In the 21st century, beauty is not defined by smooth skin and perfect-looking curves. All over the world, beauty has become paired with the concept of purpose.
Today, it is impossible to be seen as beautiful if you do not have an intention or purpose to create an impact in the world. In Coco Chanel’s words, “Elegance is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside,” and living up to this is 2021 Face Of Lesotho – Naleli Sephaphathi.
This Queen was born and raised in Maseru, Lesotho. She discovered her love for modeling in 2015 wherein she started to slowly compete for titles. She currently holds 13 pageant titles and her recent one is being crowned Face Of Lesotho 2021.
When asked why she decided to compete for the latter crown, her answer was, “I wanted an opportunity to grow as Naleli and gain experience of handling community projects.”
Her elegance surpasses all attributes about her. She is bold yet humble, fierce yet kind and most importantly, she has a heart to change Lesotho. After holding titles such as FOL 2021, Miss Tourism 2018, 1st Princess Miss InterVarsity 2019 (Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana) and many more crowns, this Queen is still willing to learn more about her capabilities.
What is stunning is her astounding perseverance in an industry where there are two outcomes; a win or a loss. In fact, she says she draws inspiration from her losses than her wins because they helped her grow as a pageant queen.
They say one can only know that their purpose is being fulfilled when heaven seemingly touches earth through the life of an individual. The big question remains, what does this Queen see as her purpose?
She believes that she was placed on earth to help people realize their strengths. Having a heart for humanity, she has established a project called ‘Let’s Talk Humanity With Nedy,’ where she openly helps people realize the power within them.
In addition, she uses this project to advocate for human rights and responsibilities. In her exact words, “I want people to realize that they are worthy and that their scars make them unique and phenomenal. Most importantly, I want to groom people to find intrinsic motivation and not be driven by the desire to acquire external validation.”
With her purpose, she wants to be the catalyst to the creation of a progressive and confident society since that will make Lesotho better. The more confident we are as a society, the faster change will occur because we will live from a place of self-sufficiency, mental stability and a desire to develop Lesotho.
As the reigning Face Of Lesotho, Naleli’s greatest desire is to change the perception people have about beauty in Lesotho. It is a known fact that society measures beauty through the lightness of one’s skin or the fullness of her curves.
In Naleli’s view, these stereotypes reduce the sense of worth in different individuals. This is why her short-term goal is to host educational movements in schools about topics such as Values, Human Trafficking, Bullying and many more issues.
There is always more to every Queen right? This one is not a complicated and snobbish kind because she has a heart for people. She loves watching people smile because of her and is keen on becoming an outlet of love for humanity.
What makes her stand out as a Queen is that she is willing to grow as a human being and attaches more of her worth to how much she fulfills her purpose every day. She draws her inspiration from her role models which include, Miss USA Deshauna Barber, Face Of Lesotho 2017 Michelle Tau and Former Miss ‘Mabathoana Relebohile Lebone.
In her opinion, these Queens are the epitome of true beauty which Naleli defines as, ‘continual growth in what one loves.’
If we could get a glance into the future, what would be seen about Naleli is shocking yet inspirational. Her dream is to become a Statistician, a professional ballroom and Latino dancer and most importantly, she wants to own Humanitarian Foundations to help the less fortunate.
It is utterly inspiring to find a humble yet capable Queen as this one. She is an inspiration to young girls who seek to find validation from people’s opinions because she is driven by intrinsic motivation. We cannot wait to watch her fully achieve her purpose because her journey is only beginning. Till then, all we can say is: Rise Queen!