BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Robyn Erasmus loves being a busy body. The full-time University of Johannesburg student is also an entrepreneur, a youth developer and a modelling coach.
The one thing keeping her very busy at the moment is fulfilling her duties as a Top 10 finalist for the Miss Earth South Africa title.
She recently planted five trees, with the help of her fellow students and the Green Development Foundation (GDF) as part of her project to reinforce the power of nature. The GDF is planting 300 trees throughout the APB Campus. The second-year Interior Design student says if she is not busy, she feels like she is missing out on doing something that can help her and others in some way.
The 21-year-old has always had a passion for aesthetics and buildings, but she stumbled into her Interior Design degree.
“I also have a passion for baking and cooking and I initially wanted to go to culinary school first. But the finances weren’t working out and something led me to study Interior Design, after seeing a UJ post. I applied and got in and I think it was God’s grace to send me this way because I found more of my passion when I got here.”
She has been baking since she was a young girl, learning from her grandparents and her mom and this led her to start her own business, Robyn’s Delights.
After taking Consumers Studies in Matric, in 2020 because of the lockdown, she started the business as a small hobby and to get some income.
“It eventually got to a point where people wanted to order larger cakes, more cupcakes and larger quantities of other things. That’s when I decided this is what I want to do as a side gig while I study. It is still a fruitful business to this day.”
Robyn describes herself as a business-minded hard worker who strives to inspire others through kindness and humility.
Her work with Miss Earth has influenced Robyn to ensure that the environment is always taken care of.
“I hope to be the light to everyone who engages with me, to endure a more sustainable and green way of living. I want to use this platform to empower individuals to rise to their cause not only for themselves but for the environment, our beautiful planet Earth.”
Her modelling profile, through Tiffany K Models, has helped her gain self-confidence and self-improvement. As a head modelling coach, she now teaches others to boost their confidence and, for those with an entrepreneurial spirit like her, start their businesses.
“The platform is used to bring in the youth and guide them to wherever they aspire to be.”
“It is a platform of action, reaching out to people and engaging. I went into it knowing about the environment and social side of it. It has been a journey. I want to help out more in communities, learn more about the environment and also be surrounded by powerful and impactful women.”
Image and source: UJ
