Michelina Chindiya (born 18 December 1993), popularly known as Miss Chindiya, is a Zimbabwean fitness influencer and lifestyle content creator. She was listed in Zimbabwe's 50 under 30 Emerging Leaders Class of 2021 and 50 Young Pace Setters of Zimbabwe in 2021.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Michelina was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. She did her secondary education at the Dominican Convent High School in Harare. In 2015 she completed her tertiary education at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom and returned to Zimbabwe shortly after.[4][5]

Career

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Michelina Chindiya is an economic contributor for the BBC UK and BBC Africa.[6][7] In 2018 she contributed financial insights to BBC's flag ship show “Focus On Africa of Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube’s maiden Annual National Budget, the first ever national budget after Robert Mugabe’s reign. She has been interviewed on various radio stations to share her financial insights on the Zimbabwean economic situation, SAfm, Channel Africa (July 2019),[8] ZiFM (March 2020) and CapitalkFM (Sept 2021).[9]

During her career, she has been appointed brand ambassador for Newlands Country Club (January 2020), Daisies Foundation (2020), she was the face of the annual Econet Victoria Falls Marathon (November 2020 – December 2020) and CIMAS’s national iGo wellness campaign (February 2021 - April 2021). She was also host for Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe Xpress Fitness programme.[10]

She was featured on the cover of Prowl Magazine in March 2020 and DIVA’s Inc’s in April 2021 Issue.[11] In June 2021 she was featured in BBC’s “What’s New” to discuss the realities of social media. She then featured in GQ South Africa and Glamour South Africa, as one of 10 Zimbabwean creatives to look out for.[12]

In October 2021 she was recognized by the university, the University of Essex as one of their “Inspiring Black Alumni” in honour of Black History Month.[13][14] She then went on to work with Facebook Africa on the rollout of their latest Reels Ads feature as part of their “Let’s Get Real About Reels” campaign,[15] this was followed by an endorsement with Philips Africa in January 2022.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "SEE: Zim creatives you should know". www.glamour.co.za.
  2. ^ "Introducing new hot Fitness model Miss Chindiya: Snaps". April 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Building narratives: Gumiguru publishes young emerging leaders list". The Standard. October 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Making it Big with Miss Chindiya". March 31, 2021.
  5. ^ "5. Mindset and Action - A story of how Michelina Chindiya decided to take control of her life and health by Raw Stories Podcast". Anchor.
  6. ^ "BBC World Service TV - Money Daily, Zimbabwe to roll out new bank notes, months after it re-introduced its own currency, the Zimbabwean Dollar". BBC.
  7. ^ "BBC World Service TV - Money Daily, Is Zimbabwe headed back to economic crisis?". BBC.
  8. ^ "No payment yet for SA power utility from Zimbabwe". Channel Africa. July 2, 2019.
  9. ^ "Michelina Chindiya, Zimbabwe's Go-To Wealth Specialist and Fitness Enthusiast". August 5, 2021.
  10. ^ "In this video, Miss Chindiya... - Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe" – via www.facebook.com.
  11. ^ "Becoming Michelina 'Mikey' Chindiya : The Unstoppable Trailblazer Finessing The Power Of Influence To Build Her Passion For Fitness And Finance Into A Formidable Brand……". March 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "Private Wealth Manager Michelina Chindiya's Weightloss Journey Has Us Inspired". Pretty Girls Sweat. December 31, 2021.
  13. ^ @Uni_EssexAlumni (12 October 2021). "We're sharing stories of alumni who inspire us this #BlackHistoryMonth. A career highlight for @Essex_EBS graduat…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Spotlight on...a finance and fitness influencer | Blog | University of Essex". www.essex.ac.uk.
  15. ^ "Miss Chindiya Collaborates With Instagram On Their "Reel Ads" Rollout".
  16. ^ "Miss Chindiya Talks Philips Africa and Airfryers".