Ex-Kempie ‘colours’ the world in the UK

FORMER Kemptonian and lifestyle blogger, Lelanie Mulder (22), has been shortlisted for Best Newcomer in the British Cosmopolitan Influencer Awards to be held at Kensington Palace in London on November 3.

She didn’t know about the awards until one of her followers on Instagram sent her a message to say that they had voted for her.

“After receiving the message I went and had a look online where I got all the details of the awards and mentioned it to my followers on both Instagram and Facebook as well as my family and friends, asking them to nominate me, but I didn’t really think I stood much of a chance. Thousands of influencers throughout Britain were nominated and I don’t have the largest following as well as not being a British-born citizen made me think I had little chance of reaching the finals.” said Mulder.

The award of Best Newcomer will now be decided by a panel of judges.

After Mulder matriculated in 2012 from Hoërskool Kempton Park, she relocated to the United Kingdom (UK) with her parents where she started her blog, Posh Princess, in 2014.

“The name of my blog came from my parents calling me their princess when I was little and the ‘posh’ was an acronym for ”Port out, starboard home”, a view to the best side when sailing, and in my case, sailing through life as a blogger.”

“Sharing my experiences in the UK with friends and family was the initial reason for me blogging about life here in this strange and new country and I soon developed a passion for writing and photography. As my blog following grew, a relationship was formed where sharing my life here with people around the world became a multinational friendship.”

Mulder has travelled to various places in Africa, Asia, Europe, the UK and Ireland where she blogs about her experiences, events, restaurants, style and beauty and just how to live to the fullest in the moment.

Her answer to becoming a successful blogger is simply through trial, error and dedication.

“I try not to take myself too seriously and when I make a mistake I learn the lesson and shrug the angst off. As with any public industry there are always haters; that’s what the delete button is for. Growing your following is a slow and difficult process, which I’m still working on.”

As a newcomer to the field, everything was done by Mulder herself, from setting up all the way through to the final posted blog.

“This is daunting when one comes up against the professional bloggers who are assisted in their blogs as well as sponsored. I am, however, not for one moment saying that their work is anything less than mine, only that a little help goes a long way.

“The greater your following the more work you have to put into your blogs.”

It is Mulder’s dream to become a great blogger who will inspire her followers to aspire to the greater things in life and to colour the world with her “happy crayon”.

“I feel very honored and am amazed to be a finalist in an award hosted by such a prestigious journalistic establishment as the Cosmopolitan magazine, being a young Afrikaans girl with no formally trained experience among very talented and experienced British nominees.”