About me
Kind, funny and loyal. Also goofy, stubborn and a little too opinionated, if you ask my family. They’d be right.
I’m naturally friendly and playful, and I enjoy a quiet evening at home just as much as a loud, chaotic family braai surrounded by my enormous collection of siblings and cousins. I love adventure too: boat rides, rollercoasters and, strangely enough, big storms with heavy rain, thunder and lightning.
I’m also a creative person. I love gardening, revamping old furniture, writing and creating unusual things. I’m endlessly curious about nature, including insects and spiders, despite being absolutely terrified of them.
A slightly unexpected journey
When I was at school, my dream was simply to work in an office. I achieved that fairly quickly, only to discover a few years later that it wasn’t quite the dream I had imagined.
My career eventually led me into property. I worked in administration with property valuers at a financial institution and became fascinated by what they did. I decided I wanted to do it myself, and that decision turned into some of the happiest and most rewarding years of my working life.
More than three decades later, property is still an important part of my life. But somewhere along the way I also realised that the things I had always wanted to do creatively, writing and making and creating art, were still waiting for me.
I believe it’s never too late to discover another part of yourself.
What matters to me
My family is at the centre of my life. My husband, Allan, and I have built a happy life together and raised two amazing boys, and that is something I am immensely proud of. To me, home is where my family is.
Some of my happiest memories are family holidays in Gansbaai and Onrus: years of laughter and time together that have become very special memories.
I value trust, loyalty and genuine relationships. I believe some of the most beautiful souls can be found in the most unexpected places.
As I’ve got older, I’ve also become much more protective of my time and my peace. Life is too short for deception, toxicity or worrying constantly about what other people think.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that you determine your future. You can’t always control what happens, but you can decide what you do with it. These days, success is much simpler to me: living a healthy, happy and balanced life, surrounded by people I love.
And then there’s the other me
I’m a bit of a contradiction.
I’m creative and spontaneous, but I also genuinely enjoy the banality of mundane administration. I can happily spend hours organising things and getting the details right, then disappear into the garden to make something completely unnecessary but beautiful.
I’m an early bird, I drink tea, I love crayfish and reading anything by Jojo Moyes, and a cup of tea with a piece of carrot cake can make almost any day better.
One of my favourite places is Buffelsbaai at Cape Point, and I’d still love to visit Amsterdam and Anne Frank’s House.
And if there is one thing I’d like people to remember about me, it would be very simple:
That I loved deeply.
Lara ♥