THE journey from the inner-city community of Allman Town, to being recognised regionally and internationally was never a walk in the park for author and founder of the LoveUnuhSelf Initiative, Queen Simone Maghanza. Her strides were built on rejection, fuelled by determination, and blossomed into what she called “hitting the star at the highest point”.

Facing rejection first from her father for not being light-skinned, and then from people in her environment who added that if she was light-skinned she would be beautiful, Maghanza’s early life was shaped by the constant need to fit in.

She soon resorted to skin bleaching as a means of suppressing the feeling of unworthiness, but later contracted a rare case of chickenpox.

This virus was the eye-opener for her, as she then realised she was no longer living for herself but for recognition, prompting the need for self-acceptance which she said resulted in her success.

“Success for me is defined by staying true to yourself,”she said.

Her transition to success began when she took on her first official job at a popular clothing store in Half-Way-Tree, working as a sales associate, where she later attracted the name ‘The Million Dollar Girl’, because of her success as the top sales associate.

Despite being told on the job that she would be good at motivating others or counselling them, Maghanza was blinded to these sentiments as she was still diffident.

She later left the store, and met her now husband and gave birth to her daughter. At this point, self-acceptance became her priority.

This self-acceptance was her divine call to help individuals delve into their inner self, and gain profound self-awareness, allowing them to love and accept themselves for who they truly are, give birth to their authenticity, celebrate their mistakes, and rise above opinions.

Giving birth to the LoveUnuhSelf Initiative in 2017 was the perfect opportunity to manifest this divine calling.

Working with over 30 plus organisations and institutions, partnering with projects and government agencies like the Ministry of Education, Maghanza describes her initiative as a soul call to unlearn societal conditioning and societal programming.

The core of her initiative, she said “is to assist in bringing people back to their originality as individuals; reminding them that they are worthy, regardless of what society might say. And they are not a mistake, or a failure,”

Having successfully impacted over 12,000 lives and saved at least eight from suicide, Maghanza later decided to expand this mission by writing her book,
Give Birth to Yuh Authenticity, (Celebrate Mistakes and Rise Above Opinions). Published by BambuSparks Publishing, the book is a call to awakening for women who are ready to reclaim their voice, confidence, and authenticity.

“It’s a hybrid between a memoir, practical, spoken word and storytelling,” she explained. “It serves as a reminder to individuals of who they are —that little girl that used to love dancing; [the one who] used to be adventurous, before the world told you that you’re nobody, before the world tell yuh say yuh need this to feel worthy; that little inner girl that was fearless, shameless, and could rise above shame.”

Set to be released today, International Women’s Day (IWD), the e-book will be available on
Amazon. Maghanza said the IWD release is intentional, and represents liberation from societal conditioning, the courage to confront internalised shame, and the power of women to choose themselves unapologetically.

“The physical copy, the paperback and the hardcover will be available later down. It will also be available on 17 digital platforms globally … and if you want an autographed copy, you have to get it exclusively from me,” she said.

Maghanza’s work has also gained her regional recognition, as she won a human resource management award in Barbados, for her skills.

“It’s a diaspora award … the diaspora came together and decided to choose me over all the people that were there, all because of the same local self-initiative, the same authentic spiritual speaking and inner self-confidence and coaching,” she said.

Today, Maghanza’s greatest accomplishment remains self-acceptance. For her, “self- awareness plus self-acceptance equals self-confidence”.

“The core of being proud is really learning to love and accept myself for who I truly am, and I can embody that, and show people that through the LoveUnuhSelf Initiative, and through the book,” she said.

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