25 Aug 2021

Former Miss Universe Botswana beauty queen, Larona Gilika has launched a series dubbed Inspire35@35 to motivate modelling and beauty pageant aspirants.

In an interview, Gilika, 35, who was crowned Miss Universe Botswana in 2011, said while indebted to the Lord for preserving he life, she saw it fit to do something meaningful, hence the birth of  Inspire35@35.

She revealed that primarily, she had wanted to inspire 35 young people, hence Inspire35@35.

However given the positive response for the platform, she highlighted that she decided to accommodate all the interested parties to participate.

On Saturday, she will have the first meeting to be held virtually, with young men and women interested in modelling and pageantry.

“I will get the privilege to have an interactive conversation with other amazing young men and women aged between 18 and 29 who are particularly interested in modelling and beauty pageantry,” she said.

So far, she said about 50 people had shown interest.

To help build the youth’s poise, Gilika said the conversation would centre around confidence.

She said she would share notes with the hopefuls on various topics such as what was required to be confident, how to build confidence for an uncertain future and the connection of confidence and mental health.  

She opined that true confidence stemmed from discovering your purpose in life.

In the quest to allure young people, Gilika has also invited a surprise guest, her mentor who will be joining them to share some amazing insights around identity, purpose and destiny.

Gilika  said other exciting announcements would be made during the session, such as the opportunities available through her foundation Beauty4Development Foundation and her other organisations.

July being her birth month, she said the aspiring models and beauty queens would be treated with gifts.

Given the current COVID-19 situation, she said aspirants would also be coached on mental health.

“There is no doubt that the current times are trying and the same goes for the modeling and pageant industries,” Gilika explained.

As part of gratitude for her 10th anniversary since she was crowned Miss Universe Botswana, Gilika said she would also share her journey including founding Beauty4Development Foundation.

The mandate of the foundation is to promote and advocate for modelling and pageantry as forces for positive change and development across the nation, the continent and the world.

To make a difference and change people’s perspective regarding pageantry Gilika is doing her Masters in Business Administration with her dissertation focusing on some of the ideals of the beauty pageant industry in Botswana.

She strongly believes in the potential of the industry not only for entertainment but to drive development. ENDS