INSIDE STORY
20 REASONS YOU NEED TO VISIT SPAIN
January 29, 2020
DATELINE HOLLYWOOD
January 29, 2020
Beauty pageants help widen horizons and foster friendships, inspiring young girls to believe in themselves
While growing up, she was the antithesis of the stereotypical beauty queen because long gowns, high heels and makeup were not her style.
Olga Bulawa – the reigning Miss Universe Poland and Miss Congeniality at the 2019 Miss Universe pageant – is the epitome of professionalism when she is wearing the crown. But she’s most comfortable wearing ripped jeans, T-shirts, a Superman cap, Vans shoes, Wonder Woman socks, her backpack and no makeup at all.
Add a liberal dose of a tomboyish nature and that’s the real Olga.
Growing up in the port city of Świnoujście surrounded by the sea, Olga was influenced by her brother Tomasz who is five years older. “Whatever he did, I wanted to do. Whatever he liked, I liked,” she reminisces.And so began the phase of rock music (which she still loves) as well as longboarding, cycling and even pizza margherita. “He was my idol,” she recalls fondly.
Savithri Rodrigo chats with the Polish beauty queen about her life and dreams, and a short stay here in Sri Lanka where she found “amazing people” and loved the island’s famous golden brew.
Large families like hers (three boys and three girls) aren’t typical among Polish people. “But that’s because my parents were divorced and we have lots of siblings, which makes for a lovely patchwork family with loads of love and laughter thrown in,” explains Olga.
She was a conscientious student who always obtained good grades, excelled at primary school and did even better in sec-ondary. Rock music aside, she loved the piano and tried tickling the ivories as a toddler, showing enough promise to eventu-ally bag a Diploma in Classical Piano following six years of study.
“I really started to love the piano when I was in primary school and spent an inordinate amount of time playing. By the time I was 12, I’d graduated from music school,” she says. Olga’s primary schooling was in Świnoujście, a small Polish city highly influenced by 14th century architecture, history and culture. “This was probably the inspiration for my music,” she explains.
Olga moved to one of the largest high schools in Szczecin and upon completing her secondary education, she moved to Warsaw where windows of opportunity opened. This is where she had to prioritise and piano played an accompanying role. But Olga did buy the instrument last year because she’s determined to play it again.
"The world is much smaller than I ever imagined and travelling changes your per-spective of it"
About Olga
DATE OF BIRTH
29 July 1991
EDUCATION
Primary Music School (Świnoujście)
SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Warsaw)
HOBBIES
Flying and aviation
Listening to rock music
Travelling
Reading
Playing the piano
FAMILY MEMBERS
Bernardeta (mother)
Tomasz (father)
Patryk, Mikołaj and Tomasz (brothers)
Oliwia and Kasia (sisters)
LOVES
Her Parents
Her Family
HATES
“Hate begets negative energy; it’s a waste of time. Always channel your emotions into something positive.”
MUST-HAVE ITEMS
Face cream
Mobile phone
Aircraft (in my pocket)
MPET PEEVES
“Nothing annoys me; I’m generally pretty chilled out.”
ALWAYS WANTED TO BE
An astronaut
A pianist
A lawyer
A doctor
A rock star!
ROLE MODELS
My father (Tomasz) – “For always giving me the best advice.”
My mother (Bernardeta) – “For being ever so protective and taking care of me.”
MOTTO IN LIFE
Nothing is impossible
“I spent about six years at music school and it seems a waste if I don’t pursue it. There was such a large gap between school, my music and moving to Warsaw that I want to make up for lost time,” she declares.
An avid reader, she devours books by fantasy novelists J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling, as well as travel journals by Polish-Argentinian documentary film maker and travel author Tony Halik. “I am such a fantasy buff and I’m totally into the superhero stuff – even my socks have colourful superheroes on them, as does my famous cap!” she exclaims.
Halik did more than nudge the dormant explorer in her. He awoke in her an eagerness to grow wings and see the world ‘immediately.’ So Olga kept working in summer jobs since she was 14 and later, even as a bartender who learned a little ‘gastronomy German.’ She would then hop on a plane every September to travel somewhere in the world.
Favourites
FORMER BEAUTY QUEENS
Olivia Culpo
Catriona Gray
CELEBRITIES
Angelina Jolie
Tony Halik
BRANDS
LOT Polish Airlines
SPORTSWOMAN
Serena Williams
GLOBAL INFLUENCER
Martyna Wojciechowska
HOLIDAYS (THE BUCKET LIST)
Zanzibar
Australia
New Zealand (especially the Hobbit village)
But the one thing about travel that disturbed her was flying – because she suffered from aerophobia. But here’s where the true colours of this young woman shine through. ‘I can’t’ doesn’t figure in her vocabulary.
And so Olga set her mind to overcoming her fear of flying. Since determination, confidence and commitment are the three pillars upon which her personality is founded, what better way than to make aviation her career!
Like most high school students who have varied professional aspirations, Olga’s career ambitions included being a doctor, an architect, a lawyer or a journalist. But when it was time to decide, her mother gently nudged her to weigh the scales of jus-tice for her future.
“Since my communication skills in Polish are excellent and I love reading, I suppose the combination was good for a career in law,” she affirms. And it wasn’t
long before Olga excelled at law school too and emerged with a master’s degree in law.
It was while she was in her third year at law school that Olga decided she would put her ‘aviophobia’ to rest and applied to the national flag carrier – LOT Polish Airlines – for a job as a flight attendant.The Best
MAKEUP
Moisturiser
Mascara
Lipstick
SHOES AND BAGS
Converse
Vans
SHOPPING DESTINATIONS
South Korea (for cosmetics)
Sri Lanka (for tea)
GLOBAL INFLUENCER
Martyna Wojciechowska
HOLIDAY SPOTS
Bali
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Świnoujście (her hometown)
"I am such a fantasy buff and I’m totally into the superhero stuff – even my socks have colourful superheroes on them"
In Retrospect
BEAUTY PAGEANTS Beauty pageants help widen horizons and foster friendships, inspiring young girls to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams.
REPRESENTING A COUNTRY The chance to represent one’s country is an honour that’s not afforded to everyone; so cherish and learn from it, and be the best ambassador you can be.
THE WORLD The world is much smaller than I ever imagined and travelling changes your perspective of it. On my 18th birthday, a friend sent me a travel guide for New York since she hoped I would visit it someday. Visiting New York was only a dream then. Ten years later, I can’t count the number of times I’ve visited the Big Apple.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES The world is divided on issues; but to me, everyone is equal and deserves respect. I wish people would have the same perspective, be open to our differences, accept them, and respect and love each other. I want world peace.
POLAND It has everything – all the seasons and a little bit of the world as you travel through from cold winters to mountains, lakes, cities, history, culture and of course, beautiful beaches.
POLISH WOMEN When I look at my grandmother and mother, I see them being in charge. They are strong confident women but they’re clever too be-cause they allow their men to believe that they are in charge! Women are great mothers, sisters and bosses.
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT This is the era of women’s empowerment and I want to tell the world to embrace a woman’s uniqueness, cherish her and be inspired. Women shouldn’t be afraid and even if they are, they shouldn’t stop trying to fulfil their dreams.
DAD’S ADVICE The best advice I received from my father was to never let fear stop me and that I must try to overcome it – so don’t let fear stop you either.
“It’s prestigious to be flying for the national airline and representing your country. I never expected to land the job because it’s one of the hardest areas of work to get into; but I did and it was like a dream come true,” she recalls.
At 22, Olga became one of the faces of the airline, as she armed herself with volumes of inspiration and tomes of knowledge about the aviation industry. Having started on short haul flights to Europe where she revelled in Paris, Olga began visiting and seeing the world. “My best time in Europe is going to bed in Paris, and waking up to a warm croissant and fresh orange juice. That’s bliss,” she admits.
“In [South] Korea, I always go shopping and love my spa time. And I also love Korean masks. Recently, I travelled to Bali and had the best time ever, surfing and dining on some delicious food,” she enthuses.
So how about Sri Lanka, following her whirlwind visit of just three days?
She responds: “I can’t wait to return and explore the island. Sri Lanka is a country with the most amazing people and fla-vourful tea.” Olga was invited to Sri Lanka by Hayleys (the agent for LOT Polish Airlines in Sri Lanka) when the airline launched thrice weekly direct flights between the island and Poland in November.
“And the best thing is that I get to taste Sri Lankan food on the plane,” she says, adding that LOT’s catering policy is to serve cuisine that’s authentic vis-à-vis the destination it’s flying to and from. “And because of that, I get to experience diverse cui-sine from all over the world,” she says with glee.
Olga Bulawa’s job has also turned her into a television star. She features in a reality series called ‘No to lece˛!’ (Let’s Fly), which is produced by Discovery Channel. It portrays the lives of flight attendants on their trips and layovers. The show has completed two seasons so far.
“And if someone offers me a role in a movie, I’ll accept it for sure. Never say never!” she says with characteristic optimism.
One of her most treasured possessions is a box of travel magnets: “It’s an unusual hobby, I know… but every time I or my friends travel, I get a magnet from that country.”
"My plan was to use the experience I gained from the Miss Poland pageant for my betterment without focussing on winning"
The Sexiest
MEN
Robert Downey Jr.
Jamie Campbell Bower
WOMEN
Nina Dobrev
Megan Fox
“I have a boxful of these magnets, and have divided them into the places I’ve already visited and those I yearn to see,” she reveals, adding that “such is my thirst for travel that I’ve started sewing the flags of various countries I’ve visited onto my trusty backpack.”
Wearing her ornately beautiful but rather heavy crown, she looks every inch the beauty queen. Though the prospect of win-ning a crown seemed a distant dream at the time of applying for the Miss Poland pageant, her penchant for a challenge sur-faced.
“My plan was to use the experience I gained from the Miss Poland pageant for my betterment without focussing on winning. I started enjoying the training programmes, which lasted 10 hours each day for two weeks before the gala. I made lots of friends among my fellow contestants and had a great time,” she recalls. Though she took it all in her stride, Olga’s most stressful moments were appearing on stage on live TV and dancing. She was also the first Miss Poland to represent her country at the Miss Universe pageant in Atlanta, Georgia.
She confesses to not being good at two things – cooking and training at the gym. “So being disciplined in my diet is tough. I have a ‘boxed diet’ delivered to me and I’ve hired a personal trainer to keep me toned,” Olga discloses.
Running on very little sleep due to her work, she sleeps in as much as she can on her days off. She then joins her friends to go to the movies or theatre and thereafter, pencils in her next travel chapter.
With the beauty pageant out of the way, Olga has plans to start reading for her PhD while continuing her flying career – and of course, playing her new piano. For Olga Bulawa, travelling at the drop of a hat is a given!
“This is the era of women’s empowerment and I want to tell the world to embrace a woman’s uniqueness”
Generation Y
PROS
Enjoying an open world
Being able to travel everywhere
Knowledge at their fingertips
CONS
Being slaves to technology
Disconnected from reality (as a result of the above)
Clever at wearing masks and not being authentic
Olga’s Preferences
MR RIGHT Mr Right must be an honest gentleman who respects people and also has a sense of humour.
FAN MOMENT My most memorable fan moment was when a teenager who knew it was my birthday gifted me a framed photograph of myself, a mask from South Korea (because she knew I liked them) and a lovely note. She delivered it to the LOT office because she didn’t know where I lived.
DATE NIGHT Not knowing that it’s a date because otherwise, the spontaneity would be lost.
MOST BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT THE WORLD People are the most beautiful creations of the world – because through them, you find out about other cultures, history and how amazing nature is.
Olga’s Advice
ON BEAUTY
Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!
FOR TRAVEL
Drink plenty of water
Walk around the aircraft
Moisturise or mist
Carry a pen
TO ASPIRANT BEAUTY QUEENS
Be yourself
Be confident
Smile
Go with the flow
Enjoy the time
Don’t focus only on winning
ON WINNING
Be the best version of yourself
Chill out
Be kind to others
Get to know your contestants and build long-lasting friendships
