Who says Team Tuesdays can’t happen on Wednesdays? This team is definitely worth the wait! Meet Team #139 Hemispheres United.
Mandy Brezina and Irma Bosch met at a How to Rebelle in Colorado and instantly hit it off with a mutual adventurous spirit and love of Jeeps. Fun facts about these two? Irma’s first language is Afrikaans and Mandy joined the army at 17! Read on to find out more about this team who decided to stop making excuses and start doing.
Hometown/current town
Irma: Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, currently living in Denver, Colorado
Mandy: Born in South Dakota, raised in Indiana, currently living in Jessup, Maryland
Occupation
Irma: Creative Director at Yasso
Mandy: Defense Contractor, CrossFit Coach
What made you compete in the Rebelle Rally this year?
Irma: Growing up in Africa I was very fortunate to travel with my family on amazing overlanding adventures and fell in love with the bushveld and most of all its people. Having grown up in my culture in Africa where women are still seen second to men, and witnessing first hand how girls still don’t have a voice, a fire grew in me to push boundaries and inspire other women and girls to believe in their dreams. This spirit was with me when I moved across the world, went through a very bad divorce as well as starting over from scratch here in the States. With the Rebelle I finally found my community of like minded, strong women who aren’t afraid to push boundaries and support each other even while competing.
Mandy: The Rebelle has been on my bucket list for a couple of years, but I always allowed the money to be an excuse. After attending the Colorado “How to Rebelle” and learning more about the Rally, I was in! I decided to sign up that week and stop making excuses! Now I’ll be able to check it off my bucket list!
How did you and your teammate meet?
Irma: After reading about the Rebelle and spending a whole night rewatching previous Rebelle videos I quickly signed up for the “How to Rebelle” event earlier this year. Over lunch Mandy and I hit it off immediately, not only was she kind and genuine, she also had the same adventurous spirit that I have so we both knew it was going to be a great match!
Mandy: At the Colorado “How to Rebelle.” After Irma told a story about going to an Overlanding meeting by herself to meet more people in the area, and being the only woman, that solidified that she’s a badass that isn’t afraid of being uncomfortable and pursuing something she loved, so when I saw her on the “looking for a teammate” Rebelle roster we decided we’d be a perfect team!
Tell us about your competition vehicle. Why did you choose it to compete in?
Irma: I purchased my dream Jeep in January when I moved back to CO. I’ve always wanted a Wrangler and knew that when the right car came my way there would be no stopping us from having adventures! Her name is also very fitting. I called her Uhambu, which is the Zulu word for The Journey, and couldn’t describe her better!
Mandy: We’re both Jeep drivers, so going Jeep was an easy decision. We decided to use Irma’s Jeep Wrangler Unlimited this year because it’s an automatic, meaning one less thing to worry about at the Rally being we’re both Rookies! She said the only manual transmission she’s driven was a right hand side vehicle, so we’ll do a manual transmission vehicle next year after we know more about what we’re getting ourselves into with the Rally!
Any other fun facts you’d like to add in?
Irma: My first language is Afrikaans (a mix between German, Dutch and Flemish) and English gets a bit tricky when I’m overly tired or stressed… which is only going to make our Rebelle Adventure even more exciting! I also spent most of my childhood holidays traveling in Africa where it was normal to have hyenas and lions scour around your tent at night. This definitely helped me grow up with a heart for adventure where I’ve been shark cage diving and helped track a leopard that was causing trouble in a community in the Eastern Cape.
Mandy: I joined the Army at the age of 17 to help me figure out what I wanted to do in life. I still don’t entirely know what I want to do, but I have learned that as long as I love it then it’s worth pursuing! In the Army, I learned how to be spontaneous, flexible, and to enjoy that adventure. You meet a lot of cool people along the way and that mindset has helped me tremendously! It was also my first introduction to offroading, when I took a defensive driving course in preparation for a deployment. Who knew where that experience would take me!
