Winning the competition would mean that her voice can be heard by many, that she can go out there and speak & share her life experience with others, as well as bring others of positive influence to speak on her platforms.
Terisa Hsu-Lee’s biggest goal is to use her voice to raise awareness on issues of self-love, self-worth and to bring about positive change toward collective consciousness, and to remind each and every individual, that the clothing they wear, the color of the skin, the brands they own do not define their worth. The only thing that defines one’s worth is the worth they see in themselves, and any individual who chooses to acknowledge his or her worth, can achieve anything their heart desires. “If I can create a shift in self-worth to any individual, that individual can do the same to his or her circles at no cost, and the positivity & change can grow from individual to individual, and that is my goal she added”.
Terisa Hsu-Lee is a mother of 2 beautiful children, a 12 year old & a 10 year old. For many years she chose to embrace her role as mother and wife and struggled to find the time to dedicate energy to herself, and that is fine. She does not regret giving 110% towards her marriage & children. “I see the results of my input & dedication towards my family, but now I feel the urge to give back to being Terisa, to doing the things I love, putting myself out there as a Mrs. SA semi-finalist and dedicating each day towards my goal and dreams” she said.
Terisa Hsu-Lee, a Kyalami resident, mother, and business owner, has been chosen as a semi-finalist for Mrs South Africa 2023. Her resume includes being a Fourways passion-preneur and the owner of Ever Beauty SA Emporium located in the Pineslopes shopping Centre. Hsu-Lee was informed of her selection on February 3rd following the National Casting event at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. The semi-finalists participated in a two-day conference with motivational talks, workshops, upskilling sessions, socializing, networking, and were introduced to the Mrs. SA sisterhood. Workshop sessions, socializing, networking, and were introduced to the Mrs. SA sisterhood.
To other mothers out there she said “When you dedicate your time & energy in a project you may not have enough time to balance the others. Mother’s guilt is a real issue that we face as moms, but never going for your dreams because of mother’s guilt will bring regrets. There is No secret to finding balance in roles we wish to play as multi-disciplinary women, I play many roles. The message is to find your various roles & keep playing, they cannot balance in synchronicity, but it’s the journey of following your dreams that makes the process of finding balance a beautiful experience. Following your dreams & still fulfilling duties in reality is hard, but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. So choose hard, keep going, keep learning, enjoy the rollercoaster ride, and just never give up”.
Hsu-Lee’s decision to join the pageant was inspired by her past experience as a cast member in an international reality TV show franchise. She was disturbed by how the show platformed cast members that fought and backstabbed each other. She believes that such behavior sets a poor example for young women aspiring to become famous reality TV stars. Hsu-Lee withdrew from the franchise after witnessing a physical altercation between other cast members. She is now dedicated to using tools that she has learned to bring self-love and self-worth to the masses. Her mission is to teach people that the cars we drive, the brands we wear, our sexual and racial identities, addresses, education, and titles do not define us. Instead, our self-perception is what truly defines us, and she aims to help people start their journey of self-love and self-worth.
Mrs. SA received an impressive number of high-quality entries this year. The panel was looking for women who are interested in empowering others, display strong family values, and are passionate. Johnson notes that the National Casting day was challenging as many entrants had what it takes to make a success of the program.
This year Terisa is working very closely with 2 NPO foundations, Impilo Collection Foundation & the Jessica Matheson Foundation. Impilo Foundation believes in uplifting and empowering victims of GBVF through our various social projects, such as our #EmpowerHER bra drive, an initiative advocating against gender-based violence, where they collected 6200 bras in 2021. These bras positively impacted the lives of 3100 women and act as a powerful deterrent against crimes being perpetrated towards women. Terisa has been approached by the Jessica Matheson foundation to be their official spokesperson. Jessica Matheson committed suicide on the 20th April 2022. She was only 16 years old and had severe depression with Bipolar. Due to the reason of what happened to Jessica, the Foundation is going to put a Councellor or social worker in every government school to deal with depression.
Be sure to support and follow Terisa Hsu-Lee’s journey on her social media profile:
@terisahsulee
@mrs_south_africa
To help Terisa make it to the finals follow Mrs. South Africa’s Instagram and Facebook Page, find, like and comment on her photo. You can also sms
Terisa Hsu Lee to 47587, you can vote as many times as youlike. (R3/sms)
Terisa Hsu Lee’s NPO
websites
www.impilofoundation.org
www.jessmf.com
Article by Lewis Nyamakosi