WINDHOEK – The personal development industry can be tough to break into, but that was not a case for Nelago Johannes, who broke all odds and became one of the youngest motivational speakers in the country.
The queen of speeches as she is commonly known, started giving motivational speeches through her video clips that she posts on Instagram, attracting over 3 000 views.
Nelago narrated a remarkable event that boosted her confidence and shaped her into the eloquent speaker she is today. According to her, she interrupted her aunt who was giving a speech on her behalf at her father’s burial, in order to accurately express her emotions and correctly bid farewell to her father. That is when the then 10-year-old made her first speech.
“I grew up to be a very positive-minded and resilient young lady. Nothing in life is ever easy – not for me or anyone else but I think it’s where we shift our mindset that allows us to realise our true potential. I learned to smile as life threw lemons and with the mastery of my mother, I learned to squeeze lemonade out of it – and with that, grew the Nelago Johannes many love and look up to today,” she said positively.
As a motivational speaker, Nelago aims to be impactful enough to make knowledge, wisdom and success go viral.
She said; “Turn education into the go-to trend for the young and allow them to make their families proud. As I truly do believe everyone has the ability to be great if loved, appreciated and directed. A lot of young people don’t have the most exemplary role models, so if you want to get something done, do it yourself. I’m not always right but for the most part, my intentions are well-intended.”
Nelago has touched the hearts of many people, especially young people – and there is no doubt she is on the journey of becoming Namibia’s own Oprah Winfrey.
According to her, the Namibian youth are doing amazing work at being innovative and influential – even though little is being done to fund their willpower.
“Unfortunately, a lot of Namibia’s funding for many initiatives concentrate within cliques; hence, decentralisation is a big must if Namibian youth are truly going to be enhanced to bring Namibia to bigger heights. No nation has seen a peak in their economic, industrial or information era without the input from the youth, so perhaps more frontline opportunities are need to allow the youth to bring a lot to the table. With that said, many are fighting an identity crisis that pushes them (myself included) to be less intentional in their goals and lead to a lot of unnecessary detours within the line of our future selves,” stated the articulate speaker, adding that Namibian youth are doing well at what they can with what they have.
She advises her fellow youth to learn to trust the process and to know that life is a blessing.
“Let go of the unnecessary stress, smile more often, be kind to one another, love as much as you can and do good for others – it will come back to reward you. Perfection isn’t always the goal but keep moving child, and remember you only get to live this life once,” she motivates.
For daily motivation follow her on Instagram: @Nelago Johannes