RISING STAR: AMANDA JINGELA
Last month, rapper Sho Madjozi walked away with our first ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award in our #GTCAwards digital campaign. A GTC Rising Star is someone who has recently blossomed in their chosen field, one who is starting to attract attention from brands. Since the platform’s inception, we have listed now-A-Listers such as Ayanda Thabethe, Duckie Thot, Paris Jackson, Jaden Smith, Siya Beyile, Olivia Culpo, Lulama Wolf, Jasmine Sanders, Justine Skye and Yara Shahidi as the GTC – Rising Stars. In true Rising Star form, these personalities have since starred in campaigns for reputable brands.
One person we would like to add to these names is 25 year old Amanda Jingela. The Durban-based influencer boasts 114k Instagram followers with an impressive list of brand collaborations. The beauty who is a BSc Graduate (Environmental Science) says she took a break from pursing a career in her field following her mother’s passing. However, she mentioned that with healing in progress, she is finally gearing towards a career in Environmental Science, alongside her influencer career.
I first came across Amanda’s profile when she starred in an Afro-Botanics campaign. Later she starred in campaigns and collaborated with the likes of Estée Lauder, Nyx Cosmetics and popular online store, Brett Robson among others.
Most recently, Jingela made her mark as an influencer by becoming the first South African influencer to work with LA-based Revolve Clothing. What makes this an even bigger accomplishment is Revolve’s world-renowned position as one of the pioneers of influencer marketing, solely relying on the marketing strategy to build the brand’s worth to almost $1 billion. However, Revolve has been widely criticised for their lack of diversity and inclusivity in their influencer campaigns. “I was approached by the Revolve brand through email and I am excited to be embarking on this journey with them,” said the newly engaged Jingela. Well done to Amanda on nabbing Revolve and on her upcoming nuptials.
