Umhlanga-based businesswoman and personal empowerment coach
Noeline Rajbally is no stranger to reinvention.
From international stages and corporate boardrooms to founding The Mindfulness Academy and facing breast cancer head-on, Noeline’s life has taken a series of bold turns. Nearing her 50th birthday, she isn’t slowing down. In fact, she’s stepping into her most powerful season yet.
Raised in the close-knit community of Shallcross, Durban, she describes her childhood as rich in connection and simplicity. She remembers barefoot days, tree climbing and a neighbourhood where homes, meals and the care of children were shared. With doors always open and service woven into daily life through church and outreach work, the foundations of compassion, leadership and community were laid early.
Breaking into the corporate world
Opportunity arrived in 1994 with a corporate internship, a pivotal moment for a young woman whose family could not afford tertiary education.
Curious and systems-savvy, she mastered emerging technologies as workplaces digitised, quickly becoming a go-to trainer and systems superuser. By her early twenties, she was travelling nationally and across Africa, moving into management roles where she was often the youngest in the room and frequently the only woman of colour.
The boldest career move
While corporate success offered stability, Noeline knew her next chapter would require more than climbing the ladder. After marrying her husband Rajesh, becoming a bonus mom to two young daughters and later welcoming their son, she made the decision to step away from her corporate career.
Together, she and Rajesh built a fledgling logistics and supply chain business from the ground up. Noeline led operations and administration while Rajesh drove growth, helping the company develop into a multi-division enterprise.
Equally important, the move made space for her next chapter: impact-driven work.
Mindfulness with meaning
During lockdown, Noeline’s long-standing interest in mindfulness and coaching took clearer shape. Daily online meditation and support sessions evolved into The Mindfulness Academy, a platform focused on women’s empowerment, emotional well-being and youth development.
She developed mindfulness programmes for children, facilitated talks for corporates and community organisations and recognised that her work could reach even further.
A pageant with purpose
A chance supermarket conversation introduced her to the Mrs South Africa platform – not simply as a pageant, but as a leadership and advocacy space centred on personal development and community impact.
Despite family hesitation and her own doubts about entering in her late forties, Noeline applied. She secured sponsors, embraced the journey and committed fully to the process. Then, just two weeks before the finals, everything shifted.
The diagnosis and the decision
After discovering a small lump in her breast, she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
In the midst of rehearsals, fittings and public appearances, she carried the diagnosis quietly. With her surgeon’s cautious approval, she chose to continue competing before surgery – not out of denial, but determination.
“My story is not going to be about this cancer,” she decided.
She competed while exhausted but focused. Days after finishing as a titleholder, she underwent surgery, followed by radiation. It was a demanding season that tested her resolve and faith.
Her message now
Today, Noeline uses every platform available to advocate for early cancer detection, mental resilience, spiritual grounding and intentional living. She speaks candidly about miscarriage, anxiety, entrepreneurship, identity and personal empowerment – without gloss or pretence.
Turning 50 feels less like a milestone and more like an arrival. Adding to the joy, she is preparing to become a grandmother to a baby girl due in her birthday month, something she describes as the greatest gift she could receive.
“I am ready for my grandmother era,” she laughs.
Details: IG: @noelinerajbally
Text: Jennifer Campbell Photograph: Wylde Creative Makeup: Miss Makeup
