How Leandie du Randt learned to overcome rejection and finally feel comfortable in her own skin

When she was just a little girl, Leandie du Randt would sing and dance at home, with her very own camera crew  following her around.

The fact that the crew consisted entirely of her mom was a trivial matter, since those happy hours in the make-believe limelight set the scene for what would later become a thriving career on the real showbiz scene.

Now best known for her role as Mikie in the TV series, Getroud Met Rugby, she is also a published author and motivational speaker, sharing her life-lessons on how to cope with constant rejection and learn to be, as the title of her book puts it, Comfortable In Your Own Skin.

On the cusp of her breakout role in a Hollywood movie, Leandie sat down with Ruda to chat about the joys and challenges of acting, and her thriving side-career as a vintage-clothing entrepreneur.

 

Transcription:

Ruda Landman (RL): Hello and welcome to another session of the Change Exchange. And once again, we have a very special guest Leandie du Randt-Bosch. She says the ‘Bosch’ is now three years old and very happily so.

Leandie du Randt-Bosch (LDRB): Yeah, thanks Ruda.

RL: Actress, entrepreneur, MC. You do whatever comes your way.

LDRB: You have to hustle, you have to make it work. I have many hats that I like to switch around.

RL: But you started out studying industrial psychology and were a very successful student, cum laude.

LDRB: Oh heerlikheid. I’m what we call a pliggie in Afrikaans. Yeah, but I think I enjoyed what I studied. That’s why maybe I did well in it.

LR: Oh, so the head girl type. So how did the acting we come into the picture?

LDRB: It’s actually a beautiful story. So, I always wanted to do drama and since I was little, my mom used to film me singing, dancing, presenting in front of a fake crowd, camera crew following me around. So funny to watch all that footage. I’m so grateful for it because I realise in retrospect that she made me so comfortable in front of a camera, that once I became an actress as whatever, it was never, weird to have a camera in front of me. Because that’s a fear of something you have to get used to once you start doing TV work. But my dad didn’t want me to go study drama because he said it’s not secure enough and he’s right. But, he said I can always pursue it. But he first wants me to just see what other interests I have. And I really love people. I love the human psyche. I love working with people. That’s why I also do motivational talks. And so, I decided I wanted to do industrial psychology. I went to study at UJ, uh, specifically because there are so many agencies in Joburg. So, I thought while I’m studying and I lived in res at UJ I can just go for like auditions and maybe see, if I could do like an advert, here or there, you know, just to get into the industry. And then in my first year, I had to do the beauty pageant for the res. And that night I won Miss Personality. And the judge that evening was Brümilda van Rensburg. She’s a very well-known Afrikaans actress. And she decided at the beginning of the night, and we didn’t know; but she told the Huis Komittee (HK) and Mr and Miss Personality, will get to do her drama course for free. And so that was the prize I won that night. Her drama course was two kilometres away from the res, where I stayed, every Saturday. So, I went to do that part-time, while I was studying.

RL: And how did you experience that? Did it feel right? Did it feel like something you could do?

LDRB: 100%, like divine intervention. I’m like, this is the best of both worlds. This is what I wanted, you know, and I wouldn’t have gone to UJ, if a friend that was there before me, didn’t tell me about it. So, God put everything in place so that this whole thing, just like synchronized, you know? So, I was like, I have to do this. I have to do this, while I study. But then I got a role in Getroud met Rugby. It’s a soap now, but it used to be a series.

RL: Yes, but you must tell the story about the audition first.

LDRB: Yes, I will tell that. Doing this Getroud met Rugby, I got it through Brümilda van Rensburg. One of the actresses that I became friends with gave me advice and she actually made me finish my studies and not give it up on it, just because I got my first role. And I think that was a big Change Moment for me in my life.

RL: Was this in your first year?

LDRB: That was literally my second year. I was turning 20, in 2008. I was doing the first season of Getroud met Rugby. I was studying my second year and I was getting busy with the acting, so I was like, maybe I shouldn’t study anymore. And I remember my friend her name is Hanna Grobler. She’s got an amazing charity, Hanna Charity and Empowerment Foundation. She does great work. She was sitting next to me and she said: my maat jy moenie net ’n aktrise wees nie. She said, you shouldn’t just be an actress. I think acting must be your hobby. You are very talented and I think the fact that you are studying, is a good thing. You must finish. You must make sure that you have many options. You must never become a desperate actress. I don’t think that’s what God wants for you, so try and see how many different passions you have and use it and see which one comes to life and asked God to show you calling and all your different callings or gifts that you have. And something that day just resonated with me and it gave me that extra push to finish my studies and I will try and make this work so I have many different options because I didn’t want to be a desperate actress.

RL: But later on, you had the opportunity to work full-time, as a soapy actress, in Binnelanders and you decided not to do that.

LDRB: Yes. It’s so weird because as an actress and after I studied, I had to give up acting for a year. I’m going to answer, you now, because it’s part of the story. After I did my honours. I had to give up acting for a year cause I had to go do my internship, to get registered with the HPCSA and the only way I could do that, was by being, doing an internship full-time. So, I had to put it on the side for a year and I was scared that I’m going to lose out of the acting industry but after the internship and our got registered. Then I had to decide, do I want to act or do I go into industrial psychology; what am I going to do? And I asked God, you have to show me and then I decided I’m going to go for the acting. Yes, I’ve got my degree, now I’ve got my qualification and I could always go back but let me try the acting again. And I was sitting at home, I was dating a guy back then. He went to work every day, I didn’t get auditions and I didn’t get work. I started getting depressed and then I started writing my book for teenage girls. And I started writing everything that I felt because I was 24 at that stage. I started writing everything down that I was struggling with, all the stuff that I’ve learned in the past six years. Going from teenager to adolescent, um, struggling what job to do, what industry to go into and with the knowledge that had from my degree, I just started formulating the self-help book. And in eight months he helped me because I didn’t have a job. I went for auditions and didn’t get it. I went for soapy auditions, one-after-the-other, after the other, and didn’t get it. And eventually after eight months, I had time and I wrote this book and I finished it. And I just sent it to like 12 publishers and thank God, three come back to me and that’s when Struik Lifestyle, and I published them. And then straight after that I got an audition. So, it showed me that I had to be forced to not work and sit down to write this book.

RL: When you set out to write to the book. Did you see it as a book or was it just something to keep you busy?

LDRB: Initially, no, I did write it as a book. I did see it as a book, as a guide to help teenagers that go through the same struggles I went through.

RL: I mean you say, that the three publishers came back to you, all the others were saying, no thank you. And how did you react to that?

LDRB: As an actress, I’m used to rejection. That’s the one thing I have to say …  being an actress has taught me to cope with rejection and in immense ways and I’m truly grateful for that. To not take it personally and to always know that where a door closes, there’s a reason; you’re getting steered in a different direction. And yeah, believing in God, gives me security because I know he’s putting me in a different direction where I need to go. I just have to keep faith.

RL: And how does that play out? I understand the thought process, but how do you make your decisions? Do you sit under the tree and meditate or pray or do you talk to 17 different people?

LDRB: Being an extrovert, I like talking to a lot of people. That’s how I make decisions to get different opinions. I know introverts like to just make decisions by themselves. But I have like five people, my council, I call them my council. Where I will ask for advice before I make a decision. But in the end you always know what you want to do. I believe we always know what we want to do. And I just sit and I asked God to give me peace about a decision. If I don’t have peace, I shouldn’t make it. That’s one thing I’ve learned through experience, that if you keep on wondering, did I make the right decision, you didn’t make the right decision because why would you feel that? One of my friends’ mom told me that a while ago, and that made so much sense. Like every time I know I’ve made the wrong decision. I knew actually I made the wrong decision as I was making it.

RL: So, when you started acting, did this feel like yes, this is where I want to be?

LDRB: Yes, it felt like that, because I finished my degree, so I feel like I had a safety net and that gave me the confidence to keep pushing, to be okay, to know that even though I don’t get work in six months, it’s okay I have this thing to fall back on. But then in retrospect, looking back now, maybe I should have studied my degree. Because that’s how I could have written my book because people won’t buy my book, if I don’t have the degree and knowledge of psychology and all that stuff to back. And a lot of the stuff I did put in my self-help book, I did learn through my degree how brain works, how psyche works, our developmental phases, all that stuff. And the book, how helped me initially to now to do motivational talks because now I have something to show and now I can go out to the people and talk to them about it. But also then I got a soap a year off to that. I’m just like woah. Sorry.

RL: It’s alright.

LDRB: Eventually after the fourth rejection, specifically Binnelanders, I was rejected by other soaps many times. But Binnelanders, the fourth time audition there I got the spot. And I was there for a year and a half, it was in 2014 that was the scariest, craziest year of my life. A lot of my, my saddest year and my best year. Um, and that’s when I started with Binnelanders and that gave me a platform also were a lot of people wanted to hear me speak then because now people, more people were aware of me and who I was, even though it was acting before it. You know in the industry, they say you never an actress until you in the soaps. Sad, but true. So finally, some people started recognising me.

RL: You had the profile.

LDRB: And that gave me a platform to go out and do my motivational talks that I still do and that’s very fulfilling for me.

RL: So why did you decide to give up that security? Because for an actress it is always a choice.

LDRB: Yes.

RL: Either the security of a job that keeps you completely busy for 12 hours a day …

LDRB: Yeah. And you know, you get a salary and you know, you’ll be fine. All right.

RL: Or the freedom but the complete insecurities.

LDRB: Yes. And it’s crazy because I am, I am someone that actually needs security. It’s one of my biggest values, but I’m also very creative and I like variation. I get bored very easily. And being in a soap for longer than a year, I started realising that I needed a different creative outlet and I had all these ideas but being full time in a soap, I didn’t have the time to do that. And they don’t always allow you to do it because you are their property while you’re there basically. And it should be like that. I think it’s great. But I was young and I had all these ideas, so I spoke to the main lady at Binnelanders and I shared my heart with her, I said I wanted to do this movie. I’ve got this opportunity. I want to start this business. Please don’t kill me in the soap. I just needed a little bit of a break just to go and explore while I’m young. I don’t have kids, while I have the freedom to do it. And she, she understood my heart and she said, go Leandie, go come back when you’re ready. She is an amazing woman. I’ll share, thank you so much for the opportunity she gives. You know …

RL: Her husband gave me my first opportunity on TV.

LDRB: Oh Friedrich? No way! Bless his soul. So, yeah and then she allowed me to go and that’s been almost four years now since I left. And it’s amazing how then I started doing other things, but then also realised to get that security, I had to do many things. So that fear of not having the security drove me to create my clothing line. This new online business that I have with the gift boxes, the wine that I did now with Hermanuspietersfontein Wines, my talks and new the book that I’m working on it. So that forces me to think of constant things so that I have many streams of income. So that if the one doesn’t do that well, I have the other ones to fall back on.

RL: So, is that your advice for people who want to get into this industry?

LDRB: I would really say that. Because a lot of moms at my talks, they asked me what must I do? Like, my child really wants to study, but I’m so scared she’s not going to have a job and understand that, it’s a realistic fear to have and it is a problem because in the acting, unfortunately yes you can write your own movie and create your own job, but it doesn’t always, it’s not that easy. So, you are unfortunately, you’re dependent on other people to give you job, a job, you know? So, I would say always, always allow your kids to go do what their heart desires. There’s a reason why it’s there, but always have a backup plan. Always have a backup plan, see what your other interests or try and see how many different skills you can acquire because it can only help you in different ways. See how you can have one, you’re more than one hat back. At least two.

RL: A friend of ours always used to say have the penny and the bun.

LDRB: Yeah. That’s nice. I like that.

RL: How do you experience being an entrepreneur and running a business? The clothing line, Skoonma.

LDRB: Yay. The reason why it’s called Skoonma is because my mother-in-law retired two years ago and she was like, what am I going to do with my time? And my mom used to make clothes and I used to think it’s so lame to make your own clothes. You know, how kids are, they like its lame. But then I started liking all these vintage-styles and the thrift-styles and second-hand styles and I saw all my mom’s um, uh, patterns she left for me when she passed and I decided, what if I just give my mother-in-law a few things to make. And I started liking it. We started creating stuff and people started giving me a, compliments and with a lot of friends at advice and motivation, I eventually decided let’s do it. So that’s why I call it Skoonma because it’s got that vintage retro touch. Want Skoonma is mos outyds, but also the ‘Ma’ part to bring honour to my late mother’s legacy. Um, so yeah, now it’s become a household name, now Skoonma and we have for little kids, Skoonsussie and we, for the pregnant ladies we have Skoonmama.

RL: But how do you experience being the boss? You now have to run this thing.

LDRB: Yes. So, it’s just my brand and I love that. I love being in charge of something. I have the call, I say no. I say yes. But then what happened is we started growing so much. So, I used CMT, but four months ago I decided, no, I’m going to start my own factory. I’m going to get all these seamstresses, get all the machines, put them up, put, give them salaries. And I started realising that was not the right decision. So, the past three months, as I’m actually sitting in front of you, and this will be the last day that they’re working at my factory, I have to close it down. I couldn’t.

LR: Retrenchment is hard.

LDRB: Yes, so hard. This was the hardest week, after my mother’s death, to tell these people that it’s not working for me. Unfortunately, I’m not good at managing a space, managing a factory. I couldn’t sleep at night. I’m still recovering now from the flu. My body just started giving in. It was too much stress. Not with all the other stuff I have going on. I think I would’ve made it work if that was the only thing that I couldn’t manage that and people and all the other stuff, all the other hats that I had to put on.

RL: So, your, the advice there is find your strengths and build up a team that will do the other things.

LDRB: Yeah and not have too many, too many balls in the air. You know? Really decide what ball, am I good at juggling way? Where does my strengths lie and to not want to go too big, too soon, you know, to first get the stuff ready, get it in place. Take the baby steps. Is there a reason why stuff takes a natural growth and what I say, transformation shouldn’t be in such big leaps, especially in the book, Good to Great by Jim Collins. It’s a beautiful business book. I would really tell any entrepreneur to read. He says big transformations that happen suddenly never work. We all of a sudden, I have this company, it never works. But when you do it suddenly and it goes step by step over lack a course of five to 10 years, rather than quickly, that’s when it’s lasting. That’s when it goes from good to great. And I really learned that by trying to go too big too fast. You have to picking. Yeah.

RL: Tell me about the ToBe gift boxes? How did that happen

LDRB: Sure. So, me and my sister were sitting, chatting one day and she said she heard over the radio today, this was last year, 2018 there’s, there was a, 140 000 brides in South Africa, in 2017, 140 000. She’s like, who buys gifts for all these brides? Where do they get all these gifts? Imagine all the bridesmaids, you know. And we were like, we have to get gifts for them, you know, and we decided let’s do this. And me already being familiar with the online shop, having Skoonma for two years. She’s like, no, let’s do this. Let’s think of it. And we have this one friend Marianne who is very good with designing and being creative. She already has, has an online shop of her own. We decided planning when we just started and it happened. We’re like, we’re going to do gift boxes for any ‘to be’, a groomsman, a bride, bridesmaid, a mommy, for grandparents. We want to do for students, entrepreneurs. So now we’re building it out. Thinking of all these options.

RL: What about the capital that one needs, because don’t you need to, do you have to buy in all the products or do you source as you go?

LDRB: Oh, that’s always a good thing. It’s a good question to ask. So, we, um, all asked each other, how much capital do you have to invest in this, us as three partners. And we all had a little money saved up and we were willing to do that. We were willing to take the risk. So, we all put the same amount in. And with that we, we looked at different, um, brands that we could, you know, get to put in the box and we sourced from overseas to locally. We decided to keep it local. Um, and yet we decided this is the money we have. This is the amounts that we can order for now to start with. And that’s what we did.

RL: You really put your money where your mouth is.

LDRB: We have to, it is scary, but you have to do it.

RL: It is scary.

LDRB: So yeah. Yeah. But we did test the market you know, we could see there was a, there was a gap for it. So we thought that there’s no way this could work if we do it right. And at the moment we’re two weeks old and it looks like it’s working. We’re very excited,

RL: But it might be too early to ask any plans, dreams?

LDRB: Sure. I have so many dreams and so many plans. On my vision board every year, I truly believe in the Vision Board. Um, uh, I do a lot of pictures of what I want in my life this year. What I want to attract.

RL: On a screen or physically?

LDRB: Um, I actually have it saved as my screensaver on my iPhone because every time you touch your phone, you look at your phone a day. I mean you can work out how many times that is, then I see all those pictures. So, it’s just that split second, the images go to my mind and that you have it there. So subconsciously you, you keep yourself accountable for it, but also you attract it. But I also have it physically made in my room where I get dressed next to the wall on the wall. So, all these pictures and stuff. So, when I get dressed, I just look at it and then I dream as if I am already there, seeing myself in that position. So obviously I have a lot of um, aspirations for my businesses. But also in my acting career, especially now, started to do a lot of international additions. I really want to try and do international work. And it’s amazing because Netflix has been coming here and I, I recently did an international movie that I’m not allowed to say anything about last year. Um, but people will know when that’s out. So, it … starting there, they’re starting to give us amazing opportunities in SA when they come to film here. I’m excited for that. So that’s something that’s been on my vision board for literally 10 years. So, I can’t wait for it to come to pass, I have to keep on praying and working

RL: Leandie on the personal side, I want to talk about family first. You, you referred to your mom. She died of Alzheimer’s at the age of 58. How did that affect you?

LDRB: That was actually, yeah, that was in 2014. That was the year I got Binnelanders. The year I, Strictly Come Dancing. So, it was lots of highs and then there were lows. But prior to that she was sick, sick for six years. So, she got diagnosed in 2007, when I was literally a first-year student. And my mom was amazing, dynamic, capable woman. She was literally like, I think that’s why I got my drive from, she always had like four jobs. She took us to ballet, to athletics. She told me every day how good I am, how beautiful I am, how confident I am. She made me believe that I can do anything. Like literally she made me so confident.

RL: What a gift.

LDRB: So, I always say I’m so grateful that I had a mom for 18 years when she was healthy. That’s instilled all these characteristics in me and loved me with everything that she had. But then when she got diagnosed, obviously it was a huge shock to us and to see someone that’s so clever and dynamic and driven, lose their sense of identity as one with Alzheimer’s does, you know, it was hard to see her becoming this person that we don’t know. So that was, that was really in terms of character building, that was the biggest thing I’ve had to go through in my life. And it really brought our family closer. Me and my brother and my father and my grandma, her mother still lives, she’s 94 my grandmother, she’s still phones us. She still walks, she’s so healthy and we’re just like, how did this happen? But then we have this theory because it’s not enough family. No one in the family has died of Alzheimer’s because I usually say its hereditary, but a lot of the cases it’s not, it’s just something might have happened to the brain. And in my mom’s case, uh, we spoke to a lot of doctors, but they said that we must come up with a theory that suits us because we need that a, for closure. But what they could see, when they traced back her history, when she gave birth to my brother, she went into a coma after the caesarean and took my brother out. She went, literally went into a coma where she couldn’t speak, nothing and she was out for 24 hours and then she only came back. And in the 24 hours the doctor said, we don’t know if Almarie is gonna make it, so you must prepare yourself. They told my father that when she wakes up, she’s not gonna know who she is because a part of her brain’s not getting oxygen now. So, she came back and she was fine. They did tests, MRIs, everything was fine. But then what they couldn’t trace at that time because it wasn’t visible, was the part of the brain that didn’t get oxygen it was by the hippocampus and that’s where the dementia starts. And that’s where your short-term memory … So, over the course of 27 years, that part that didn’t get oxygen, the neurons started killing each other and that’s exactly how dementia basically forms. It’s like neurological suicide.

RL: You say that this was the hardest thing, you had to go through. How did it affect you? How did it change you, do you think?

LDRB: For one I felt very guilty because as a teenager I didn’t have a good relationship with my mom. As a little girl I did cause of that princess-mother thing. Uh, but then when you started getting an identity and teenagers, I have all these fights with your mom. And then when I eventually became an adolescent in first year and I realised, oh I was such an ungrateful teenager, I wanted to start making it right. She started getting ill. So, when I wanted to start that conversation is becoming a friend. She didn’t, she couldn’t connect cause a rationality was going down, who she was, was going, you know, she was losing it. So, I felt very guilty of not being able to ever really say, I did apologise so many times, when I saw … in those six years. But you never know if she heard it or if she understood. So that’s something I had to forgive myself for.

RL: Is that important in one’s life journey to forgive yourself?

LDRB: 100% – especially now I see that with Skoonma, with all these people that I have to retrench and I built dreams in the hearts that I wanted to make them a part of the company and I couldn’t at this stage, forgive yourself and say that I’m not a failure. I didn’t do this in a malicious way. It wasn’t my intention to hurt. I’m sorry, I didn’t know better.

RL: And if one doesn’t do that? What happens?

LDRB: I think you’re gonna start your, your body’s going to start feeling … That’s why I’m sick. Literally the body speaks the mind, your emotions. If you don’t deal with it, that’s where resentment goes. Sits in your gut. It sits in your stomach. And a lot of people have theories. That’s where cancer starts, where Alzheimer’s starts, but also starts with all these things are feelings that you’re not dealing with people you’re not forgiving, stuff you’re not getting rid of. That’s why at my talks, I always tell people, if there’s something bothering you, if I’m saying this now and you’re thinking about this thing that happens or that you are carrying with you, you have to let it go. You have to deal with it. It’s going to eat you up from the inside.

LR: Face it and let it go.

LDRB: And because God forgives you so easily, you have to forgive yourself. And we have to forgive other people.

LR: The relationship that gives you the most joy, I think your husband, did that happen? Bouwer Bosch, he’s a singer?

LDRB: Ah, yes. He’s a singer. He makes ads these days. He also has many hats. I think that’s why our relationship works out nicely because we all have, we both have very similar jobs in terms of we have many jobs. We don’t see each other a lot, but when we see each other, we see each other all the time. So …

RL: So, you said that you were friends first?

LDRB: We were friends first, best friends first. I was dating that other guy that I was with when I was writing the book for two years and literally in that two years, that’s when I met Bouwer. We became friends while I was dating that guy. Um …

RL: And do you think that’s a good foundation?

LDRB: 100%, 100%. I think because as you know, you have, you’ve been married for 41 years. Bless you guys. It’s amazing.

RL: I was bragging.

LDRB: I’m like, I want that. Um, you’re not always necessarily going to have that butterflies that you have in the honeymoon period. It’s just normal. So, when that goes away, what do you have? And I believe if you have a solid friendship, then it’s okay if the butterflies are not there all the time when it comes and goes because there’s something that’s stable in a friendship can be stable.

RL: And what about the practical side of it. Because both of you are so busy often away from home. So how do you keep the connection?

LDRB: Yeah, I always tell people, cause that was asked this, that I believe it’s not distance that kills a relationship, it’s the silence because you didn’t literally see your husband or the person that you’re with every single night and you sit next to each other, but you don’t talk and talk about emotions, you don’t talk about what you experienced, don’t talk about what you’ve been going through or what you actually want to say. That relationship can literally die even though you see each other every day. So, we make sure that we literally, we WhatsApp like 80 times a day, always know what’s happening. Ok, liefie eks nou klaar hier, I’m going to this now. This is what happened. Now I’m going there. So, we know what’s happening in each other’s lives all the time. We FaceTime. So, you see each other.

RL: And does that also help with temptation? You’re both young, attractive – you’re around people who might be interested.

LDRB: No, surely, I think it does. I think also temptation comes in when you don’t feel respected or if you don’t feel like you are being seen in a relationship. And then when someone comes across your path that sees you or got the time for you and listen to you, then the temptation comes in because you feel valued by that person. So as long as you feel valued in a relationship and you feel that I see you …

RL: And um, political circumstances, where do you choose to live and how do you choose to create your space?

LDRB: So that’s a good question. No one has ever asked me that. We choose to live in Johannesburg – we live in Randburg. My husband calls it the Randburg Strand (sic). We have a beautiful view of Northcliff and all the trees, Joburg is so beautiful with all the trees is, are like the biggest manmade forest in the world. I mean, it’s a beautiful, so it’s close to literally all the agencies. It’s close to where all the auditions get made. It’s close to an airport, so we can quickly fly to Cape Town if we have to, and it’s as silly as it is, but Joburg is very … got cosmopolitan and we like not living somewhere where it’s just Afrikaans or is just us. We like the different cultures. We like that it’s mixed with English and Afrikaans with all the, you know, everything is mixed into one. So, we enjoy that. That’s why we want to stay. We love the hustle and bustle.

RL: And the house that you’re in or the …

LDRB: It’s an apartment.

RL: Why did you choose it? For the light? For this space? For the newness or the oldness?

LDRB: Um, the view. So, so beautiful. My father was scouting with me, was like a, uh, before we got married, Bouwer couldn’t make it. So, me and my father went out and we looked at all the houses in the area we wanted to stay. And as we were driving to this complex, we already saw it on a hill and my dad was like, you must go live there. And as you were driving to address, it was actually the complex we were on our way and it’s in an older area. So it wasn’t that expensive. It was more affordable, and it had this view and space. So we, when we literally walked into the house and we saw this view, I looked at my dad and I said, this is our place. Um, and it’s, it’s small. I mean it’s a 100 square meters, but we have our stoep, we don’t have a garden we have to take care of because we can’t take care of gardens or animals or anything because we’re away so often, it’s lock-up and go. We have this little stoep, we can braai, we have our view and we have our three rooms and we have our living area and that’s all we need, you know?

RL: Um, what does is it mean to you to come back there? Is it just a base to plan the next thing or is it a real home?

LDRB: It’s that I get this feeling when I walk into  – into our house. I get now I can be, I can just be, I can have my bolla on my kop, with a Pyjama shirt. Its bare feet, no makeup. I can just be, I lie the whole day on the couch, look at the view. Watch Netflix and chill and just be, so we really have, and it’s also a creative place for us. My husband has got a little studio where he also got the view, where he writes his music and yeah, it’s like, um, I think Robin Sharma calls it a Menlo Park. It’s a place where you, you are being filled with a lot of creative vibes, you know, and that’s where we feel we can truly just be and we get inspired.

LR: Thank you so much for your time in a very, very busy life. And we will be looking out for what’s next.

LDRB: Thank you so much for the opportunity.

RL: And good luck with the process that you’re going through with your workers.

LDRB: Thank you so much. Appreciate it Ruda. Thank you.

RL: Go well. As always, there will be a next one and the next one and you must keep tuning in. Cheers.