Putting Linda Potgieter into words for a Women’s Month feature seems like an impossible task due to the sheer magnitude of her being, boldness and radiating confidence.
What is easy is to be infinitely inspired by her fearless gut, seamless style and tenacious spirit.
As previously covered in Paarl Post, the 51-year-old broke The Guinness Book of World Records on 15 August 2022 for the most bungee jumps in one hour at the Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma.
Since her last big leap of faith (or 23rd leap to be exact) Potgieter keeps up with her busy schedule as a professional confidence coach and clientele mainly focussed abroad.
“I recently had a small group of women/VIP clients come out from the United Sates, Canada, Hawaii and other countries for a 10-day tour through South Africa. We travelled the city, safari and Winelands. Then once that was over I slept.” Potgieter quipped that she played hard as much as she worked hard.
She’s also a woman who leads a simple life. “I work from home and like spending time with my family – my husband, 16 year old son Jamie and 9-year-old daughter Paige. For now, though, I’m launching a new product called Kick-start Your Closet.”
This product focuses on helping women simplify and systemise their wardrobe to take “stressing out of dressing,” as she coins it.
She is also, as many say, “organised to a fault”, an A-grade scheduler free from the pressures of total perfectionism. “I just take action and give it my best shot. Sometimes you fail, but that’s true about any challenge.”
From her own experience “I learnt that to be a confidence coach it’s good to come from no confidence. A coach brings pressure and a good coach will kick your butt to do things you won’t normally do. A coach mentors and empowers you with the right tools . . . to do better go higher and keep you accountable to the goals you set out for yourself.”
Potgieter’s strong sense of direction in her calling is one of the markings of a rags to riches success story.
“I come from an abusive background and childhood. I was 17, I had no job, no car, no clue . . . I was desperate to know how it must feel to be a ‘confident woman’.”
This prompted a fixation on extreme sports such as skydiving and bungee jumping from impossible heights.
She explained confidence is rooted in the Latin word “fide”, which means trust and, more crucially, trusting oneself. But there’s a difference between self-confidence and self-esteem, she believes.
“Self confidence is the trust in oneself. People think confidence is just something one summons, but it’s not. It is something one builds by simulation, visualisation and practice, practice, practice! Like an athlete.”
Potgieter insists that it’s about taking action without overthinking it.
“It’s not just a prayer, although prayer is powerful, but faith without action is dead. Taking action is something that truly builds self-confidence; learning new skills builds confidence.”
Regarding the newfound challenges women now face in the wake of increasing identity politics, Potgieter sees human nature as the one thing that’s remained constant since the dawn of time. “People’s wants stay the same,” she believes. “They have desires, they want love and respect. We’re wired for community, we’re wired for connection.
“People who lack that in life manifest it in different ways. I think that’s the biggest crisis – identity. And it’s not a new thing; people have been battling the same struggles as they did in the Bible. Only the environment changes.”
Potgieter realises a day may dawn on which her traditional views of womanhood could get her into some hot water.
“I host private closed groups for women. As it should be, it is a safe space to be expressive in their beauty, body and self-trust.”
This brought her to self-esteem, which she ascribes to a trust in one’s own identity. “It’s your trust in God. See, the one is given and the other is built. The one is your identity, your purpose and gifts granted at your birth, and that’s the foundation on which we build our self-confidence.”
They’re very different things, Potgieter points out, “but it’s a powerful partnership.”
This led to talking about intentional practices as one of the building blocks to confidence, with style to boot: “I’ve always had a passion for fashion! By the time I was 17 I had to work, and I studied how driven people dressed. I’d look at what the successful women wore!”
She taught herself basic wardrobe skills and would spend her entire salary on a good ol’ shopping spree. “I used to eat popcorn for dinner so I could spend money,” she giggled.
Styling can be simple if you learn the basic principles of polishing according to your taste, tasks and future.
“You would be stunned to learn the difference a proper bra fitting can do for one’s overall look. It can even be done on a budget as most department stores do fittings for free. Most women often wear the wrong-sized bra. It’s too wide around the back and too small around the front… that’s why it’s common to see that awful spillage!”
Going for a bra fitting, she says, is the easiest practical exercise to boost one’s confidence.
With the significance of Women’s Month in mind, Potgieter explained that although she had to run a race in a man’s world “I never competed with men.” She sees feminism as being a good and worthy cause that brought women equal opportunities to education, sports and the job market.
“But what started out as something great years ago is not what it is today. Feminism today breaks men down to build women up, which is not right. We chose to compete with them. So, rather ask yourself ‘What can I learn from them?’”
She proposes to build partnerships with anyone (man or woman) instead. “Iron sharpens iron. And I’m not saying ‘don’t compete’. Of course, you have to play to win the game!”
The topic diversifies, from the most natural features that make a woman, from breasts or bottoms, and how one’s assets play into the overall impression of one’s stature to embodying traditional roles as a woman – the housewife, homemaker, mother and conveyer of solace and comfort. It’s on such questions that Potgieter deems it important for women to ask themselves what they really want.
“If you don’t have a vision it leaves space for someone else’s vision to prevail over you and yours,” she declared. “Are you going to marry a man who wants you in the kitchen, or will you marry a man who wants you in the office?
“That disease to please is something many women struggle with. I have a chapter called ‘Healing from people pleasing’. Women struggle to say no since we are designed to grow things and raise it, like children we’ve been designed to bear. Then we find ourselves taking on too much of what we didn’t want in the first place.
“Love yourself . . . it’s biblical. The Bible says love thy neighbour as thyself!”
In celebration of women Potgieter, in partnership with the Val de Vie Foundation, planned on hosting a Pop-up Boutique for the women of the Winelands at the Franschhoek Community Sports Centre on 9 August. However, due to the taxi strikes, the event was postponed until further notice.
“It’s for 100 women, members of the community, and those who work their magic totally in the background. People have made donations and with that we’re going to pamper them and fix them up with the right styles, jewellery and special treats to make then feel replenished and renewed.”
