The HONEST truth

Jo-Ann Strauss has enjoyed a long career being defined as many things - model, pageant princess, cover girl, presenter, public speaker and businesswoman. While valid and hard-earned, she shares a little bit about what life looks like at 42 as a daughter, sister, wife and mother

- STEFANIE TITUS

Remotely interviewing Jo-Ann Strauss, while my husband and I travel – and count down our last fourteen weeks before we welcome our first child – I think back to being an awkward tween watching both Top Billing and Pasella. It feels like, in a way, I have come full circle – I know how to manage my curls, my SPF routine is reasonably sound, I do work I enjoy and I’ve started a family of my own. And … I get to interview the curly girl who travelled and interviewed people with a similar curiosity as I have for this interview.

Far apart from the fashion, decor and travel I so enjoyed and felt inspired by, what drew me to Jo-Ann‘s radiant smile, body language and voice was that like me, she was an olive-skinned curly girl. Better yet, she seemed to have a firm head on her shoulders and a true heart for people. Inching further down in her Wikipedia bio, her social projects tab refreshingly outweighs the slew of titles it opens with, hinting at the heart of who she is and the person who revealed herself in a series of 23 WhatsApp voice notes focused not on the Princess Project and all that comes next, but the role of grief, guilt and growth in her life and family.

Two years on from her last W&H cover, she feels the way many of us do post-pandemic – that a lot has changed and a lot hasn’t. Grief came knocking and life at home has settled into a comfortable, centred hum of sorts, all while the business world and travel has opened up and injected the need to juggle and maintain some semblance of balance once again.

LIFE RELOADED