Lethabo “Lejoy” Mathato is entering South Africa’s Women’s Month with a message rooted in self-belief. The award-winning broadcaster, television personality, entrepreneur and reality star has moved beyond her on-screen profile to create a business built around confidence, care and personal renewal.
More than a year after launching Eliora Aesthetics Clinic and Beauty & Hair Studio, Lejoy is helping women reconnect with themselves through beauty treatments, wellness and self-care. The refined clinic, located in the north-east of Glean Austin Joburg, is the result of a vision she spent four years developing.
Quick facts
- Lejoy Mathato founded Eliora Aesthetics Clinic and Beauty & Hair Studio.
- The business opened its doors just over a year ago.
- Eliora has grown from one therapist to a team of 15 young employees.
- Lejoy hopes to develop the clinic into an internationally competitive beauty, healing and wellness destination.
- She remains open to returning to reality television if the project reflects who she is today.
“For me, beauty has always been about confidence rather than perfection,” Lejoy says. She wants the experience to feel uplifting instead of intimidating, with every visitor treated as someone who is genuinely noticed, listened to and valued.
Her professional path has taken her from radio and television into business, and she believes each stage prepared her for Eliora. Radio helped her find her voice, television expanded her reach, and entrepreneurship gave her a purpose that extends beyond her own achievements.
Her polished career might make success appear effortless, but Lejoy describes a far more difficult route. Disappointments and setbacks forced her to rebuild herself emotionally and internally, and those experiences now inform the clinic’s approach.
She views personal care as an essential investment, not an indulgence. In her view, looking after yourself can improve both mental and emotional wellbeing, while a treatment can sometimes help a person recognise the confidence and beauty they had stopped seeing in themselves.
Eliora’s purpose also includes creating opportunities for its staff. The company began with one therapist and has since expanded to employ 15 young people.
Lejoy says her biggest motivation is seeing her progress open doors for others. Each new position and every young woman or man she mentors reinforces her belief that her purpose is larger than her own success.
For her, achievement is not defined by reaching the highest position alone, but by bringing other people forward as she advances. She says Eliora was founded with love before it was shaped by its beauty-focused identity.
Her hope is that every client leaves with the feeling that they mattered, were appreciated and received genuine care.
Lejoy’s ambitions have also moved beyond awards and television appearances. Legacy is more important to her than a list of career milestones, although she would consider returning to reality TV if the opportunity represented the woman she has become.
She wants audiences to recognise the full person behind Eliora: its entrepreneur, leader, employer and founder. Her larger goal is to build a brand capable of changing lives.
The next stage of her plan is to make Eliora a world-class centre for beauty, healing and wellness, with standards comparable to leading international destinations.
During Women’s Month, her advice is aimed at anyone holding back from pursuing a long-held dream. She says people should not wait to become completely fearless, because courage means taking action despite fear rather than living without it.
Lejoy recalls periods when others doubted her plans and finances were limited. Her advice is not to launch a business simply to silence critics, but to follow a purpose that addresses a real need and has the power to improve someone else’s life.
Elsewhere in the entertainment conversation, Zola 7 has honoured the women in his life with a comeback single, while Makgotso M has moved behind the camera to present the new talk show Nuanced Conversations.
