It doesn’t matter how many times you fail what matters is how many times you get back up, multifaceted Mandy Ndebele has trialled many adversities with this motivational quote as her journey in the industry has not been easy but one that has been filled with various experiences and life lessons all leading her to the hardworking, inspirational and trailblazer she is today.
As a familiar face in the model scene, Mandy has managed to break boundaries in a tough and challenging industry by winning the best plus-size model in SA at the SAMLA awards in 2020 and what she constitutes as her biggest achievement thus far is a finalist for Miss South Africa plus World.
Through these achievements, she has ventured into other passions such as being a women empowerment activist and core founder of Arise Golden Women’s Foundation which is aimed at uplifting, empowering and motivating women of all ages through workshops, events, charity work and volunteering in women shelters.
The amazing mother of two saw a gap in today’s youth as many have not completed their secondary education and the remainder struggle to further their studies due to social-economic factors such as the finances and lack of motivation to compact this Mandy established the people of victory foundation in partnership with different companies aimed to assist unemployed youth by introducing a scholarship programme that registers youth with SITA accredited N4 courses that equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to tackle the working environment.
Amongst modelling and her charitable work, Mandy is a freelance TV presenter, radio host, motivational speaker and an entrepreneur of her own hair and makeup brand, Magnetic and hair cosmetics. Through her desire to encourage women to love their bodies and be a proud ambassador for plus size women she started an anti-body shaming campaign called Sdudla Esine Confidence.
She refers to herself as a queen who wants to continuously serve to be what she has been called to do. By putting an end to suffering and hopelessness and envisions a world where women do not settle for the bare minimum but realize their potential.
She advises those who wish to be in her industry to get up every day despite how hard it may be and look in the mirror and see a conquer and an achiever, to focus on the end goal, to create opportunities for themselves and most importantly to not give up.
Being inspired by the phenomenal Oprah Winfrey, Mandy hopes to one day change the lives of many and carry others to their full potential.
by Kutlwano Legwale
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