Boitumelo Sehlotho, famously known as ‘Boity’ is a young Mosotho model whose life is a testament that authenticity is the blueprint of absolute beauty. She is currently pursuing a degree in BCom. Accounting at the University of Free-State where she is doing her final year.
Her greatest desire is to use her platform to help young people learn the art of authenticity.
Boitumelo Sehlotho currently holds four prestigious pageantry titles. Her most significant win was in 2019 when she was crowned Face Of Lesotho 2019-2020 and it was in that very year that she proved beyond reasonable doubt that she was a queen with her own rules.
She refused to let the many opinions that influence the perception of beauty in the modeling industry to determine who she is.
Although it was difficult to develop an unbending mindset on how she perceives beauty, she continued to remind herself that her principles needed to stem from within and not be influenced by people. It is for this very reason that she established a very impactful campaign with which she educates young people about the need to stay true to who they are.
The name of this revolutionary campaign is cal1ed Unlock Your Mind. It educates young people about the importance of embracing who they are. This is done by encouraging young people to avoid running from the experiences that shaped them.
According to Miss Sehlotho, the starting point for ultimate growth is being honest about the experiences that we go through, whether they are good or bad.
Miss Sehlotho realized that many youth are hiding behind the lie of being perfect. Many fall victim to social media pressure which perpetuates flex culture and demeans people who are from less privileged backgrounds.
The Unlock Your Mind campaign aims at encouraging young people to come out from hiding and embrace their truth. It teaches youth to be okay with being imperfect and most of all, it urges self-acceptance.
Seeing that the youth in the 21st century are consumed by flex culture, Boitumelo Sehlotho has become an advocate for Self-Acceptance.
In her own words, “Young people are victims of depression because social media has promoted the idea that our worth should be measured by the number of likes we have or the lavish lifestyle we live. I want to change this mentality through the Unlock Your Mind campaign.”
She desires to make a difference by telling her story and that in her opinion is what makes her different. She finally understands the concept of being unapologetically one’s self which is something young people struggle with. The campaign is run through Instagram under a page called _callomania.
Aside from advocating for self-acceptance, this queen is also a GBV activist working with the SheHive organization to bring hope to victims of GBV.
Additionally, Miss Sehlotho worked with Y-Knacle organization that deals with many unresolved problems young people have within the country. With this, they buy and donate school necessities as well as Christmas clothes for Sentebale Orphanage.
In her closing words, Miss Sehlotho states, “It takes courage to be yourself in a world where we are constantly told that who you are is not enough. We fail to understand that being truly authentic about who we are is the biggest gift you can offer yourself and others.”
Her resilience and authenticity have made her a role model because she is unafraid to be herself regardless of the existing social media pressure. Her life of simplicity is inspiring many people to embrace their stories as they are.
Most of all, it is utterly commendable that she has the courage to stir a conversation on self-acceptance when the world is consumed by the need to be perfect. We wish the very best in her journey ahead!