Mrs. South Africa 2020 Finalist and Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel Ambassador, Eulender Nanni is set to use her voice, skills and experience to advocate for change by empowering women and youths with financial skills and business literacy.

Eulender believes that the Mrs. South Africa pageantry is a Women Empowerment initiative which ensures that real women with careers and families are given a chance to make a difference and to follow their passion and dreams.

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She expressed gratitude on the fact that the pageantry and hotel ambassadorship has given her exposure, love and support from the Witbank community in Mpumalanga and as such, she looks forward to give back to the community through various empowerment initiatives.

Mrs Nanni, a philanthropist whose charity work was partly inspired by the problems of depression that she personally went through has also vowed to use her experience in Events Planning and creativity in Fashion to raise awareness in Non-Communicable Diseases.

With her strong belief in hard work, team work and passion towards achievement, she believe that her qualities such as sympathy, discipline and willingness to help other people in life are the right tools that she needs in order to fulfill her charity work and the pursuit of her dreams.

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As an Ambassador for the Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel, she encouraged players in the hospitality industry to continue adhering to the Covid-19 regulations and to be creative through offering travel packages and rewards systems that are customer centred.

Iniafrica.com’s Brian Kazungu spoke with the multi-faceted goal getting Eulender as she shared her dreams, passions and roles as a Mrs South Africa Finalist and a hotel ambassador in the interview below.

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Iniafrica.com: Ms Eulender Nanni, please welcome to this interview and thank you for your time. Its public knowledge that you are a woman of many talents as shown by a beautiful record of your achievements like being chosen as the Brand Ambassador for the Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel as well as being a Mrs. South Africa finalist. Briefly tell us about these two roles.

Celebrity: It’s both an honor and a privilege to be Brand Ambassador for the Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel; it’s just solidified how as a brand I am growing and the hotel sees the value our collaboration will be benefit both myself and Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel. Being Mrs. South Africa finalist has been exciting regardless of what is currently happen due to the Covid. I took this situation and made it work for me. Growth only happens when one is ready to work hard at it.

Iniafrica.com: Would you tell us more about your choice and role as the Brand Ambassador for the hotel including your personal experiences in this 4 star establishment especially during this journey as a Mrs. South Africa Finalist.

Celebrity: I loveYalla Yalla Boutique Hotel for what it stands for. They always strive to bring the best hospitality experience to their guests through their professional team. Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel will go out of their way to accommodate guests every time and thus spreading the Yalla Yalla magic!

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Iniafrica.com: As the brand ambassador of Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel, a business which falls under the Tourism & Hospitality sector and as a Mrs. South Africa finalist, what do you think will be the best recovery strategy for businesses in this industry to survive now and beyond Covid-19?

Celebrity: I believe that offering travel packages and rewards systems that make people feel included will be a very good strategy. I also encourage supporting local businesses and advocate for a campaign to help people get to know more about the province and the country.

Iniafrica.com: What is it that people can expect from you during your ambassadorship with Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel?

Celebrity: Being a multifaceted woman, I will use my experience in Events Planning & my creativity in Fashion to raise awareness in Non-Communicable Diseases. I will also be incorporating the CSI projects which are being supported by the Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel.

Iniafrica.com: As a Brand Ambassador and a person who has had a personal experience at this award winning hotel, what are your words of advice to anybody who would like to experience the Yalla Yalla magic on their own and yet they are afraid of traveling during this Covid-19 period?

Celebrity: I was at rest when I visited the Yalla Yalla Boutique Hotel since they observed COVID-19 regulations from the hygiene up to the presentation of food and not forgetting their house keeping routines which are just amazing. I would like to remind everyone that this Covid problem will come to an end but what we all we need to do at the moment is to follow the related regulations and guidelines and to keep a positive mindset.

Iniafrica.com: Tell us about your participation in the Mrs. South Africa pageantry including what inspired it and how it feels like to be a participant on such a grand stage?

Celebrity: It’s not just a pageant, it’s about Women Empowerment. It gives us real women with careers and families a chance to make a difference and to follow our passion and dreams. I thank God for it since it’s both an honor and privilege as I get to be a part of history of the virtues of South Africa, the spirit of Ubuntu, and the real relatable women of the country. Mrs. South Africa aims share true South African stories, as well as to empower and showcase true beauty that shines from within and to celebrate every woman in her unique femininity.

Iniafrica.com: If you were to be crowned as Mrs. South Africa, what positive impact would you like to bring to South Africa and to your province?

Celebrity: It takes sympathy, discipline and willingness to help other people in life and I believe that I possess all these qualities. As such, I will use my voice, skills & experience to advocate for change. I will also use my knowledge to empower women and the youth with financial skills and business literacy.

Iniafrica.com: What is it that you can acknowledge or credit as your pillar or support system which has helped you in your journey in this Mrs. South Africa pageantry?

Celebrity: My family and the Mpumalanga province has showed me unconditional support and not forgetting that my husband and daughter are my pillar and number one supporters. More-so, the love that I receive from my siblings and my mother is overwhelming. I am also blessed to have the company that I work for being 100% behind me.

Iniafrica.com: As for you having been Mrs. Mpumalanga Ambassador and a BFM Awards recipient for the Best Styled Diva in 2018 as well as a Sunrise Women Award nominee for Social Entrepreneurship and Game Changer, I believe that there are some success secrets that you can share which can change the lives of so many people in South Africa and across the world. Please tell us the secrets behind all that you have achieved so far!

Celebrity: 1) Work hard; you must have goals not just dreams since goals are attainable and can be broken in to small pieces. 2) Get a team; work with people that want to see you succeed at what you do. 3) Do something that you love with every fiber of your being.

I believe that with these, you will excel.

Iniafrica.com: As an enterprising and focused young lady who have so much in her plate, how do you manage to juggle between all that you do and still keep your goals in check and your body in shape?

Celebrity: I live by the following principles:

 ⁃ I put God first; as I am sustained by All Mighty

⁃ I take it one day as it comes

⁃ I think positively and keep motivating myself.

⁃ I exercise to keep fit, healthy and looking good.

⁃ I pay special attention to my personal hygiene: for everything always dress up and show up.

⁃ I focus on healthy food which is good for a balanced diet.

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Iniafrica.com: I believe that being a model takes a lot of self-confidence and self-discipline in your engagement with various people in their diversity? What are your words of advice to people especially young girls who look down upon themselves especially when they compare themselves with others?

Celebrity: We all have a purpose on earth and as such, you need to find your purpose. Use that dark place or situation to start something positive for yourself and for the community. Personally, I suffered from depression and so, I have used that to start advocating against depression among kids as they too suffer from the same.

Iniafrica.com: Who would you like to acknowledge and credit, be it for their emotional and material input or contribution (support) towards being the person who you have become and what you have achieved?

Celebrity: My Husband Mr. Nanni, Mrs. Mokoena (mom), Mrs. Mpumalanga Pageant, for opportunity given to me as an Ambassador. Blinkwater Meule (Super B) for supporting the CSI projects that we are working on. I must also acknowledge the kids that I am mentoring for trusting me with their lives. I want to also mention Khatijah Khan for believing in my dream and the ABM Foundation for always trusting my craft as a Host/MC.

Iniafrica.com: Who can you say is your inspiration, a person who makes you want to do it better every day? Why is that so?

Celebrity: My Mother is my inspiration. She is selfless, kind, compassionate and she loves her community. She is a mommy of five and a mother to all. She has always been there for young women and children in our community who need help!

Iniafrica.com: What is it that you can look back at and say, because of my Yalla Yalla Ambassadorship and my participation in the Mrs. South Africa pageantry, I have managed to achieve this or this is who I have become?

Celebrity: My Yalla Yalla Ambassadorship and the Mrs. South Africa pageantry has given me exposure, love and support from the Witbank community.

Iniafrica.com: I understand that there many young girls out there who can look at you right now and say one day I would like to be an ambassador for a hotel just like you or to be a Mrs. South Africa in the future. Based on your journey so far in this regard, is this something that you can encourage them to do or not? What advice and guidance can you give them on such a dream?

Celebrity: Yes definitely.  It’s not just a pageant, it’s about Women Empowerment and it gives us real women with careers and families a chance to make a difference and follow our passion and dreams.

Iniafrica.com: Besides being a Yalla Yalla Hotel Ambassador and Mrs. South Africa finalist, you are also a career woman and a philanthropist. Please tell us more about the charity/philanthropy work that you are doing and the inspiration behind it?

Celebrity: I get to showcase my work which I am doing for my community in the form of CSI projects. The projects are to raise money towards funding and awareness of what the Xiluxamama NPC is advocating for.

My advocacy and / Cause in this regard are as follows:

1. Eating Disorders amongst Children (as young as 6-ups)

2. Depression amongst kids; Alcoholism amongst children.

3. Autism Spectrum Disorder

4. Raise Mental Health Awareness more so now in COVID-19

I joined the Connections2Communities (C2C) initiative as an ordinary member after paying US$30 being the annual membership fee.  I expected outcomes from being a member including linking up to other members.

C2C is an initiative supported by the Pan African Business Forum (PABF), Banking on Africa’s Future (BOAF), the 1983 FM, and the 1873 Network which seeks to build community power in collectively solving problems that are encountered by people in their communities.

After joining, I volunteered to be part of the administration team and from that, I took notice that many of the people who joined the initiative, were doing so in order to have proximity to Mr. Mawere, who is also a paid-up member of this initiative.

Although Mr. Mawere has repeatedly made the point to me that he is not and should not be the reason why the initiative exists and operates, as an aspiring person, I also wanted to get the tips and tactics to get ahead in my life.

As such, I directly asked him for mentorship since the DNA of the C2C initiative resonated with me personally.

As a volunteer, it became my calling to request Mr. Mawere to include my name as a possible mentee.

The response I got from Mr. Mawere was what I did not expect. He spoke of the retail versus wholesale mentorship program and naturally I had no clue as to what he was talking about.

But before I could go deeper on what retail or wholesale mentoring, he asked me whether a shared understanding exists on what mentoring is and is not.

He further challenged me to find an address where people go to for wisdom on what mentorship is and is not, let alone on what a mentor is and is not.

As I thought more on this subject, I could not help but acknowledge that this provocation by Mr. Mawere inspired me to learn more about what is said on the mentorship question.

As a forward leaning person who is living and working in the diaspora, I was ignited to pause and reflect on what mentorship is and why it is important in the business of building community power in order to solve problems of life more efficiently and conveniently.

In my search on what is mentorship, this definition spoke to me: “It is a valuable tool for turning one’s ideas and ideals into some reality or concrete outcome. Mentors are expected to guide and advise their mentees, helping them build a successful career or gain a solid foundation within a certain organization. Typically, a mentor has one mentee at a time and can focus on shaping their trajectory.”

However, when I shared the above definition with Mr. Mawere, my paradigm on mentorship was indelibly shifted.

He observed that it is not possible for another human of flesh to guide and advise another human being on what is yet to happen or the future. He made the point that life is linear and has no provision of reversing or reliving it.

He quoted George Washington, the first President of the USA, who was known to be saying this: “I walk on untrodden ground,” before he was inaugurated into the office in 1789.

Being the first president, Washington had to find an efficient way to run the United States. Washington had to balance power, but not have anarchy or become a dictator.

Many expected Washington to know how to lead and exhibit excellent stewardship of the government.

When he said that he walked on untrodden ground, he meant that he was not worthy of being called a leader because he could not escape the limitations imposed on all human beings of being incapable of walking on trodden ground.

In other words, all the members of the WhatsApp group that I and Mr. Mawere belong to, have no mechanism of leading others when life itself is about motion from birth to death without knowing what the next second brings or could deliver.

With respect to mentorship, it became to dawn on me that it was irresponsible for me to expect another living person to guide me when life permits no such guidance.

I also learned that no one including Washington could be helped to become craft competent in relation to a job that is defies any rational description. What does it mean to be a leader before addressing the question of craft competence?

I have learned that one may look up to a person as a role model but it would not be correct to misconstrue the role of such an icon in relation to defining and shaping the best way to unlock opportunities that exist in the world.

Mr. Mawere also asked to examine the practicality of the one-to-one mentorship proposal because there exists no special time allocated to the world be mentor.

Myself, just like many who joined C2C, do so in order to precisely tap on Mr. Mawere’s wisdom yet he has always remarked that he possesses no such wisdom about life and its prospects.

I felt let down when he said that he would not like to mislead me into thinking that he is the leader of C2C as he believes that the group belongs to all who choose to be part it even though he has been generous to share his own ideas and insights to the mentorship question.

He believes that story telling is the best way to share experiences and he holds the view that the history of human civilization has always celebrated story telling yet many people expect history to have a memory.

He has made the point that he cannot share what is yet to happen because he knows nothing about what will happen in relation to anyone’s career or life.

I have accepted this and have been persuaded to see virtue in a wholesale mentorship program that promotes story telling.

More-so, I have learned that everything that Mr. Mawere shares including threads of his conversations with others contains many lessons for me and this has also inspired me to share threads so that others may draw lessons.

The thread below is taken from the OWNARADIO4R500 WhatsApp group that I am privileged to be part of:

[9:30 AM, 11/4/2020] Mutumwa Mawere: Do you think this kind of mentorship is beneficial to you rather than a classroom setting.

[10:01 AM, 11/4/2020] Mutumwa Mawere: [11/4, 10:00 AM] +263 77 374 1244: Thank you for the share, it’s quite informative. I’ve learnt that when we forego facts, we twist reality with lies and the consequences of that can be dire. When we tell the truth and learn to accept the truth as is, but not let it distort our vision for humanity, we can definitely make progress towards a shared vision of the pursuit of happiness. Thank you for the share.

[11/4, 10:01 AM] Mutumwa Mawere: You are welcome

[10:01 AM, 11/4/2020] Simbarashe HOVE: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[10:02 AM, 11/4/2020] +263 77 752 5423: it’s beneficial, I believe acquiring knowledge in this informal setting is a powerful tool. A lot of case studies with divergent views are brought up which aid knowledge acquisition, performance – extraordinaire!!!I sum up the Setheo case in the following words “it’s a spirit of persecution, discrimination, and bad faith”. Thus how I have learnt.

[10:19 AM, 11/4/2020] Mutumwa Mawere: If one had to ask you questions, would you be prepared to comment on a publication that can be shared widely to raise awareness of what the real cost of corporate illiteracy is?

In conclusion, I would like to encourage you all to be part of this wonderful initiative.

If you also wish to be among the 100 mentees under the C2C initiative and be part of a community that learn from Mr. Mawere’s stories on his lived experiences, please contact me on: # +44 7493 697945

Vimbai Chiwuswa is a Life Coach based in the United Kingdom (UK).