A bubbly and vibrant young woman is hoping to make her dreams of being crowned the ‘face of Verulam’ a reality as she takes on other beauties from the area in the Miss Face of Verulam pageant.
After making it to the final round of the pageant, 26-year-old Sphelele Gumbi, who was born and raised in Mandeni, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream and kick starting her modelling career, with the help of the community.
Gumbi who was raised by her grandparents, after her parents passed away when she was at the young age of 10, said had to overcome a lot of adversity to get where she is now. She said not letting her circumstances bring her down is how she always pushes forward and make sure that she succeeds at everything that she puts her mind to.
“I finished my matric at eNkwenkwezi Secondary School in 2017 and later enrolled and started at Berea Technical College where I studied a three year course in Business Management. I completed my studies in 2022, however, due to not having enough funding I started looking for job opportunities to help aid with furthering my studies and meeting other necessary needs. I started working at Tabloid Media which helps me to maintain myself in terms of paying rent, transportation and saving towards furthering my studies,” Gumbi said.
The aspiring model received an offer from UNISA to study Law, which she has embraced with open arms. Speaking about the pageant, Gumbi said she joined the Miss Face Verulam competition with high hopes of being crowned the next queen.
“I was always into modelling and I started doing pageants while in primary school. I want to go further with it and I feel like this pageant will definitely take me in the right direction. I am hoping that my community and surrounding areas will vote for me and help my dreams come true. Voting can be done free of charge via the ‘Miss Face of Verulam’ Facebook page,” she said.
Gumbi further added that she is hoping to make a change in the inner community as her vision is to see women coming together and spreading love as well as positivity amongeach other.
“To get the life that you want is hard work and you have to earn it. It takes a lot of dedication but with the right mindset you can achieve anything. You have to be confidence in yourself. You have to stand up for what ups want and fight for your success,” said Gumbi.
To vote for Gumbi, visit the Miss Face of Verulam Facebook and press ’like’ or comment on her picture.
