By Yumna Bodiat
Edited by Imaan Moosa
We spoke with the beautiful Pearl Osa on her journey to Mrs. South Africa and being a mother of 10.
Forty-one-year-old mother of 10 has taken the next step forward earning her place in Mrs. South African semi-finals, 2020.
Pearl Osa is a Wits University graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce degree who later worked in the banking industry in a variety of roles - project management, communications, service management, and marketing.
During this time in her cooperate career, Osa flourished in the learning and development space where she rose to the top of the ladder and held both national head and leadership positions in the banking and telecommunication industries.
In 2010, she left the corporate arena and shifted her focus on raising and nurturing her family of 10 children.
"I ended up homeschooling them, which has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. I wanted to take first-hand responsibility for their education and have it tailored to their individual needs and personalities."
The privilege to spend quality time with them, help shape their minds around their own uniqueness and individuality, and inevitably impact their future is an incomparable blessing.
I remain conscious that I am not training them just to get good jobs but to be leaders, team players and contributing members of society. To be pioneers, who will leave an indelible mark on the nation for generations to come.
Not only has Osa taken on the roles of a homemaker and teacher, but she has also allowed herself to delve into more creative expressions. She is authoring three books on family-related topics, delving into fashion, embarking on a public speaking career, starting a YouTube channel, and an Instagram blog on homeschooling. She has also featured in her husband's single and they have released five singles together.
Their most recent offering was to mark the end of the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade that tied in perfectly with the recent anti-racism campaigns that swept the globe after the death of George Floyd.
Watch their music video here:
After leaving the prestige of her corporate job and catering to her children, Osa felt she had lost a sense of self. She embarked on a weight loss journey and with the support of her husband, took a healthy dose of self-discovery and self-love. As a result, she desired to inspire other women to find themselves again, after the season of bearing children.
Wanting to be a symbol of hope, endless possibilities, and new beginnings, Osa entered the Mrs. South Africa competition in January 2020 and qualified as a semi-finalist in the public casting held at the end of February. While the global pandemic has made this journey an entirely different experience from what she had imagined:
One constant has been that it remains an empowering network and sisterhood of beautiful, go-getting women with driven vision.
Originally, the Mrs. South Africa pageant was to fit into one year which was jam-packed with lots of events and physical interactions. However, with the lockdown restrictions, it has been extended into February of 2021 and has taken on a largely virtual format.
The semi-finalist competition is scheduled to take place via a live-streamed Zoom interview on Women's Day on August 8. Fifty semi-finalists will be selected to continue the journey to the ultimate semi-finalist selection of the top 25 in November. It is hoped that at this point, the lockdown will have eased and the competition will still continue at the Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni.
"It is more an empowerment program than it is about the looks. It's about grit, determination, and hard work. I'd advise any hopefuls to be mentally prepared for that reality."
All in all, I have faith for my destined end to the journey, already counting my self as a winner in my own way regardless of the outcome.
I hope to use the power of the sash and the platform it provides to firstly inspire those needing inspiration. Secondly, I want to help those in need help through the philanthropic drives that I have been a part of for almost two decades now. Including feeding widows and their families and performing out-reaches to orphans and underprivileged children.
Support Pearl through brand/corporate ambassadorships, endorsements, and sponsorships:
Voting on the Mrs. South Africa page by liking her picture and like the page for the vote to count https://m.facebook.com/MrsSouthAfrica/photos/a.3076931815658843/3076938512324840/?type=3
Unlimited votes by SMSing 'Pearl Osa' to 35959
Following journey on the following handles:
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