Mother of a Trailblazer

I’m sure you’ve heard about Elon Musk, the billionaire, who is a co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors.  He was in the news when he sent his “kid-sized” submarine to northern Thailand to help in the flooded cave rescue of 12 young footballers and their 25-year-old coach. Ultimately, the mini submarine wasn’t used, but it did give both the United States and Musk a lot of positive news coverage. Musk himself has six children so the dire circumstances of these youngsters must have really hit home.

WHO IS ELON MUSK?

I’m going to talk about his talented mother but first, here’s a brief look at Musk’s background. He is 47-years-old (born June 28, 1971) in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and a South African father. He received a college degree from the University of Pennsylvania, enrolled at Stanford in California – and left after two days because he felt that the Internet had more potential to change the world than physics. He was right: eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion when Elon was only 31-years-old. What took him so long?

WHO IS ELON’S MOTHER?

It’s not often that one reads about “the mothers” of these entrepreneurial whiz kids but, after seeing a picture of Elon’s mother in the May 2018 issue of Bazaar magazine, my only reaction was: WOW! SOME MOTHER!

Maye looking great at 70 – photo courtesy of Bazaar

Elon’s 70-year-old mother, Maye Musk is a COVERGIRL model and dietician who says, “I feel like things are really going to take off in my 70s. I was always just a working model with three kids. Nobody knew who I was, but it didn’t matter.”

A COVERGIRL ad in Glamour magazine, September 2018

She goes on to say that, “Now I’m an influencer, so I get to do interviews and use them as a platform to talk about nutrition and go on glamorous fashion shoots like this one for Harper’s Bazaar. It’s beyond.”

SHE’S SERIOUS ABOUT FOOD

Maye says that, “I eat the basic food groups: fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, good fats and oils. People want to know what I fed my kids. I gave them real food, not frozen pizza. In 45 years of counseling, I can tell you one thing for sure: People don’t gain weight from whole wheat; they gain it from fries and white bread.”

…AND ABOUT FASHION

When the journalist, Esther Wojcicki, asks Maye about her fashion sense in this interview, she replies, “I moved from South Africa to Toronto 28 years ago and lived in a rent-controlled apartment with three teenagers. My best friend, Julia Perry, who is a stylist said, ‘You need to dress better.’ She threw out everything in my closet except for six outfits. I could only afford to buy one new suit, two shirts, a pair of shoes and a bag. I wore all of this every day until I could afford more.”

Maye in a playful mood - photo courtesy of Bazaar

…AND GOOD HEALTH

“Basically, I’m an optimist. But even so, I would never have said, “When I get to 70, I’m really going to take off!” She goes on to explain that she had adventurous parents. “We would go across the Kalahari Desert every July with three weeks’ supply of water, gas and food. I don’t know how my mom did it because she had five little kids. We came across caves, rivers and Bushmen who had never seen white people.”

…AND HER THREE KIDS

“They are my greatest achievement,” Maye says. “I never dreamed of being a COVERGIRL, but here I am! People post #GOAT which means: Greatest of All Time.”

I think that wraps it up very nicely.

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