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Hope to Heal Foundation is proud to present our Brand Ambassador, Mrs. South Africa 2021 Finalist, Patricia Vermeulen
Patricia Vermeulen, 36-year-old mother of two gorgeous girls and married to entrepreneur Chris Vermeulen for the 5 years, born and raised in the bright lights of Johannesburg and now live in the City of Ekurhuleni with her family. Patricia is a survivor of domestic abuse and ardent advocate for paying it forward.
Introducing Patricia Vermeulen
In my twenties I was in an abusive relationship whereby I was psychologically affected and broken down, I had also lost my confidence, my voice and ultimately myself. There were times I was in a very dark and lonely place. I had shut myself off from family and friends. Until one day I decided to take back my power and refused to let somebody else decide my fate, this was my life and my story to tell, and I was going to tell it in my way. It was a long process to find my voice again, but I did, and I found much more than I ever could have imagined”.
“I believe in having a friendly can-do attitude and nothing is impossible approach to any task I take on”.
I am known to those closest to me for my love of reading anything biographical or current affairs related. My love for the African Continent and its history runs deep in my veins, we are not born in Africa, I believe Africa is born in us. There is nothing that can compare with the eclectic hustle that comes with living in our beautiful and diverse country.
Currently I am the General Manager of African Continent for the Cartrack Group, I have been in the corporate sector for 16 years and held various Senior Management positions throughout my career predominantly in the Technology Sector. I have also been fortunate enough to have worked for and alongside some of the most dynamic and inspirational business minds. I am a firm believer in surrounding yourself with three types of people, the inspired, the excited and the grateful. Surrounding myself with these types of people, pushes me to work harder not only on the tasks at hand but on myself. After all we are all a work in progress.
The saying “empowered women, empower women” has been a driving force behind my collaborations and partnerships. I place a very strong emphasis on working with and supporting local women run businesses and initiatives. My passion for female youth empowerment along with the right to education for all can be seen in my commitment to working with young women of all ages to better prepare themselves for the business world as well as giving them the necessary support, guidance, and tools they can use to thrive in their future and daily lives. As someone who has gone down the same or similar road that these girls maybe on and to provide my own insight and experiences into what has and hasn’t worked for me. In order to face todays challenges we need to collaborate in new ways, I get excited to work with like-minded induvial of different races, ages and faces towards a common goal.
This year I virtually attended the generation equality forum Paris 2021, this forum partners with the UN for Women and was attended Heads of State and government and international organizations, civil society, and the private sector alongside youth organizations. Everyone gathered this year to launch a global acceleration plan towards achieving generational equality, to announce a concrete commitment and strengthen inter-generational and multi stakeholder partnerships to advance gender equality over the next five years. The forum responds to the fact that the COVID-19 Crisis has exacerbated gender inequalities, disproportionally impacting millions of women and girls and reinforcing the urgency to act to accelerate progress. As the world begins to rebuild, we must put gender equality at the heart of recovery efforts. The Generation Equality Forum is a global turning point to advance women’s rights.
Growing up I was blessed to be born into a large extended family consisting mostly of boys. I have two brothers and majority male cousins. Little did I know the character I built in these younger years would equip me for the challenges I would face later in the corporate world. Often my positions have been questioned as majority of my career has been spent in what has historically been referred to as a “man’s world” society preconception is that women are not placed in positions based on their merit alone. However, a few years ago a corporate CEO took a chance on me and hired me to head up the African continent, by giving me an opportunity he empowered me by not only breaking societal stereotypes set by the industry but by giving me the trust and belief in myself that I could do anything I put my mind to. With this being said and going into the future with the correct leadership and empowerment in the corporate arena women will shatter the historical glass ceilings put in place by society.
What does winning mean for Patricia Vermeulen?
Some days, dark days like those in my twenties winning was being able to get up and face the day. Winning can be interpreted by each of us at a different stage of our life in a different way. Today winning is seeing my family happy and that is my everything. Winning is raising two strong and independent warrior princesses. Winning is being able to work with and learn from dynamic young people and seeing people succeed and grow. For today and every day I am winning my own race, as I work on being a better, stronger version of myself than I was the day before. And being a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and all-round contributor to the greater good however that represents itself is my everything.
What is my message to someone who looks up to me?
“Someone needs your actions to inspire their actions, never forget your little broken cake is someone’s daily meal, care enough to share your little cake”
My message would be the following lessons that I have learnt and put into practice in my daily life:
- Live each day with perspective, empathy, grace, and purpose.
- Not the little the little things that excite you, these are not random, they are connected to your inner purpose follow them.
- Never trade your authenticity for approval.
- Let success be your noise and do your hard work in silence.
- Words have power, use them wisely, use them to build not to break.
- It doesn’t matter what other people are doing it matters what you are doing, run your own race there is no need to complete with anyone else.
www.hopetoheal.org.za Tel.: office – 010 822 1010 – Mobile – 078 906 7461 info@hopetoheal.org.za
