Minnie Dlamini discusses motherhood, divorce and reclaiming her identity on 'The Motherhood Network'

Media personality and entrepreneur Minnie Dlamini opened up like never before on Nandi Madida's "The Motherhood Network" podcast. 

The pair, who have been friends for decades, spoke about Dlamini growing up in the spotlight to becoming a mother, navigating a very public divorce and dealing with the online backlash that followed.

Reflecting on how her divorce from Quinton Jones in 2022 triggered a wave of public scrutiny that undermined her professional accomplishments, she said: "I got married in 2017 and announced my divorce in 2022 and then all of a sudden my credibility as a professional was questioned.

"Almost as if everything I had done before that was non-existent, and everything that I had was because of the person that I married.

"That was so disheartening for me because I was Minnie Dlamini before I got married, I'll be Minnie Dlamini long after divorce, but the thing is that, all of a sudden, I was the one who married rich, I was the one who went and married this really successful person.

"No, I was the successful person, and people wanted to create this narrative because we cannot, under any circumstances, believe that I created my own business ... I've been incredibly independent since the age of 14." 

Dlamini pointed out that society judged her.

"Because society cannot accept a successful independent woman, they had to say that I am only successful because I married well. And that broke my heart. It's important for us (women) not to allow society to tarnish the actual success that we have."

She expressed her hopes for her son's upbringing, stressing the importance of surrounding him with strong women and instilling values of kindness and respect.

"I want my son to be around strong women, want to be with strong women, and I also want him to be a strong man.

"I want him to fully embrace his masculinity as much as I want him to be gentle and kind and understand how it is to protect a woman, what it takes to be an advocate for women's rights because he is being raised by me and he needs to know that being around a powerful and strong woman doesn't take away from him being a strong and powerful man ... being brave and powerful has no gender."

Dlamini also offered words of encouragement for those who may be navigating similar journeys.

Drawing from her mother's wisdom, she shared that "two happy households are much better than one miserable one".

For her, divorce, despite being a painful chapter, became an opportunity to rediscover herself.

"One thing about divorce, whether the decision is made by you or by your partner, at the end of the day, it's such an opportunity for you to find yourself again ...

"I found myself losing a lot of myself in my marriage. I felt like I needed to reduce myself, like I couldn't be fully myself, and I didn't like that because I've always been celebrated for being smart, strong, independent and successful. 

"What divorce did do was that it gave me the opportunity to find me again and find me in a much better position because I am older, wiser, much more experienced.

"Yes, I am a little bit more jaded, but it's an opportunity to find yourself again. I believe the version that is raising my son now is a much better version than I was while I was still married. 

"I am much happier, I'm so much more committed and determined to being the best version of myself."

As she forges a new path, Dlamini remains optimistic about life and love.

"I am also in this interesting space of finding my happiness again ... You get another shot at love again, you get another shot at life again, you get another shot at you again.

"I don't know if I'll get married again, I don't know if I'll have more kids, I don't know what that looks like, but the option is there, the opportunity is there. It's almost like I've got another shot at life again, of creating the life that I want."

Her philosophy of continuous self-improvement to fans is: 'Be better today than you were yesterday, be better tomorrow than you are today'.

"That's it, just be better. I want the world to be a better place because I lived," Dlamini ended. 

Watch the full episode below.