Fairlady September 2015

In May this year, in celebration of FAIRLADY’s 50th birthday, we launched the annual FAIRLADY Women of the Future Awards with Santam and Place in the Sun – and we can’t wait to introduce you to our winners ( page 45 )! Reading through all the entries was such a rewarding process: it was a good reminder that we live in a fascinating, diverse country with extraordinary people who not only see the many entrepreneurial opportunities that exist here, but who also have the talent and the courage to take them on. More than that, as Advocate Thuli Madonsela put it, these women are also ‘lifting as they rise’ – they’re taking other people along with them on their upward trajectory. I have to keep reminding myself that the often…

winning letter My dad ‘mothered’ me and my son I went through the June issue of FAIRLADY with only one person in mind – my dad! I was hoping to find ideas for gifts I could buy to spoil him. Thanks to beauty ed Kelli Clifton, when I opened my mag I was greeted by ‘Happy Father’s Day – Spoil the number one man in your life with one of these indulgent gifts’. It was exactly what I needed! I went through all of them, compared prices and made an informed decision. He really means a lot to me and my son. I’m everything I am today because of him. I almost thought my life was over when I fell pregnant at an early age with only my dad around.…

Esse Organic Skincare is a locally produced skincare range famous for producing cutting-edge natural products that leave you feeling fresh and fabulous. Their new Probiotic Serum is the world’s first skincare product to contain live probiotic microbes (50 million live probiotics per drop and 1 billion per ml) which are activated by the moisture in your skin and complements your own microbial diversity, creating the ideal microbiome to decelerate ageing. The result? Flawless, radiant, youthful-looking skin. Visit www.esse.co.za…

Business: DotNxt Who? Annette Muller Start-up costs: ‘DotNxt is completely self-funded – I used money from my savings.’ Profit: ‘We’ve been profitable since the end of the first year and we are aggressively reinvesting retained earnings into the business so we can scale to a R25 million turnover within the next three years.’ Although she didn’t study technology, Annette has always been interested in the industry. ‘I studied business, but from a very young age I admired big tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft and IBM,’ she says, ‘and their founders inspired me.’ She worked for a consulting company before moving on to a big corporate, but her entrepreneurial instinct was dying to be unleashed. ‘I wanted to create my own environment,’ she says. ‘I wanted to be surrounded by…

Since 2008, South Africans from all walks of life have been united in a nationwide battle against Eskom’s load-shedding nightmare. Nearly a decade later, we’ve been told to expect no end to the frustrations, so we’ve developed our own kind of load shedding savvy, using the power cuts as an excuse to spend valuable time with family and friends. The take-home message? We Saffers are a resilient bunch!…

The award-winning actress and Cannes Film Festival judge chats to us about being a Bond girl (er, Bond woman, thank you very much!), having kids and what true beauty means to her. monica Bellucci is undeniably beautiful. With her Italian curves, long dark hair and full lips, it’s no wonder she has been a screen icon for decades. But Monica’s beauty hasn’t always felt like an asset. Her mom Brunella admits it was lucky Monica was an only child. ‘[If we had another child,] they would probably have been jealous of her,’ she laughs. Growing up in the little village of Selci Lama near Citta del Castello, Umbria, she found herself the centre of attention – something she wasn’t entirely comfortable with. ‘I was born in a provincial town,’ she…