Invercargill in July 1981
Being the girl of the family and being round Beauty from day one there is no surprise she followed her mum into the Beauty industry.
Bonita’s godmother is Daphne Ronald, a dear friend who I met when she attended Belda, like me she loved the Deportment and Modelling, she moved on to become a valued member of the team and a tutor.
Daphne travelled with me a lot of time to outer areas and being a trained Karitane Nurse was a godsend as whenever we travelled Bonita came with us.
Bonita’s Story
Bonita was born in July 1981 in Invercargill, and the family moved to Dunedin when she was 1 year of age and that is where she spent most of my early years.
Bonita was an outgoing child and young lady, who loved to play sports and studied music from an early age.
She represented Otago in Athletics and Basketball and also played Hockey through her high school years, which was at Otago Girls High School. Bonita also sung in choirs right from intermediate and throughout high school. She choose Otago Girls as was selected for their choir (before she was even a student there) and travelled to Hawaii for the Pacific Basin Choral Festival Competition when she was 13 years old. We won the gold award that year and it was an awesome experience to be part of.
Bonita moved cities to Christchurch in 1999 (at 17) to study music and singing at the Christchurch Jazz school which she greatly enjoyed and also was in a pop-rock band that played gigs around the city. She really enjoyed Christchurch as it was bigger than Dunedin and had more opportunities.
The next step was to study in the hospitality sector and she worked in various bars, cafes, restaurants over many years in Christchurch.
As she had also been brought up in the beauty business, (plus, had her own makeup artistry business from an early age and also worked with Mum & Dad in Nutri Metics, Jeunique and Beauty for You from high school onwards). She opened her own beauty bar inside a prominent salon in Christchurch, but due to the Christchurch earthquake in 2010, closed that premise and now offers mobile and at-home services for makeup artistry, mainly for weddings, special occasion and commercial. Bonita is the face of beauty for our Beauty for You Business.
In 2010 Bonita discovered the world of Burlesque and Cabaret performing, which has been a huge part of her life ever since. A natural to the stage, she has always had a confidence and stage presence that can bring a room to a standstill (which she does really enjoy being able to do). Bonita has graced stages all over New Zealand, headlining shows, as well as travelling and performing in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Australia and is known as “New Zealand’s Queen of the Classic” and an “Aphrodite in Fishnets” and have been an unstoppable force in the New Zealand burlesque scene, with not much chance of letting up just yet, even as she approaches 40 years of age in 2021.
Right at the start of her Burlesque career, she made headlines ……
Additionally, co-created Burlesquecise which is a dance fitness class for women, which has been running since 2013 and since Covid 19 hit, She takes online classes for this so people around the world can also experience this unique dance fitness class.
Plus, co-created Grand Tease New Zealand which is a nationwide Burlesque competition.
Another thing Bonita loves to do is produce events. She produces sell out variety events and shows which have a large local following and provides performance opportunities to other entertainers around New Zealand.
Added to that is also super passionate about helping women reach their full potential and loves to share her skills with other women and performers and offer classes in body confidence, stage presence and performing.
Heels are another big favourite of Bonita’s and has been an importer of high heels for a number of years, selling them across New Zealand, which also satisfies her own love for beautiful heels. Hasn’t counted lately but has well over 100 pairs in her personal collection♥
Her motto for keeping fit and having fun is something also to enjoy, as the old saying goes “if you don’t use it you loose it” and enjoys trying many different things over the years. Favourites are weight training, strongman, boxing, obstacle racing, aerials (Lyra hoop and pole dancing) and most recently roller skating!
Bonita and her partner Simon and live together in their own home which overlooks Christchurch and she is also a step mum to Simons two young children. They have been together since 2016.
Simon is a great supporter of all of Bonita’s performing and producing and they work as a team formidable when she creates variety shows and events. Simon takes care of the sound and lighting as he has a strong skillset in technology, music and DJ-ing, which is a huge help and it means they are able to do things together.
As a New Chapter opens for Bonita, she has been appointed Director of Training and Development for Organo Beauty Divison and will be joining us in the training and development of the Beauty Division and the opening soon in Australia and New Zealand. Bonita has a wealth of experience to share to coach people on how to develop an awesome business be it virtual or in-person – so watch this space for more information coming.
