A Namibian fairy godmother

Nearly a decade ago, Andi Wieland, founded the Snow White project after being crowned Miss Teen Namibia 2012.

“I was the biggest tomboy in the world so after my year I had all these dresses in my wardrobe that I’d never wear again so I started the Snow White Project,” she says.

Although the project has now grown to rent dresses for any occasion to paying customers, Wieland remains passionate about helping young ladies from all backgrounds to experience their fairy-tale matric farewell.

“It’s a non-profit but we have two sides. One side is for members of the public to rent dresses for special occasions and then we have the other side, which is the whole reason why we do this, our matric farewell programme. We have connections with some schools and institutions like House Maerua so they can contact me and nominate girls who they feel have worked hard but cannot afford to attend their matric farewell,” she says.

Wieland stands firm in her belief that every young girl deserves to look and feel her best at her matric farewell.

“I think it is very important that we celebrate our achievements and the things we have worked for. Something like a wedding isn’t necessarily guaranteed, but a matric farewell is something you need to work for. If a girl has put in the hard work, I think it is important that we give accolades for that effort,” she says.

Wieland hopes that she can build confidence within young girls by giving them one opportunity to be the best version of themselves.

“I think every girl deserves to look at themselves at least once and think that she’s pretty. I think that if you have that, it’s a bit easier when you don’t look your best because you know you can be a 10/10,” she says.

Do It Yourself

Her pageantry journey taught Wieland the value of feeling beautiful. “I remember struggling with my skin in school and never being able to find the right foundation shade and then doing stage makeup in university, I realized that I really love this,” she says.

She encourages others who notice a gap to have the courage to bridge the gap. “I think in a country as small as Namibia, there isn’t always someone to do everything. I really want to encourage people to be that person. If you notice that there’s nobody who does makeup in your town, look it up online and teach yourself how to do makeup if that is what you’re passionate about,” she says.

After learning more about makeup at university, Wieland hoped for nothing but practice when she started playing with makeup using the girls she boarded with at the time as models.

“We always had these dances at university and the girls always asked me to do their makeup, so I started playing with it then and it just became more and more – now I do it full-time,” she says.

Spirit of an entrepreneur

Wieland proved herself to be more than just a pretty face as she braved the business world with her jewellery brand, Untold Jewellery.

She prides herself in creating quality costume jewellery to suit any personality or occasion. “It can get expensive to buy real jewellery and you don’t always feel like wearing the same thing,” she says.

Every Untold piece is unique and is never replicated. “It’s nice to know that you’re the only one who has this specific piece. Especially for occasions like weddings or matric farewells, it is very special to have a pair of earrings or a piece of jewellery that is yours and yours alone. It can often also be a keepsake that takes up less space than keeping a wedding dress. We are still human, we are sentimental, so it’s a lot easier to keep a small box with earrings in your drawer to remember a big day by than to keep a big ball gown,” she says.