Let me start by giving you some background.

In September 2016 I made the brave decision to move a small retail store to a mainstream mall. So much excitement! This was the best thing for my brand right? Well, so I thought. I wanted bigger, I wanted better, I wanted more.

In the same month, I had made the decision to take manufacturing in-house as I was finding the quality of furniture manufacturers in SA our biggest challenge.

So here we were in Sep 2016 in the thick of the busiest month of my life.

We opened our store and our little factory was born. Things were busy but great. I was winning at life, I was making it in this big world! I had built a brand that was recognized and we were busy, so busy, work was my life.

My family, an almost 3-year young marriage, a 2-year-old toddler and an 11-year-old daughter.

I had it all in my opinion, my dreams had all materialised.

Well, so I thought.

I was a dreamer, a huge dreamer. I wanted to open stores around the country at the speed of lightning, I wanted a global empire. Dream. Yes. Reality. No.

The day I opened my first mainstream mall retail store I stood in the entrance being photographed for an Entrepreneur edition in a local magazine. I mean isnt that the dream? Right? No!

When I was issued the first photos I thought, Pascalé something is off. You look puffy.

2 days later I did a pregnancy test and boom. Pregnant, Baby number 3. Planned? No. Happy? Not sure. Tears? Plenty. Life changing? Yes.

So there we were. Pregnant. A multi-million Rand investment in a store and a factory that employed 25 people. All in 1 month.

So many of you are reading this and probably thinking. You brought it upon yourself. You’re right, I did. But what you will discover about me going forward is that dreams and visions change. Life gets in the way.

Stay tuned for my next post.

Author: Pascalé Cilliers

(Founder: Baby Belle)