Amorie, The 40 Over 40 Women’s Portrait Campaign
Amorie, 42
I have been described by my friends and family as…
Kind-hearted, big-hearted, dependable and a leader.
My best qualities are…
Sensitive, detail-oriented, giver, compassionate and hard worker.
I am most proud of…
In 2003 I left my corporate Human Resources job to be a stay-at-home mom. My lifetime dream was to be a mother.
After a few years, I started my own cooking school where I train mostly domestic workers on how to prepare and cook meals.
They all get to enjoy the meals together at the end of a day of cooking.
It is my biggest blessing to have my own business and to have this time with my children.
My favourite quotes…
“The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away.”
and
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
What advice would I give my 20-year-old self…
Do not overthink the small stuff.
Start living your dreams now. Don’t wait for things to fall into place. Take that step.
Be yourself. You can change someone’s whole world by being YOU!
We all experience many lifetimes in this one life. What did you find were the most poignant changes as you entered your 40s?
This quote from Rolene Strauss explains it well:
“Something magical happened when I started focussing on who I am, rather than what I am.”
I believed in who I was. I became more confident to grow my dream business. My cooking school is growing and blossoming.
Thoughts on aging…
I love the process of getting older. I am more self-assured, feel more comfortable being myself and I believe more in myself.
I like to embrace each season in my life. When I turned 40, 2 years ago, I felt happy in my skin.
Happy about the person I have become and the life lessons I have learned along the way.
My favourite age is NOW!
My story…
My story starts at a very young age, when I became sick and frequently with ear infections. In my school years, I had more than 12 operations. As a young adult, I had about 30% hearing in my left ear. During an operation in 2014, I lost my hearing totally in my left ear. Being disabled had a lot of challenges.
I struggled to communicate normally with my children which proved quite frustrating.
In 2017 I had a cochlear implant. This is a four hour operation and is very delicate.
A human brain takes 6 months to 2 years to adjust and make new pathways. The process was not easy but today I can hear in my left ear.
Thanks to a great doctor and technology my life is so much easier.
Amorie contacted me to be photographed for “The 40 Over 40 Women’s Portrait Campaign” after she saw her friend Ezelna’s photos from the campaign. She invited her mom, Elize to come too, and they had a special morning getting hair and makeup done, and then being individually photographed, and then photographed together.
Iza Cloete did their hair and makeup, and we had some easy-going music playing, to make the session a calm and relaxed one. It was so lovely to meet them and make these beautiful portraits! I’m excited to see them in print! Amorie has ordered a folio box, which I’ll be adding down below to the images, once it’s arrived at my studio!
