I think the most important thing... is leadership. It's something that has been lacking in young women and girls for a very long time, not because we don't want to but because of what society has labeled women to be. I think we are the most powerful beings in the world and that we should be given every opportunity.

People speak about diversity and representation like the world is ready. But when it actually happens, people can't take change. They can't deal with it. Which is why we have things like cyberbullying, which is why people will send you nasty DMs, say nasty things in your comments. Because they're just not dealing with it, they're not ready.

We should be teaching young girls to take up space. Nothing is as important as taking up space in society and cementing yourself.

I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful.

Women are constantly being taught how to defend themselves against attack from men. I would like to shift the perception. I want to say that that responsibility should no longer rest on the shoulders of women alone.

I didn't enter Miss S.A. because I thought I was the most beautiful woman in S.A., I entered because it's one of the few platforms that give women the ability to lead and I knew I had a powerful voice and message to send out.