters, an educational NGO recognised as one of the best in Africa, and created the Running with Bulls financial literacy board game, endorsed by the JSE and sold nationwide. I also presented a television series about children and money on DSTV’s KykNet.

Today I am a Non-Executive Director at Eureka DIY and Forum Homini Boutique Hotel.

Official biography, for the press

Karina Marais is a South African educator, entrepreneur, and now creative storyteller, songwriter and author who is possibly breaking new ground in memoir writing.

Upstairs Downstairs – A Living Apart Together Musical Memoir may be the first of its kind—told through words, lyric readings, music, and video, transforming personal storytelling into a multisensory experience.

She is also the creator of Dinner with a Story at the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant at Forum Homini Boutique Hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. The dinner engages all the senses in a fantasy setting, where sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch come alive through an eleven-course FUN dining experience as well as a three-course breakfast inspired by the food in her book.

She wrote the lyrics of all 32 original songs on her three albums, which form the soundtrack of her life, blending themes of love, resilience, and daring aspirations.

She co-founded BrainBoosters, an educational NGO, recognised as one of the best in Africa, and created the Running with Bulls financial literacy board game, endorsed by the JSE and sold nationwide. She also presented a television series about children and money on DSTV’s KykNet.

Currently, she is a Non-Executive Director at Eureka DIY and Forum Homini Boutique Hotel.

A curved glass house at dusk, one floor above the other, with a golden swan on the blue pool and a small table set for two beside it.

Upstairs Downstairs, Two hearts, Two homes

Hendrik and I live apart together: his bachelor pad upstairs, my retreat downstairs, joined by a pink staircase.

We married on the beach at Paternoster in October 2022, after 18 years of Living Apart Together, and we keep on Living Apart Together.

Read my book

Timeline

  1. Late 1960s Grew up in a middle-class family in Vereeniging
  2. 1999 Founded the Bright Babies Club
  3. 2003 Divorced
  4. 2004 The Running with Bulls board game was released countrywide, and I presented a series on children and money on Dawie Roodt’s programme on kykNET
  5. 2004 Presented the Running with Bulls board game to the New York and London stock exchanges, and a range of financial-literacy toys to Mattel in Los Angeles. By the end of the year I met my dream man
  6. 2006 A dinner in Sydney, overlooking the Opera House, inspired my partner’s Roots fine-dining restaurant at his hotel, Forum Homini, in the Cradle of Humankind
  7. 2008 The two homes, one on top of the other, were completed by the end of the year
  8. 2010–2020 Co-founder and product developer of BrainBoosters, an early childhood development NGO
  9. 2014 Presented at an ECD world conference in Monterrey, Mexico
  10. 2016 Two awards: Best NGO in Africa and Best Supplier of Early Childhood Products in Africa
  11. 2017 Became CEO of BrainBoosters
  12. 2018 Invited by the Chinese government to share ideas on early childhood development
  13. October 2022 Married on the beach at Paternoster
  14. 2024 The cover shoot in Cappadocia, on my 65th birthday
  15. December 2024 Released my first album on Spotify
  16. June 2025 Albums 2 and 3 released on Spotify
  17. July 2025 Got the idea for the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant in a fantasy setting at Forum Homini
  18. 20 November 2025 The media were invited to a pre-launch of the book and Dinner with a Story at the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant, where a beta version of the memoir was signed
  19. January 2026 The book became available online and in selected bookstores
  20. February 2026 On the cover of Get It magazine
  21. 23 May 2026 Memoir panel discussion at the Kingsmead Book Fair

Work

BrainBoosters 2010–2020

  • Early learning

    2000

    A home video filmed in 2000: “Play-Based Reading Idea for Parents”.

    Watch

  • Running with Bulls

    2004

    Launched a financial literacy board game, endorsed by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and 20 companies, which was sold countrywide. She presented it to the New York and London stock exchanges, and a range of financial literacy toy products to Mattel in Los Angeles.

  • Television

    2004

    Presented “a television series about children and money on DSTV’s KykNet”.

    Watch the series

  • BrainBoosters

    2010–2020

    Co-founder and product developer of BrainBoosters, “an educational NGO, recognised as one of the best in Africa”. Became CEO in 2017.

    Watch

  • Director

    2024

    Director at Eureka DIY and Forum Homini Boutique Hotel.

“I face my limitations every day and believe me, there are many. Still, I took the risk to go where even angels hesitated.”

Karina Marais
Karina Marais in a red gown holding a large bouquet of red and orange roses, a golden swan and a framed book cover behind her.
Signing the first copies on 20 November 2025.
Karina Marais, smiling, signing copies of her memoir at a table of stacked books and flowers.

Questions

Who is Karina Marais?

Karina Marais is a South African educator, entrepreneur, creative storyteller, songwriter and author, and the creator of Dinner with a Story at the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant. She wrote Upstairs Downstairs: A Musical Memoir.

What does Living Apart Together mean for Karina?

Love does not come in a one-size-fits-all package, especially not the second time around. For her and her partner, it unfolded in a very different way, shaped by a desire to let their love flourish while fully embracing their individuality: “More freedom to be the person who you are in a closed relationship.” They chose to LAT (Living Apart Together) right from the start in 2004, and only got married on the beach in Paternoster on 3 October 2022, after 18 years. They keep on Living Apart Together.

What is BrainBoosters?

BrainBoosters was an early childhood development NGO that Karina co-founded with Hendrik Marais. She was its product developer from 2010 to 2020 and became CEO in 2017. Together they decided to close the NGO during Covid.

What is Dinner with a Story?

An 11-course FUN dining experience in the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant, which Karina created with the help of her husband and the amazing team of Morne and Liezl Meiring, the managing couple, and their staff at Forum Homini Boutique Hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. Her concept is to present each dish from her memoir as a tale, a song and a taste.