A Book A Woman Makes A Plan: Summary in 9 Words

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[00:00:13] Today we will unlock the book, A Woman Makes a Plan, Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure,

[00:00:18] Beauty, and Success, an autobiography by May Musk.

[00:00:22] Many people may not be familiar with May Musk, but you have probably heard of her

[00:00:26] son Elon, the founder of Tesla, the world-renowned electric car and clean energy company that

[00:00:31] even sent a car into space.

[00:00:34] Elon Musk is known as the real-life Iron Man and has publicly stated numerous times

[00:00:38] that his mother is his hero. He attributes his success to her and the way she has

[00:00:43] nurtured and influenced him. However, May is much more than just Elon Musk's

[00:00:49] mother. Beyond this label, she is a fascinating and independent woman in her

[00:00:53] own right, and her life journey has been nothing short of legendary.

[00:00:58] Born in Canada, May immigrated to South Africa with her parents when she was only two years

[00:01:02] old. She became a model at 15, won a beauty pageant at 21, and got married at 22.

[00:01:10] After discovering her husband's infidelity and suffering many episodes of domestic

[00:01:14] violence, she divorced her husband at the age of 31. As a single mother with

[00:01:19] three children to raise, she juggled school and work after the divorce, and eventually

[00:01:24] obtained two master's degrees in nutrition to become a professional dietician.

[00:01:29] When her three kids grew up and left home, May decided to return to the modeling industry

[00:01:33] at nearly 50 years old. She was not afraid of aging and dared to reveal her true

[00:01:39] self. Her iconic silver hair and sheer self-confidence helped her gain popularity

[00:01:44] and eventually become a world-renowned supermodel, in her golden years. Just like that, May,

[00:01:50] who has never shied away from pressing the restart button, became the master of her

[00:01:54] own destiny. For this reason, she has become an inspiration and an idol to many

[00:02:00] women all around the world. What personal stories does she share about herself and

[00:02:05] her journey in her autobiography?

[00:02:07] Next, we will explore her book through the following three parts.

[00:02:12] Part 1, The Carefree Early Years.

[00:02:15] Part 2, The Solo and Independent Years.

[00:02:19] Part 3, The Fearless Later Years.

[00:02:22] Part 1, The Carefree Early Years.

[00:02:25] May Haldeman Musk was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1948. Her father, Joshua

[00:02:31] Haldeman, was an American who moved to Regina to be a chiropractor. Her mother,

[00:02:36] Winifred, was born in a small Canadian town and also moved to Regina to start

[00:02:40] her own business. Joshua fell in love with Winifred at first sight when they were

[00:02:45] learning ballroom dancing. When they first married, they were not very well off.

[00:02:51] In their wedding photos, their clothes were drab and dull and Winifred's wedding dress

[00:02:55] was actually homemade. The early financial problems did not affect the growth of the

[00:03:00] family. In Regina, they had four children, among whom May and her twin sister are the

[00:03:05] youngest. Their home was always full of laughter and happiness. May fondly remembers her

[00:03:11] father piloting the plane to take the family away on vacation. The year May was born,

[00:03:17] her parents acquired a Belanca aircraft. It was their second plane, and her father

[00:03:22] would frequently fly the whole family out to see different places in Canada. When May was

[00:03:27] only three months old, her father flew them to the United States for a conference.

[00:03:31] Fearless and unwilling to live by the rules, Joshua was a born adventurer. In 1950, May's

[00:03:39] parents left Canada for South Africa after they heard South African missionaries talking

[00:03:43] about the beautiful scenery there. They originally planned to move to Johannesburg,

[00:03:47] a major city where most people spoke English as their first language. However,

[00:03:52] when the plane flew over the mostly Afrikan-speaking Pretoria, Joshua fell

[00:03:57] in love with the city covered by Jacaranda trees and decided to land here. They were blown

[00:04:02] away by the beauty of Pretoria, and after settling down in their new home, her father

[00:04:06] resumed the family custom of traveling the world by plane. He would fly over neighboring

[00:04:11] countries along the coast of Africa and across the ocean to Asia and back. Whenever

[00:04:16] he brought the family to a new destination, he would spray paint the name of the place on

[00:04:21] the wings of the plane. During those years, the family traveled to 60 countries. In an

[00:04:27] era before the GPS, one can only imagine how challenging and adventurous these journeys were.

[00:04:32] This free-spirited lifestyle seemed wild to the local South Africans,

[00:04:36] who labeled the family as a crazy Americans. However, such comments never affected May's

[00:04:42] father. He would follow his heart without being influenced by the opinions of others.

[00:04:47] While May's father was an explorer, her mother was an artist with a natural talent for art.

[00:04:53] Winifred received professional dance training in her early years and excelled at the

[00:04:58] performing arts. Thanks to her mother, May had been exposed to the modeling industry

[00:05:03] at an early age. At the time, a family friend happened to own a modeling school

[00:05:08] in South Africa. The friend invited May and her twin sister to the school for a visit,

[00:05:13] where they ended up receiving formal modeling training. Unexpectedly, May found it interesting

[00:05:19] and gained some professional modeling experience. Later, the owner began to arrange job

[00:05:24] opportunities for her, usually on Saturdays, when she would either walk runway shows at the

[00:05:29] department store or take print modeling jobs. Being a model was a very profitable activity

[00:05:34] for May, and she was surprised by how high her first salary was. At first, she could not

[00:05:40] really understand why going to a place, putting on a dress, and taking a few steps around the

[00:05:45] room could get her so much money. Although the industry was lucrative, she knew that this was

[00:05:50] just a temporary activity. She never dreamed of being a model and instead set her sights on

[00:05:56] attending a prestigious university. Under the advice of her family, May chose to study

[00:06:01] nutrition at the University of Pretoria. The subject is closely related to medicine,

[00:06:07] and she studied how people can regulate their food intake to become healthier.

[00:06:11] When she first entered university, May focused entirely on her studies. In her mind,

[00:06:17] she would never revisit the modeling industry again, and her previous career was just an

[00:06:22] interesting episode in her life. She was certain that she would graduate from university

[00:06:27] and embark on a profession within her field in the future. In her third year of college,

[00:06:32] a classmate told May out of the blue that he planned to nominate her as the Oval Queen.

[00:06:37] May did not know what that meant. Her classmate explained that it was a beauty contest and

[00:06:42] encouraged her to participate. Although competing in a beauty pageant seemed like

[00:06:47] an unrealistic fantasy to her, the courageous young woman did so anyway.

[00:06:52] Perhaps it was due to the influence of her family—after all, her father Joshua also

[00:06:57] lived an adventurous life. Like father like daughter, May was irresistibly drawn to the

[00:07:02] unknown. In this regard, she indeed takes after her father. On the day of the pageant,

[00:07:08] May did her own styling and makeup, and went up on stage with a fun and casual attitude.

[00:07:14] Amazingly, she won the competition and the prize of 100 rand, which was equivalent to

[00:07:19] 150 US dollars at the time. She also signed a contract with a modeling agency in Johannesburg

[00:07:26] and received the opportunity to take a modeling course for free. That was how she started

[00:07:31] modeling professionally as a side career. As for her main career, May accepted an offer

[00:07:37] from a food company in Cape Town to work as a nutritional expert after graduating from university.

[00:07:42] At the age of 21, she left her family and hometown for the first time.

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