Thelma is one of those women that strides into a room and fills it up with her energy. I first met Thelma at the airport on the way to the MUA 2023 finalist trip in Vietnam. Little did I know then we would be working side by side sharing a hotel room preparing for Miss Universe.

Not only does Thelma have one of the most captivating walks the runway has ever seen, from her facial expressions, her body positioning, footwork, and choreography - Thelma knows how to teach this confidence. Once I won Miss Universe Australia, I only had 7 short weeks before I was flying to El Salvador to compete on the world stage at Miss Universe.

Thelma and I would zoom call every second day to practice my walk, I remember my first session I did with her I said “ I refuse to do spins, they’re not me, I can’t do them “ fast forward to Miss Universe I managed to execute 2 seamless spins, thanks to the many hours we worked on them together and Thelma’s persistence that I could do it.

In the last week before I was flying out, I flew up to Sydney and Thelma flew down to meet me there where we spent a full on week training, preparing and walking. Thelma acted as a mentor and a friend for me that week, she came with me to fittings and meetings with designers to help me secure outfits for MU, we spent hours every day practicing my walk, going to the gym, and going to meetings. Thelma was one of the handful of people who dropped everything to help me prepare.

I’ll be forever grateful for the moments we spent together, the content we created, and the kilometres of walking training we have collected.