A few weeks ago I was chatting to my sales rep & she suggested I do a story about me (yikes!) & my staff 🙂 At first I was rather unsure since I quite like the “behind the scenes” vibe; well, apart from my Instagram appearance with my gorgeous lashes…
Then, the more I thought about it the more sense it made. The spa is now 6 years old & since it’s also my birthday month, is there ever going to be a more suitable time? So, here’s the whole story 🌍
I qualified as a therapist in 2002 from Hydro International in Edenvale, I have to admit, I wasn’t the best student & case studies made me want to cry, but I think I eventually turned out ok. My first therapy job was at Matis Eastgate (yep, there was one in Eastgate!) I fell in love with the brand immediately! I moved on to then work on cruise ships in the spa on board for 2 years, came back & was employed by Elani at Matis Rosebank 🙂 Moved to Cape Town, worked at a skincare college, did recruitment & training for beauty & spa, which I still do; then one day in the beginning of 2015 the owner of Matis Fourways told me she’s decided to sell.
I was helping her for a few weeks by then, assisting with business operations & trying to see where she could increase revenue & decrease expenses. She had already had 2 people who were keen to buy the shop but were declined by the mall. At that time I was self employed for just over 2 years & didn’t even imagine I could one day own the shop. After talking to my amazing mom & consulting with God, a desire set me on fire.
The banks don’t give loans to self employed people & not owning anything to put up as collateral had me in tears & questioning God’s plan for my life. I remember being so nervous at the meeting with the mall, I had no money & no idea how I was going to get it but as we sat down all they said was “would you like to start in March or April?” 🤯 My mother believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself & she made miracles happen. Nothing could compare to a mother’s love! A God fearing, prayer warrior kind at that!
On the 1st of April 2015, I took over! There’s never an April’s fool for me…There were highs & lows, way many more lows than highs to be honest. Construction for 4 years threatened my sanity (as my staff will tell you)
Fast forward to 2020, God made big changes to my businesses & my life & I can confidently say, we’re here to stay! Giving up isn’t an option but it’s easier with people on your team that push you & fiercly belive in you.
My 38th birthday is on the 17th of April & for the first time in many, many years I’m looking forward to celebrating it all! My wonderful staff, my support team & celebrating me! It’s still a hard lesson to learn but being proud of your accomplishments isn’t big-headed, it’s necessary!
Thank God for keeping me & my business ❤
Keep your eyes peeled for a write up on my fantastic staff soon…
Absolutely wonderful story. Thank you for sharing. You can either follow the leader or be the leader and we all know creating the path to be followed is never easy. You seem to have done that effortlessly. Well done