Drawing Fire with Melanie Wright - Inspirational Speaker and Mrs. Universe SA 2018

Melanie says, “If I was a crayon in a box, I’d be the pink one because it’s soft, but it can still draw a fire.”

This sums up who she is in her nerves, bones, and steel. Rising like the phoenix from a harrowing abyss, Melanie Wright turned her life around against the odds.?In 2018 she won the Mrs. Universe SA title and went on to represent South Africa at the Global Mrs. Universe Pageant in the Philippines.

In this exclusive interview with Mel, we delve deeper, scratching beneath her glamorous veneer to find the treasures and tales of the warrior that stands strong within.?

Melanie recently published and launched her autobiography,?Carry Me Home,?in which she details the challenges that she faced and overcame.

For just a moment, leave judgment at the door and carry your heart in your hands as you reach out to touch the jarring world that she has known.?Stand in awe, just for a moment, as you look at the other world she has built despite a pantomime of unbearable flukes.?

Melanie’s heart is as big as her goals. She says, “My purpose in life is to inspire others with my story by showing them how I triumphed over the most diabolical hardships.”?

By sharing her stories of homelessness, abandonment, physical abuse, mental torment, extreme poverty, and wrong turns, she rises from the ashes with renewed hope and meaning to blaze new trails that will enrich her own life as well as the lives of those she touches.?

Mel says, “Fear just holds all of us back in life. I’ve learned to keep going regardless of the mess I’ve made.?Growth is an ongoing battle for everyone.”

Her inspirational talks drive and propel her towards something bigger.?Melanie has been featured on various radio stations, and on a television show called?Die Groot Ontbyt.?She also talks at corporate events like team building sessions, conferences, and seminars, as well as at ladies' teas, children’s homes, shelters for abused women and kids, and schools. The responses to these talks are what keep her inspired and moving upward.

Melanie is most impressed by humbleness and equally disgusted by bragging and lies. She says, “I’ve learned to be true to myself and honest about who I am."

She describes herself in high school as a popular dropout with no vision, and says, “I failed completely as a high school student, not my grades, but most definitely failing as a person.?At 16 years old I dropped out of school in grade 9.?This decision haunted me for many years thereafter.?I yearned to feel that sense of self-worth that comes with having a Matric certificate.?It plagued me until my early thirties and then I finally qualified in accounting and got my credentials.?It’s funny that I don’t need the certificate anymore because that’s no longer my career path, but it did give me the fulfillment and confidence I needed.?As a kid, I dreamed of being everything and anything, from a psychologist to an air hostess, but neither of those happened because life had a few other curve balls that it wanted me to deal with first.”

When asked whom she looks up to, Mel says, “I don’t look up to anyone specific.?There is something to learn from everyone if we just look hard enough.?Everybody has a story, and they deserve to be seen and heard. There is something good in every person – but not everyone sees it.”

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they would describe love to an alien, as well as the little personal quirks they generally keep to themselves.?Melanie says, “I can’t pick up a book or magazine without smelling it.”

As far as the alien is concerned, she says she’d demonstrate what love is by holding it, feeding it, and keeping it warm while giving it her best smile.?

Her views on success are as solid as her views on love.?She says, “Most of us want the obvious like fancy cars, houses, and brand-name clothing. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best, but it becomes a problem if that’s all that you’re living for.??Success for me is when I see I’ve made a difference in someone else’s life.?If I see that, then I’ve achieved what I’ve set out to do and what I have been called to do.?If I don’t achieve that, then my struggles have all been in vain.”

A life of punitive hardship inspires a harsh reality of truths and well-thought-out philosophies to live by.?Mel’s truth rose through the flames with her like wings, “You only have one shot in this life, live it to the fullest and don’t give a raw damn about the fickle opinions of others.?Remember that everything is forgivable if you allow it, but that doesn’t mean we need to accept bad behavior or not hold people accountable for their actions.?Reinvent yourself by deliberately doing the hard stuff and keep a brave face while you’re doing it. Make sacrifices while you learn to nurture, share, and educate, without the expectation of reward. Passion equals excellence.?When you do what you love, the rest follows. Respect is a biggy, that’s if you want excellence to last. Without respect, everything is lost, and your passion will start becoming a chore.”

Thinking that day-to-day life is hard is common among us all.?It’s easy to moan and complain about our first-world problems, but the true test of our spirit occurs when we are faced with gutting realities.?For Mel, the hardest thing she had to do was bury two of her children. Crippling events that ripped a hole in places so deep and sore that words can’t ever do it?justice.?No matter what, every day the sun rises, and she says, “I remain afraid that I might never achieve what I’ve set out to.?I still fight my fear of failure every single day, but if I could change something, I’d change the minds of people who believe there is no hope left.”

In leaps and bounds, Melanie overcame impossible scenarios, thrown to the proverbial wolves through associations with the wrong people, family circumstances, Murphy’s law, and just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.?Making her way out, she’s managed to accomplish her dreams and celebrates her victories by reflecting on them.?

Hardship breeds its fair share of humour too, and when asked what superpower she would want if she could choose one, Melanie says, “To be invisible.?Gosh, I could have loads of fun with that.?Anyone who knows me would tell you that I just love laughing.?I’m wicked in a fun kind of way.”

Life brings us lessons in every tribulation and victory.?Both trial and triumph are imposters with their own rules.?One of Melanie’s biggest lessons is to learn how to stop trusting the wrong people.

On a final note, Melanie says, “Be authentic.?It means that you stand for something, even if it means standing alone.?The mask is off, and you are – well, who you are.”

Salute to a strong and incredible woman who stood up to the universe and looked it square in the eye, “Challenge accepted!”

Melanie is available to do inspirational talks and you can follow her on her Facebook page to learn more about her journey and life story.

Connect with Melanie:

• Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn on?Melanie Wright
• Her book is available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk