Meet Cartier Lebatie: Founder of Supreme Queen Global Earth Africa

Discover the inspiring journey of Cartier Lebatie, founder of SQGEA, a platform empowering women in business. Explore the role of pageants as powerful platforms for women’s self-confidence and personal growth. Learn about the inclusive age group and the impactful success stories resulting from pageant participation. Also, get recommendations for the best spots in Johannesburg for coffee, brunch, relaxation, and cultural experiences.

The world of pageantry has evolved, with the empowerment of women at the forefront of the industry. By providing finalists with the platform to express themselves and raise important societal issues, the evolution of pageants has led to more inclusivity and opportunity for women from all walks of life.

One such pageant that focuses on women empowerment is Supreme Queen Global Earth Africa (SQGEA), which has turned the spotlight on African women with a penchant for business and how they positively impact the world.

We chat with SQGEA founder, Cartier Lebatie about the world of pageantry, women empowerment, self empowerment and the active change she is creating through the industry.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background, and how you came to found SQGEA?

I am Cartier Lebatie and I am a lawyer by profession and director of C-Suite Legal and Marketing which is a legal advisory firm that specialises in social media and digital marketing for individuals, SME’s and larger corporations. In addition, I am the official director of SQGEA in Association with Mrs Globe South Africa.

The link between my legal advisory firm and the pageant, was creating businesses that allow for brand development. You are the brand! I wanted to create platforms where inspiring women – inspire women whether they are women in business, female entrepreneurs, women in corporate or women looking to find a space that they belong in.

Women Empowerment was the centralization of each business created. SQGEA was inspired by the fact that as someone who went into entrepreneurship and started a business, I found that there was very little information available on how, what and where to begin. The biggest challenge for me was, as a lawyer by profession, there were so many legalities that I did not understand when I started my business thus if I didn’t know then how would the ordinary person know. I wanted to create a haven for like-minded women who could come together and share, learn, grow and support each other while they navigate through the world of business.

What is it that you personally have enjoyed about pageants and taking part in them?

While I most certainly enjoy the “Glitz and Glamour” that surround the world of pageantry, I would say that my favourite part of the journey would be the formation of a sisterhood of likeminded women coming together and being able to inspire and learn from one another.

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What role do you think that pageants can play in today’s world?

The word “pageant” should be replaced with the word “platform” because it really is a space for women to come together and support each other regardless of their marital status, background, economic standing, whether or not they have children, race or age. The “platform” is extremely relevant in today’s society as it allows women an opportunity to step out of their comfort zones and to gain confidence and self-esteem in themselves while learning to be comfortable in their own skin. They are able to dictate and define what “beauty” means to them and that in itself is power.

In addition to the above, there are so many relevant skills that are learnt through the KPI’s that the journey challenges the contestants with. These include skills such as negotiation, communication, support, determination, self-belief, motivation, tenacity, focus, handling disappointment, confidence, how to win graciously and many more.

Why the format of pageants instead of, for example, training or small business incubation? What is it about pageants that have the power to make great change?

In the pageant industry there is something known as the “power of the sash” which acts as an automatic confidence booster. Starting a business is a very daunting thing to do and requires a hell of a lot of confidence to do so. Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely and frustrating journey to embark on thus why not do so with a sisterhood who are there to fully support of your journey and are able to inspire, learn and leverage their networks along the way. We provide Women Empowerment Workshops which act as training and/or small business incubator. These include having business and master mentors as well as life coaches who are able to provide sound, efficient and accurate advice that is available to the contestants for them to utilise at their discretion.

Further, we include keynote speakers who are women that, through their journey of failures have ultimately obtained success in their fields and in fact are now dominating their respective markets. We want to remove the stigma relating to negative connotations attached to women in business, female entrepreneurship and women within the corporate sector who do not receive the support, encouragement and guidance required to run a successful business.

Why is the extended age group (21 – 55) and the exclusion of marital status as a factor important to this pageant?

Why limit the greatness and support that women can provide based on age or marital status? The less limitations on the pool of women means an expansion of the sisterhood and network.

What have some of your highlights been on your pageant journey?

Definitely seeing the growth within myself while simultaneously witnessing it in our contestants. I am so fortunate to be in a position where I am surrounded by such learned, successful and inspirational women who want to see you succeed and provide support where they can.

Are there any success stories that you have seen that have been a result of pageant participation?

Yes, most definitely. We have seen many of our contestants start and succeed in their business ventures and leverage off the networks that they would have made during their journey with us. Whether these networks were from our sponsors, mentors, life-coaches or from their fellow sisterhood, the proof is in them coming back and asking to be mentors to the new intake of women and sharing their experiences with us. Overall, the growth within the women themselves is inspiring and motivation enough for SQGEA to continue with future work.

Quickfire Q&A with Cartier

• Favourite Coffee Shop?
C: Pauls Bakery in Waterfall, Midrand
• Favourite Brunch Spot?
C: Ooh this is a tricky one, Fat Zebra in Linden
• Best Sundowner Spot?
C: Westcliff Hotel – Flames Restaurant
• Favourite cultural spot?
C: The Apartheid Museum
• Where do you go when you need to relax?
C: I’ll take a spa day any day
• Best local business you want to give a shout out to.
C: Very biased but Floyd Lebatie Physiotherapy – Best Physio out there!
• What do you love about living in Joburg?
C: Everything is at your fingertips. I love how it’s ALWAYS busy and everyone is always busy.