21 Sep 2015

Mmina Gaebonwe is a young Motswana lady in her early 20s, born and raised in Maun. She started modeling at the age of 18 when she became the first Motswana to win the Gemstone model search in 2009 in Gaborone.

She said after winning the Gemstone model search she went to New York for a year to learn more about walking, posing for pictures and all the tactics of modeling since she never had any previous experience.

Gaebonwe said she went hard in modeling after she moved to Cape Town for three years before moving to Joburg where she got a modeling contract with Boss models about two and a half years ago. She said being the Gemstone winner, it has opened doors for her.

She said she was young and had to travel and learn a lot about other people’s culture. She said she got a lot of support from her mother.

“My mother is like my best friend, she supports everything I do and if I tell her I want to do this or that, she supports me all the way,” she said. Currently she is in contract with Boss models and is based in Johannesburg and in December she will be moving to London.

She said as a model her social life is limited as she is always on the road or doing shoots. She said she has worked with several magazines and shops and has appeared on the covers of Maire Claire, Lapogola, 36 Magazine, Dossier and was featured in Saxon, Destiny to mention but a few. She said she also did features for Woolworths and Edgars.

“I am currently doing a project on a blog called Maun 360 which promotes young talent and people from my hometown,” she said.

Gaebonwe said she loves what she does and is proud of herself, even though she is always busy, she said the little time she gets she uses it to write.

“I have no social life and when I am not doing any modeling job, I write poems, read and volunteer at Maun Animal Welfare Society (MAWS). I love animals and would like the future generation to get to experience seeing the beauty of animals,” she said.

She said her all time role model will be Mpule Kwelagobe and said she used to watch her on television and noticed how smart she was. She said she realised that if you are in this kind of industry you can be both beautiful and smart and that you don’t have to limit yourself.

Gaebonwe said she uses this platform to make her own business as well. She said she now owns two companies which are a bikini line coming up soon called EmBoho swimwear and a modeling agency named Em Models. She said she would love to see more models from Botswana especially in her home town Maun. Even though she made businesses, Gaebonwe said she also loves giving back to the community.

“I recently donated clothes to a centre called Bomme (Maun Mothers), which is an initiative to give light to single mothers in need of help to cloth and feed their kids,” she said.

She said she is also a collector of books, clothes and shoes mostly for donations. I encourage people who have things they don’t use to donate to other people. She has also helped at Bana Ba Letsatsi and Motse wa Tsholofelo before it was closed.

Most of us thought modelling was all about cameras and a few poses and all that one had to do was to stand in front of the camera, but Gaebonwe said modeling is not an easy career. She said she has faced a few challenges as a model. She said modeling requires a lot of preparation, to stay in shape and eat healthy and also taking care of your skin.

“In modeling there are periods when one has to gain weight or lose weight. I have to eat healthy, drink lots of water and go to the gym to keep in shape, now, ” she said. Ends