“I’ve always wanted to have a very big business”

Michelle is an entrepreneur who runs her own beauty business. She is a role model and mentor in Sightsavers’ economic empowerment project in Zimbabwe, using her experience to support people with disabilities to follow in her footsteps and start a business or get into work.

“I am a make-up artist and beautician. The condition that I have is called osteogenesis imperfecta, which is a condition that affects your bones, like from birth.

“It’s been quite interesting… how our society is to everybody who’s got a physical challenge. And it’s a bit unpleasant when you’re growing up, because kids don’t understand. But as you grow up, it’s something that you live with.

“I had to face them head on. I had to have a conversation with myself, look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that, you know what, just because you have a physical challenge doesn’t mean you are any different. You are capable of living the dream that you want.

“I’ve always wanted to have a very big business. So I had to have the conversation with myself and tell myself, ‘You can do this. Don’t listen to what they say.’