The Marciel Effect

Sinead Martin Sits Down With This Powerhouse Woman For A Lesson In Healthy Living, For Mind, Body And Soul

BORN TO LEAD

Up until age 13, Marciel lived on De Grendel Wine Estate, where her father was a winemaker. “I grew up very happy, I had a carefree childhood, I had little goats and geese as my pets,” she says. “I had imaginary friends and was always climbing in the trees… I was very much a tomboy,” she recalls. “It meant I had no issues with weight. My primary school was tiny and it wasn’t something I ever thought about or considered.” In fact, it wasn’t until high school when she was asked by a fellow grade eight pupil how much she weighed that Marciel was even aware of weight disparities.

After the first term, Maricel was already the top academic female in her grade, with the third best marks overall. A title she wasn’t overwhelmingly happy to receive because she said it labelled her as the “clever girl”, making her seem unapproachable. “It should be something that’s celebrated, but immediately I was the ‘nerdy’ girl,” she says. “People looked at me as the academic girl, rather than someone they would want to be friends with or even date.” The following year she was awarded various leadership roles, which Marciel continued to occupy in different forms throughout the rest of high school and in her residence at Stellenbosch University.

It was these final leadership roles that led her to meet Mishka Patel, who was giving a Miss South Africa pageant presentation to the Stellenbosch students. And it was Mishka who recognised both Marciel’s natural beauty and confidence, leading her to recommend she enter the pageant. “It was something I had always wanted, but never in a million years believed was possible for me,” she tells me between sips of a peanut-butter smoothie.