August's theme of Women Empowerment is in full swing! Every Friday this month you've experienced an interview with another #girlboss and got to know what keeps these Queens motivated to do the mostest! But why just stop at August? Women should be celebrated every month. So every second Friday for the rest of 2018 you can expect a new another one of these Girls Boss interviews - I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me! This week we chat to Teshie Ogallo, a UCT student and fashion blogger who just this month launched her online store, STYLETECH by Teshie Ogallo.

If you've been to any clothing store lately you've probably come across some kind of shirt with the slogan "The Future Is Female" - as soon as corporate finds an opportunity, they commercialise on it and this is no exception. However, the phrase still holds so much weight.

Women are taking over all aspects. This is undeniable. Most undergraduate classes are at least 70% female, stay at home moms are becoming a dying breed and in general women are dominating every sector of life. However the scale isn't completely balanced, especially in the entrepreneurial sector. While this isn't completely new territory for the fairer sex, it tends to be a rather hostile one. That's why organizations like Future Females are so necessary.

What is Future Females?



A movement formed by females for females. It is an empowerment movement aimed to uplift and helps women from all walks of life through their entrepreneurial journey. The organisation first launched in South Africa in August 2017 (Exactly a year ago!) and have already grown to have over 3000 members of the community actively participating to drive our mission globally with events in South Africa, German and Namibia. The Future Females mission is to accelerate the success of aspiring and existing female entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to provide an environment where females can connect, and access the necessary resources.


August's theme of Women Empowerment is in full swing! Every Friday this month you can expect an interview with another #girlboss and get to know what keeps these Queens motivated to do the mostest! This week we chat to Shenai Bridglall, a female entrepreneur running an NPO, who will soon also be launching a new venture in the fashion industry, her footwear brand called Shenai Briglall. 


August's theme of Women Empowerment is in full swing! Every Friday this month you can expect an interview with another #girlboss and get to know what keeps these Queens motivated to do the mostest! This week we chat to Sheena Deepnarain, a South African actress and blogger, living in Johannesburg. 

August's theme of Women Empowerment is in full swing! Every Friday this month you can expect an interview with another #girlboss and get to know what keeps these Queens motivated to do the mostest! I'm kicking off this series today with an interview with Michelle Meilhon, a South African blogger living and working abroad in the Netherlands as an au pair. She's actually a close friend of mine who I met exactly a year during a blogging event! 








Happy Women's month ya'll! 

August is definitely my favourite month because so much attention is placed on empowering women as well as women's issues. 

And for some reason, August has also inspired me to get back to regularly blogging! For the past year I've slacked so much with only 7 blog posts (compared to posting every single week last year). 

But I'm officially back with a new post every Wednesday (Just like old times!) and a completely redesigned website. So sit back, relax, and expect some amazing new content on Life By Asha Singh every Wednesday! 

P.S there might be a little surprise at the end of this post too!

P.P.S what do you think of the new website layout and design? I tried out something that's easier to read on your cellphone. And I think it's pretty lit.




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1. REFLECT ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WOMENS DAY


This is a must for err'body. Don't forget the reason for the season, yo. Just to recap on your high school history class: 9 August (i.e womens day) commemorates the 1956 march of about 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The march was against SA's pass laws that required South African's classified as "Black" under the population registration act to carry a "dom pass" or internal passport. The first women's day occurred on 9 August 1994 and is now based on the principle of striving for equal freedoms and rights and bringing to light womens issues such as domestic violence. During the march, the women stood silently for 30 minutes and then started singing protest songs. Why not just take 5 minutes to quietly reflect on the position of women and womens rights in society today? I would recommend a drive to a serene place like to beach to just take a moment to feel thankful.




2. SPEND THE DAY WITH YOUR #SQUAD


There's no better way to spend the public holiday than with your girls! They've got your back through and through so why not celebrate them! Here are some idea's on what you guys can do:


  • Have a girl power movie marathon. Both Buzzfeed and Bustle have lists of amazing feminist movies to watch but here are some of my favorites : The Hunger Games, Mulan, Bridesmaids, Divergent, Pitch Perfect, Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Diaries and The Help. So grab your popcorn ladies!
  • Coffee Date to discuss new ways to fight the patriarch of course. 
  • Pamper Day! All this fighting for equal human rights can get tiring, so grab your female ninjas and have a spa day. After all, those legs deserve a pedicure after attending all those women's month marches.

3. SPEND THE DAY WITH YOUR NO.1 LADY I.E YOUR MAMA


Behind every Princess is a Queen! One thing I've noticed about some of the most ambitious women I know is that they have strong moms they look up to as a role model, and there's no better way to spend Women's Day than with your Queen Mama Bear! If you're lucky enough to live close to you mom (And not over 8000km away like me *sigh*) then take advantage of that and have some bonding time. Why not have a movie day or dinner with mom?


4. GIVE BACK TO OTHER WOMEN/ORGANISATIONS


One thing I admire most about the women who took part in the 1956 march is that they were so self less and still united for a cause they believed in. Instead of doing something that benefits you on 9 August, give back to the community. There are so many ways you can do that. Donating to an NGO, volunteering or even just by being a part of an organization empowering women in South Africa


5. READ ABOUT OR LISTEN TO THE STORIES OF OTHER INSPIRING WOMEN


This is one you can do in a few different ways. Women's month is filled with local events with talks by inspirational women that you can attend. You could also just plan a lunch date with an inspiring woman you've always wanted to get to know better and ask her the questions you've had on your mind (Or better yet just hit her up on IG or DM her the questions you've always wanted to know. Beware, some people think they're too famous to reply to DMs. Don't be one of those people.) 



Luckily, I've got your back and I'm making this step even easier for you by featuring interviews with some inspiring women throughout this month of August! Every Friday in August you can expect a new post with an exclusive interview with yet another #girlboss! For now, check out last year's interview with blogger, model and law student, Payal Ramlall.







So I turned 21 last month. Damn, time flies! Because I'm me and super lazy, I've just decided to list 5 of the biggest lessons I learnt before turning the big two zero. Let me know what you learnt before turning 21!



THINGS I LEARNT BEFORE TURNING 21


1. STAY IN YOUR LANE

Especially at this age it's so easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Your early 20s are so weird. Some people are buying cars while others are passed out drunk on the sidewalk at 4am - and what matters is that both are happy! We're all running a race that has no definite finish line. Some of us want to get married and have 2 kids, others want to travel the world and some want to become Buddhist nuns (*Uhm long story). The motto here is the 3 G's - Goals, Growing and Glowing! As long as you're doing those 3 you're okay baby girl!
life by asha singh oribi gorge kea zulu natal south africa

2. IT'S OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

Since entering the big bad world after finishing school I've changed my mind about what I want to do SO MANY TIMES. I've dabbled in so many things, changed my mind so many times and I'm still not sure what I want out of this thing that we call life. And you know what? That's okay. It's okay not to know and it's sure as hell okay to change your mind. What I'm proud of myself for is taking the leap and trying out all these different things. If I didn't try out Mechanical Engineering back in 2015 I would have never knew how much I would hate it! That brings me to the next one.

via GIPHY

3. TAKE CHANCES

My other motto lately has been - "What's the worst thing that can happen? You could die." That's it, literally the worst that can happen. And you're going to die anyway. So take that chance. It just makes it all the better knowing you tried and gave it a chance. The goal is no regrets so we have to take these chances.
life by asha singh oribi gorge kea zulu natal south africa

4. CUT 'EM OFF

You meet A LOT of people at this age. And this is where you have to be extra selective about the people you keep close. Luckily for me I knew this from early on. However people also change, and you change. So even though they were "your people" at some point, this doesn't mean you'll feel that way after a year or 2. It's okay to cut people off. It's okay to tell them to GTFO of your life.

5. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NO MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE

This is sometime I've tried to live by since school days. No matter what age or life stage you're in, make the most of it! I don't miss school - but I think I make the most of that stage in my life. Now I'm not saying you're early 20s are perfect - you're constantly tired, hungry and broke and that sucks. But we just have to make the most of it. We look pretty AF. We have minimal responsibilities. We have the world at our finger tips. We have so many opportunities knocking at our door. And best of all hangovers are still pretty much nonexistent for us. I'm going to enjoy every moment of 21, and every other age, and one day I know I'm going to look back with no regrets!

In the past year I’ve probably been to King Shaka International Airport around 30 times. Whether it’s just to drop off or pick up someone or to go on another adventure, this airport has become my second home. Now anyone that knows me knows that airports aren’t my favourite thing in the world (It's no secret!). They generally aggravate my anxiety and cause me to freak out a little (Okay, a lot). But since it’s absolutely impossible for me to totally avoid airports, I had to come up with my own game plan to “deal”.
Here are some of my tips to making the most of your experience at King Shaka International airport!


Source: Unsplash


2 March 2018 is SheDecides Day. The SheDecides movement is founded on a belief in "a world where every girl and woman can decide what to do with her body, with her life, and with her future."

she decides day 2018 life by asha singh


South Africa is also a part of their worldwide campaign with the SheDecides Flagship Event, to be held in Pretoria, 1st March 2018 and bringing together over 200 young people and politicians from Eastern and Southern Africa. 
Carrying on August’s theme of Women Empowerment, this week I’ve interviewed Payal Ramlall, a fellow blogger, model and law student (And also, a close friend of mine!). Also, be sure to check out my interview on her blog which you can find here.





I was nominated for the unique blogger award by the amazing indirasinnerbeauty.com (Gurrl you da best!). She's on this blog so much I don't think she even needs an introduction!
If you switch on the news (Wait, do people even own tvs nowadays? Where do you get your news updates? News24 app? CNN website? The Daily Show with Trevor Noah?) chances are you'll come across the words terrorism or terrorist.  Most recently the Manchester bombing (The suicide bombing in Manchester, England after an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. During her One Love Manchester concert on Sunday she raised $13 million for victims of the attacked and she slayed her performance of Over The Rainbow like a boss.) and the London attack (The terrorist attack that happened on 3 June 2017 where 3 men drove a van into pedestrians and stabbed Londoners in the Borough Market area) have made headlines.



While doing research to find out what to write for today’s post I came across some heartbreaking articles about recent terrorist attacks.


 

Do you know what's really annoying?  Seeing pictures on instagram of all these insanely beautiful, exotic places while you're busy studying for exams.


No seriously, Yas is a place and it's paradise!
As a first year computer science major would say, Hello World. And more importantly, Hello May (My birthday month eeep!). This month we've got something exciting coming to LBAS (Because having an acronym makes me feel like I made it in life). Every week I'm going to publish an opinion piece written by a reader/friend/fellow blogger. These posts are a way to gain insight from different people, and remind us that my voice isn't the only one you should listen to for your weekly, worldly news update (And also because I'm too lazy to come up with new stuff after that long weekend tbh). So sit back, relax and enjoy a different take on LIFE (This time not by Asha Singh *sigh*).

There comes a time when the initial honeymoon stage of the relationship ends (*sigh* it was nice while it lasted). Before you know it, the days of romantic dates, going out to restaurants with names you can't pronounce, getting bouquets of roses and chocolates and being treated like a Queen/King fade into a distant memory. That's when you know it may be time to let go. Easier said than done! The one thing harder than starting a relationship is ending one. Don't you worry, Life By Asha Singh is here to make your life easier.




Ah, a new year. There's always so much excitement and hope around the prospect of a new beginning. New goals, new adventures, more happiness, less drama - that's exactly what 2017 is going to be like, right? Wrong. By this point in the year, however, reality kicks in and you realise it's probably not going to be a field of roses. You get back into your schedule and life goes on as per usual. What happened to 2017, this is practically 2016S (Non-iphone users will probably not get that. Haha, simpletons).


And by stupid I mean sexist, racist and homophobic; the worst kind of stupid there is.

You know that guy that always remarks that you'll never get a boyfriend because you're too much of a feminist? Or those church friends that show disgust when they see two guys arm in arm? Even those times you were right in the middle of events that show the underlying institutional racism that we have eluded (or tried to, at least) all these years (*hint*, Shimla Park)?

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