Vicky spreads her wings at Mrs SA
KNYSNA - The Mrs South Africa 2024 pageant is finally here and among the semifinalists is Knysna’s very own Vicky Arends, a project administrator with a passion to raise awareness on family wholeness and enabling education.
Arends officially set off on her Mrs South Africa journey on Friday 2 February at the pageant's national public casting process, held at Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort in Gauteng. "It felt like a stampede of grace when my name was called out - what importance this announcement holds for me!" says Arends. Mrs South Africa is both a pageant and female empowerment programme designed to unlock participants' hidden potential by teaching them skills such as leadership, financial competence, sponsorship management, communication, personal branding, and media management.
"The goal is to take women out of their comfort zones and have them rethink who they are and what they want out of life," explains Joani Johnson, CEO of Mrs South Africa. "We help them face their fears, find their purpose, and discover the strength and abilities they held inside all along."
Driven by purpose
Arends says she was first introduced to Dallmayr Mrs South Africa by a friend in 2023. She was motivated to apply and, like those who came before, she believes she can make a substantial impact in people's lives.
"In Africa, the gazelle knows it must outrun the fastest lion in order to survive and the lion knows it must outrun the gazelle. So, I too must run and help others to do the same," says Arends. "I must overcome my deepest fear to let my light shine and in doing so, liberate others."
Johnson says the class of 2024 is shaping up to be a formidable, influential group of women. "We received the most ever entries this year, beginning in November 2023 and persisting into the week leading up to the
national public casting. This is truly a life transformation journey that seeks to give our contestants the tools, knowledge, and support they need to pursue their dreams, and guide them in realising their full potential as forces for good.
"We were very excited by the strength and diversity of this years' applicants, and the judges certainly had their work cut out for them in selecting the 2024 semi-finalists from such a large and inspiring group."
Arends joined in on a jam-packed weekend of empowerment workshops and development events held at the first Mrs South Africa semi-finalist conference of the year on 3 and 4 February at Emperors Palace.
She will participate in many more workshops, photoshoots, media interviews, fitness challenges, sponsor events, and community projects in the days leading up to the semi-finals judging week and showcase early in July, where the top 30 finalists will be announced.