Roxane Hayward: South African Actress | Producer | Founder of The GetGiver

South African actress and health advocate, Roxane Hayward, currently lives in Los Angeles, California, having moved there at the end of 2018. She started working in the film and entertainment industry at the age of 10 in local South African series for SABC. After moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town in 2008, she broke into the international acting scene, landing lead and supporting roles in productions for the likes of BBC, Universal Pictures, Sony and more. As well as live theatre credits for major South African and American productions.

After a compromising near kidnapping incident in 2015, Roxane felt the need to learn how to defend herself. She moved her attention from weights at the gym to boxing gloves in the ring – Muaythai. She has since become a spokeswoman for self-defense and continues to host seminars in South Africa, Los Angeles and San Francisco. These seminars focus on human rights, empowerment, safety and teaching individuals how to defend themselves. This interest led to her involvement in the Public Service Announcement ‘Open Your Eyes’ that she produced and directed for CNN.

In 2020, Roxane launched the brand The GetGiver – a platform for health and wellness experts to share their insights and knowledge with others as well as a space where Roxane works with groups and individuals on regaining their power on their overall health; highlighting that our wellbeing is made up of the nutrition on our plates, as well as a strong emphasis on the nutrition off our plates – life’s nutrients.

Please tell us a little more about yourself and your journey thus far.

I have always been interested in health, fitness, nutrition and figuring out how to get my body working at its optimum level. Part of this has to do with the fact that I needed to be ‘camera ready’ for any acting work that would come my way – healthy hair, skin and nails. But, more than that, nutrition had become my main source of health, allowing me to work long hours on set and push my body to its extremes in my dance and martial arts training without injury or compromising my immune system.

Alongside my friend, Julia Pietersma, I ran a successful blog called ‘The Banting Blondes’ which pushed me to look deeper into different kind of eating plans and ‘diets’ and how they impact one’s body – from their hormones to their gut health. Questions that were all, later, answered for me in detail through studying Integrative Nutrition.

Although I believe that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to food and nutrition, The Banting Blondes served as a great platform to share healthy recipes made with unprocessed, unrefined ingredients.

Part of my journey that has been imperative in helping me find balance in my overall wellness is my Muaythai training that I started in 2016 with two-time world champion, Quentin Chong. Being part of a supportive team that cheers each other on in every training session is a quality I aim to carry with me in every health seminar or session that I host.

Please tell us a little more about how your company came about.

After studying nutrition at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition out of New York, the idea that ‘health has more to do with the food on your plate’ became solidified to me. In other words, you can eat all the kale and broccoli in the world yet remain unhappy, stressed, with poor health.

Our relationships, connecting with others, physical activity, career, home environment (but to name a few) are all aspects that can be huge determining factors to our wellness.

I wanted to create a platform where these concepts could be communicated with others through public, informative posts as well as private sessions – allowing people to figure out the tools that they need for their body to work at its optimal level, no matter what circumstances life may throw at them.

The name ‘The GetGiver’ came about through the idea that wellness is collaborative. What valuable tools and knowledge did I GET in my life that I can GIVE to others? With the motive of them GETTING something out of our time together so that they too can GIVE to those around them.

Should you be busy with any interesting initiatives, please tell us a little more about it.

I host a podcast alongside Nick Cokas called The YOU Effect – simple conversations around big or small actions that have impact. It’s not about how much you can give, but how you, the individual can positively affect others. We would love for you to join our conversation!

Another project of which I am extremely excited to be a part of, is the newly launched app, ‘2gTHr’ – it is like ‘exercise for your soul’. For me, ‘spirituality’ means a feeling of connection to something separate to ourselves, bringing an awareness that is outside of our 5 senses & physical self. When we focus on our health, we often only tend to look at our physical self, however, I believe that working on that feeling of ‘connection’ is imperative for our mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing.

What is it that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about leaving something in a better state than how I found it. I truly believe that every action, thought, conversation, interaction that we have, can have an impact – we might never see the impact or the ripple effect that it creates, but we are responsible for the initial seeds that we decide to throw. Therefore, I try, as best I can, to make that impact a positive one.

Who or What has been the biggest influence in your life and why?

The two words ‘responsibility’ and ‘consequence’ have had the biggest influence in my life. I guess you could say, that comes from my wonderful parents. I was brought up with so much freedom. My parents would allow me to make a lot of decisions in my life from a very young age. They would always, very calmly and lovingly, sit with me and explain the outcome of each possible scenario – the pros and cons to each side. And then let me decide what route I would take. As long as I knew that I would have to take full responsibility for the outcome and deal with whatever the consequences may turn out to be.

The earliest example of this that I can remember is when I went to my mom to tell her I wanted to drop out of nursery school. After a lot of deliberation, I realised I would have missed out on all of my classmates’ birthday parties, And so… I stayed in school – a decision I made with my own ‘4 year old free will’. (Clever mom).

Having that sense of freedom, mixed with self-authority and responsibility definitely influenced my life and the decisions I made in a positive way.

What is your personal “motto”?

My motto changes depending on my circumstances. For example, when I moved to the US and felt like a fish out of water with little to no support structure around me, I found myself saying, (most of the time, with a clenched-jaw-grin) ‘You live and you learn!’ over and over again, parking ticket after parking ticket. I took each ‘mishap’ (including that time my car was towed) as a ‘learning experience’. Without that attitude and motto at hand, I probably would have burst into tears and locked myself in my bedroom until the end of time. I really can look back at that first year and laugh.

Right now, I seem to be saying, ‘Go with the flow’ a lot. We are living in such uncertain times, feeling like we are in a constant state of limbo. Going with the flow has helped me adapt to whatever is happening around me in the world, as well as be open to any opportunities or open doors that come my way.

What advice would you give a woman wanting to follow her dreams?

My advice would be to create, set and follow a plan to lead you closer to your dreams. But don’t forget to stay open to all the wonderful surprises life has in store for you – it might be even better than the plan you have for yourself! We don’t have a crystal ball, so who is to say that the new path on which you may find yourself is worse than the path you laid out for yourself previously?

Who or what is your inspiration and why?

My circumstances are my inspiration… No matter how tough things may get, I always like to ‘problem solve’. My current situation or circumstance is something I use to serve as inspiration for new projects, goals, creativity and initiatives.

What advice would you give your younger self?

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Your favourite daily affirmation:

I don’t have a daily affirmation per se, but one thought of which I try to remind myself throughout the day is, ‘Moment to Moment Meaning.’ I.e., What is the meaning of this moment? Nick Cokas said it in one of our The YOU Effect podcasts, and it has stuck with me. It helps me find so much beauty in the present and highlights opportunities to really connect with others.

Your favourite quote:

It is so hard to pick just one! Right now, as it was recently Martin Luther King Jr Day in the US, a quote that stands out is ‘If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.’

What are your top 3 business tips?

Find your WHY – why are you doing what you do? How can you find ‘moment to moment meaning’ in your work/brand/business?
Everyone has it in them to be creative. Have you solved a problem recently? That was using your creativity! How can you add more of that into your business?
You can be professional without being serious. How can you highlight the fun in your work and how can you make games out of areas that you find mundane?

What would you say is your secret to success?

For me, success is doing what you love… and a lot of it! Finding ways to do more of what I love or, on the other hand, finding ways to love what I am doing – that is what makes me feel successful.

One piece of (general) advice that you’d like to share:

Anything physical doesn’t last… However, by placing your focus on the ‘unseen’, whatever that means to you (emotions, spirituality, feelings, connection, serving others etc.) the profit of your energy will be surplus!

Is there anything that Xtraordinary Women can do to assist you on your journey?

I love working with individuals, supporting them as they work towards discovering and achieving their health and wellness goals. My mission is for every single person with who I work to feel their best for them, so that they can give their best to others. If there are any Xtraordinary Women reading this interview who would like to regain their power on their overall health, I would love for them to get in touch with me at roxanehayward@thegetgiver.com

Submitted by: Clayton Morar Media