Meet Patrice Juah, former African pageant winner turned business mogul

gloria mari

October 31, 2017 3:57 PM

Former beauty queen turns entrepreneur

Patrice Juah. Entrepreneur, mentor, poet, writer, editor, media personality, activist, philanthropist and former Miss Liberia.

Juah is one woman who every other person worldwide can look up to, emulate, admire or even plan their calendars around.

After being crowned Miss Liberia in 2006, she went on to take over the fashion scene by launching her own line of Liberian fabrics. Telling BBC Africa, “The goal was to help preserve that and promote that, as you have other traditional cloths and fabrics across the continent like the kente cloth in Ghana.”

Juah had to shut down her shop following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. But she is now reinventing her business and is considered an entrepreneurial power house in Liberia.

She is also founder of an educational foundation, the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, named in honour of her mother who was a primary school teacher for 47 years, which awards scholarships to young girls in rural Liberia.

Juah also conducts non-profit projects where she educates women on topics such as HIV/AIDs, teenage pregnancy, education, and workforce development.

The former pageant winner also launched the first ever Miss Education Awareness Pageant to inspire young girls to strive for higher education.

She is a regular contributor to the United Nations Mission for Liberia radio show called Girl Power which is a female empowerment show.

The entrepreneur also holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and an advanced certificate in Fashion Design.

For all up and coming or already started entrepreneurs, she advised that one should always do research and advocates for planning and even having countless back up plans.

gloria mari