#MHWQueendom Series: Meet Lerato Masala

Name: Lerato S Masala

Age: 24

Life quote: To live is not the same as being alive, choose to be alive!

What does it mean to be a woman (in this day and age) and what is the most important thing to you as a woman? Being a woman in this day and age is not limited to one definition uhm taking on different roles as woman I believe is a number one contributory factor of how a woman would be defined in present day. A woman shows characteristics of dedication, being ambitious, hardworking, having brilliant problem-solving skills, having a plan for everything, being absolutely gorgeous every single day makeup or not! Believing that you can take on the world by being fearless. The most important thing as a woman is to support other women empower them starting with young girls.

What is self-hate to you? And have you been a victim of it? Self hate to me would be not being happy yourself whether it’s a self-image issue or constant disappointment about events in your life that make you upset. I’ve definitely been a victim thinking I was a push over, too dark and didn’t understand why my front teeth had a gap lol! Forget about that now I loooove everything about my image most of the time 😜 and my personality too👑

Do you still have issues with self-esteem? And what helps you snap out of it? Self-esteem no. But image issues sometimes I think every woman does.

When did you learn to start loving the woman you are? I absolutely think after losing all the baby fat from my pregnancy in 2015, working out and just being physically, mentally, spiritually reborn if that makes sense lol😊 but most importantly I was getting back my emotional stability. I’m so content it’s unreal. I’ve got so much love for myself and other people it is amazing.

What do you think has influenced your confidence? In present day being educated has a huge impact on one’s confidence even though not everyone knows but I do and I walk tall because I know I have something no one can ever take away from me!

What are your passions and inspirations? I am very passionate about education, about educating other people’s children. There’s this hope in my heart knowing that I have shared information that somebody will possibly carry with them all their lives. I am inspired but women in academia, they make me want to learn more but mostly want to teach what I’ve learned.

Do you have any fashion/beauty icons, if so who are they? Definitely Bonang Matheba everything looks good on her. And then there’s Solange Knowles. Need I say more?! Weird looking fashion sense yet so effortless.

If you could meet your younger self, what would you say to her? Be patient , don’t give in to pressure there really is a time for everything.

If you had to tell one thing to every little girl in the world, what would it be? Respect yourself, others will respect you. You are too beautiful, too smart to live like you owe somebody something or even hold back the vision that is your dream. Live!

Where can we find you on social media? Facebook – I suck at it. Instagram @leratomasala. Anything else I will signup for when I retire and have too much time on my hands lol 😜