Looking decidedly elegant in a floaty, floral green dress, Louisa van Wyk lifts the hem of her skirt and sticks one All Star-clad foot out, and laughs, saying that she loves colourful dresses … but she also loves to be comfortable.
In many ways, this sums up the petite dark-haired mum of three. As the executive head of Youth Consumer Marketing for Vodacom SA, based in Mbombela, Louisa explains that she has the best of both worlds: the privilege of living in the Lowveld and working from home while being at the forefront of the latest and greatest in the world of telecommunications on a global scale.
“It’s exposure on a worldwide platform,” she says, “sharing ideas with other countries, always with the focus on the youth market. You are always exposed to the latest developments in technology and the digital age we live in. We really are at the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution,” she smiles.
Growing up, Louisa decided if she couldn’t be a medical doctor (“I really didn’t have the stomach for it!”) she may as well be an academic one. “We couldn’t afford university,” she says, “but I wasn’t going to let that get me down! I applied for a bursary at Clover Danone SA, and was the very excited recipient of a full bursary to study BCom marketing at RAU after I matriculated. I ended up doing my honours in marketing, and then a PhD in marketing management, so from no money to study to a master’s degree, all paid for!”
The bubbly mum is quick to point out that despite this, she doesn’t consider herself grown up yet. “I always say the trick is to die young … as late as possible. There is still so much I want to do before I grow up, and the added responsibility of already being there doesn’t sit well with me. Obviously, in some things I have to be an adult, but there is still so much to learn and experience before I can say I’m officially grown up.”
Louisa’s passion was always to be an actress, and she followed every Academy Award-type show, watching the winning movies over and over. “I feel most at home when I’m on stage,” she smiles, “talking in front of people. At school, I used to take part in all the eisteddfods, theatre productions and public speaking events. You name it, I did it. I also had music as one of my main subjects up until Grade 12, playing the piano, violin and organ. Since we couldn’t afford university, I had to study what my bursary dictated; hence I ended up in marketing and not acting.”
Louisa’s son is just as passionate about acting as she is. “My son, Rossouw, jokes and says that I will be his date on the red carpet one day when he wins his award, although I think he is way better than I could ever dream of being. I see the same stars in his eyes as I had,” she laughs. Apart from Rossouw, who is 13, Louisa has two other boys, Luhan (16) and Carlo (11). “Luhan personifies the meaning of being proud, Rossouw resembles how I experience joy and Carlo reminds me on a daily basis what love is,” she explains.
“Whenever I look at my husband, Wihan, and our three boys, I ask myself how it is that out of all the little darlings on earth, I got the very best ones? Wihan, an accountant, keeps his colourful wife in check. He is the grown-up between the two of us, but don’t tell him I said that! He is my soulmate and it was love at first sight for the both of us. We’ve been married for 17 years, but it feels like it was yesterday. I love everything about him, especially how he just shows up as a father to our boys, helping, supporting and loving them.”
Louisa’s three sons are each unique in who they are, to such an extent that they don’t even look like one another. “They get asked a lot if they really are brothers,” she laughs. “Wihan and I will tell you that they each inherited a different aspect of us and we can therefore confidently say they really are ours. I love the dynamics of the three boys since I was an only child growing up, and wasn’t used to sibling rivalry.”
Adopted as a small baby, Louisa recently met her biological family and found out she has a brother and a sister. Other members of the family are Bella the beagle and Lusha the German shepherd. Louisa adores dogs and notices them wherever she goes. “Like the Lorax,” she smiles, “I believe I speak for the dogs. Our dogs feel like our children and I’m so glad my boys love animals just as much as I do.”
Louisa admits that balancing being a wife, mum and businesswoman is near impossible. She mentions watching a video clip of Shonda Rhimes, a successful American television producer, in which she answered this very question. “Her take on this is almost exactly how I feel,” Louisa explains. “She said that where you see me succeed in one area of my life, it most certainly means that I’m failing in another and that that is the trade-off we make.”
Louisa adds that you never feel 100% in control; you never have everything balanced. “And yet,” she adds, “I want my boys to see the example I set for them. In their world, mums work hard, they do presentations to a global audience, they have meetings in the car while they take them to school activities, and most importantly, they make time for God. And I’m a better mother, wife and woman for it because I get to be fulfilled and challenged. That is why I’m able to be present for them when they need me. I’m fulfilled, and that flows through to those around me, knowing that I don’t do this on my own strength.”
This positive approach is very much in keeping with Louisa’s nature, who sees herself as the eternal optimist, laughing that her preference for all things sweet also pulls through to who she is as a person. “I prefer to see the silver lining in most things and am always aware that my words should be sweet just in case I need to swallow them,” she explains. “I realise I also have to be realistic, so I’m not a glass-half-full-or-half-empty kind of person, more a thankful-that-I-have-a-glass one.”
Louisa’s pet hate is a condescending attitude. She firmly believes that everyone has their space to fill, no matter who or what they are. “I always tell my kids to make space for one another, and God, whom I chat to constantly. We have a good laugh every now and then, God and I, especially when I do something silly,” she smiles. “You really have to be able to laugh at yourself – life is serious enough.”
Family time for the Van Wyks is on Sundays when they get out and about in the Lowveld, having a lovely meal together and discuss the week that has passed. “We laugh, we fight, we absorb and we just enjoy one another’s company. We also have dinner around a table every night with no phones allowed, so we can just debrief on the day and connect again.”
An important part of their daily time spent together also includes the family taking Bella and Lusha for a walk. “This really gives us time to just be,” she says. “It’s one of the reasons I love the Lowveld so much, it gave me one of the best gifts that anyone can give you, time. I no longer have to leave home an hour or two before an appointment, and no time is wasted in long queues in overcrowded shops or in peak traffic. I have time to do all the things I love to do, reading books, baking (did I mention my sweet tooth?), walking the dogs, watching movies with my boys … I still watch all the Academy Award winners!” she laughs.
Louisa finds inspiration in everything and always tries to look deeper than the surface to see things and people with a new pair of glasses each day. “I always try to treat others the way I would like them to treat me, regardless of our differences in race, age, gender, beliefs and so on. If there was one thing I could teach my kids, it would be this,” she adds.
When asked where she would like to be in the future, Louisa smiles, and without hesitation says her greatest wish is to always be with the treasures of her heart. And to be able to laugh at yourself, and to always remember to choose to be kind over being perfect.
