Meet our Woman crush for this week, Mrs Hawa Turay.

Hawa Turay is a business owner, model, and former beauty queen who has made the country proud and also established a name for herself across the borderline of the country. A fashionista and entrepreneur, she was the first woman to represent Sierra Leone at the Miss Universe Pageant in 2016.

Hawa was born in Kono, Eastern Sierra Leone but she grew up in Freetown the capital. After high school, she had to pause her schooling due to financial restraints and she started competing in beauty pageants, and today she is one of the most successful fashionistas and models in Sierra Leone. Her passion for education led her back to the four walls of the classroom in 2022, 10 years after she paused her education. She got admitted into the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone to pursue a degree in Mass Communications.

 

The fashionista has not only made a name for herself during the past years but has also given recognition to the country when she represented Sierra Leone at the Miss Universe; and also serve as an inspiration to the younger generations, female especially. She is consistently giving voices to the less privileged and providing platforms for talented youngsters to showcase their talent.

She lent her voice during the 16 days of Activism of GBV in Sierra Leone honored by Rainbow Initiative, where she helped the campaign raise funds by making giveaways drawing attention to the campaign, and sales of the T-shirts.

Her hard work and consistency despite the pause in education, made her one of the country’s talents to celebrate. Currently, she is a brand ambassador for Rokel Commercial Bank and also the owner of Hawawa Beauty Parlor. She has groomed many models through her modeling agency and has represented Sierra Leone on international stages.

Two of her models recently represented Sierra Leone where the male model emerged winner of Top Model of Universe Male 2023 and the lady emerged as the 1st runner-up of Female and Miss Princess.