A little trip down Entrepreneurial Memory Lane...

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“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had — every day I’m learning something new.”
-Richard Branson

Yip, the chunky redhead in that photo is me! hahahahhaa!!! OWNING the family photos from 1980 to 2020 LIKE A BOSS!! hahahaha!!! - ok ok, enough about that crap.... I actually have something of consequence to say (well, I think so at any rate) lol...

If there is one lesson and principle I have learnt well throughout the course of my life it is that the mind will believe absolutely ANYTHING it is told often enough. So, if you constantly seek out the "dead ends" in situations then that is what you will continually be met with. If however, you choose and refuse to be limited by circumstance or frustration then you will always find a way to turn around and head in the other direction which offers you CHOICE! Desperation can breed despair, but it can just as readily breed inspiration, determination and unlimited opportunity!

I come from a family of entrepreneurs and FREE thinkers - it is simply how we were raised. For as far back as I can remember, my three brothers and I have been taught how to think outside of the box, be innovative in situations and to make a success of things, despite the odds. Unlike much of this generation, we were taught that if we wanted money for things – you had to work for it…. And work for it we did! I can recall all of us “testing the waters” with our entrepreneurial skills at very young ages with all kinds of interesting and diverse approaches. My brothers used to make packs of coasters out of used matchsticks – in fact, I actually still have a couple of those… and amazingly enough even though they are more than two decades old… only one match lost! Haha – they just don’t make things like they used to, right! ;)

They also used to make mini rocking chairs and all sorts of other things out of wooden clothes pegs. Those were AWESOME – especially for my dolls. Lol – but sadly, I do not have a photo of one of those to show you. They used to sell all of the above (and more) for their "recreational money" I have lost count of the things which my brothers did as teens over the years to make money... there were T-shirt selling businesses, dummy car alarm systems - you name it haha!

I, being the youngest (and the only girl) was a little more… um… creative in my first approach to entrepreneurship? hahaha!!!– When I was about 5 years old I created a "garage sale" one afternoon on the pavement in the front of our house (without my mother’s knowledge or consent) and apart from the few items of mine selected for sale, I went and grabbed most of the dresses from my moms cupboard to add to the garage sale and I hung them all over the place – I mean, everything has a price, right? Haha! – Yeah… that garage sale did NOT end too well hehe ;) I went on to a myriad of other things as the years passed too. I sold perfumes door to door when I was about 12 and also got involved in the dummy car alarm business that one of my brothers had going.

I left school at the age of 15 as I was failing hopelessly at pretty much everything due to my complete disinterest across the board and well, drugs. I lived with my mom at the time, and after much effort and persistence with my father - as well as "under-age" acceptance from the college itself - I went to study graphic design and the handmade cards was something I did to make money for social spending. Nothing grand really haha - and as an adult I am not sure whether people bought them because they felt sorry for the 16 year old girl selling them or because they actually liked them haha.... but either way, they sold! They were sold plastic packaged for 5 ZAR at the time. And as you can no doubt see, I saved the ones I liked most which were mostly daisy designs haha... it is my favourite flower :) My mom eventually took it over and then ultimately one of my brothers bought the business from my mom and continued to stock retail outlets throughout Cape Town.

I am quite a sentimental individual, so I do in fact have keepsakes from pretty much most of my life milestones and had actually kept a handful of those cards. I actually have a zip bag where I have kept ALL that stuff and having my attention drawn to it for the sake of the cards, got me thinking about some of the other related entrepreneurial journeys I have traveled which then inspired me to compile this post.

I went on to start a customised hand made jewelry range as a side income when I was working my first job. I have honestly lost count of the "ventures" I have explored over the years haha - the simple reality is, when you really and truly want to CHANGE something for the better, there does not have to be a paved way... because you will MAKE ONE! Put your problem, mind and creativity together and you will never cease amazing yourself!

The next little memory I grabbed out of the bag of keepsakes was the third step in my entrepreneurial journey... the second one, oddly (because it was my ultimate game changer)... I didn't keep any samples of. When I left my last place of employ, it was because of an idea inspired by one of my brothers. The same brother that I had helped to sell the dummy car alarms some years back... and the concept was promotional fridge magnets. I designed and printed 5000 of those per month and had them distributed to relevant suburbs in Cape Town.

They were "info magnets" and on them, I would sell advertising space to businesses and services that people generally wanted on demand... such as electricians (that would be my brother haha), food delivery, locksmiths etc. and then they would also display all local emergency numbers etc. I did that for two years. Aside from the brutality of cold-calling, it was probably the easiest money I have EVER made! I was 19 years old, working two days a week and living completely self-sufficiently. The economic climate here in SA eventually made that venture challenging. People no longer had the excess cash to fork out so easily.

Following that, was a product which I created called "The Business Bulletin". It was a throw away advertising leaflet of which there were 8 kinds (each suburb specific). I designed, printed and distributed 80 000 of those monthly. Essentially, people purchased an advertising slot on the flyer to promote their business. I simultaneously used this as a tool to promote my own design and print services which is what helped ultimately build the 7500+ client base that I continued to service until 2018. This particular venture lasted about 6 odd years. Both of the above were very successful, but with the internet beginning to dominate the below the line advertising sphere, the sales became quite challenging towards the end.

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Next in the bag of tricks at approx. 22 years of age, was an alternative magazine which I launched at the same time as I was doing the business bulletin. It was called "Vibrations". It was a small magazine (inspired by the tiny "Glamour" woman's magazine) but was geared at the holistic, alternative and health market. I compiled, designed, printed and distributed 5000 of those for free to suitable retailers all over the Western Cape every alternate month for 2+ years. The advertisers funded it. It was enormously successful and loved by everyone that picked it up.

Each issue was approx. 44+ pages and was content rich. It was an INCREDIBLY stressful venture to take on and after two years of dedicated readership I added a 5 ZAR price tag on it, which is not even enough to buys a Mc Donalds cheese burger... and suddenly everyone was up in arms! Their sheer unwillingness to pay such a ridiculously small price for something that literally took up my every day and every night, made me lose enthusiasm and passion for it VERY fast! And so, I eventually sold it to another local holistic magazine company.

That "little magazine" was a journey of NOTE for me! It taught me an enormous amount and also simultaneously SCREWED my perfect eyesight up for life haha! I worked almost 24 hour days for 2+ years with that brain child... on a monitor which was faulty and blurred in the centre of the screen - but I could not afford to replace it with a new one at the time, so I carried on as normal. A perfect lack of foresight in that instance, as my now prescription glasses cost a lot more than a new monitor then would have.... haha - live and learn hey ;)

The last "additional" venture I undertook over and above the running of my second design and print business from 2007 to Dec 2018 was not something I could keep in that bag, but was also a monumental venture and something that taught me and led me to where I am now. When selling the "vibrations" magazine I swore I would NEVER do that again... but I did haha... only the last time, I did it digitally. I launched "INSPIRE VIRTUAL MAG" and ran that man alone for 2 years as well. That was an utterly MAMMOTH task as it was a fully fledged international e-mag - 160+ pages and other than receiving content from writers, absolutely EVERYTHING else was done by little 'ol me. From editorial layout, advertisement design, compilation, promotion, clothes selections, fashion shoots - all of it.

Not to blow my trumpet or anything, but magazines as you and I all know them are compiled by huge teams of people - so needless to say... after 14 months of that I was feeling pretty damn exhausted haha!!! And as I mentioned, this was all done in between being completely hands on in my bread winning business. That online magazine was TREMENDOUSLY well received and was read by both men and women across the globe - in fact I think about midway in that journey we were receiving read counts that exceeded 50k+ per issue... but again, when your passion for a project dies, so does the project - but nothing was lost. Many a lesson was gained. I am VERY much a gut driven individual and when I am done with something "energetically" - then I am done with it completely!

Here is a link to the seventh and last issue I ever published for Inspire...

After that last stint, I shifted my focus completely back onto my "bread and butter" design and print business and then eventually handed that over to my shop manager at the beginning of 2018. Many of you who have walked some of this road with me will remember just how much of an emotional roller-coaster that time in my life was... BUT, I had been preparing to do it, and can honestly say... that my decision to completely drown myself into this blockchain full time has not disappointed me yet! The markets, yes a little haha... but not the community! I absolutely LOVE what I do with my day time hours now and I would not change it for the world! So... there it is...Hope you enjoyed exploring my bag of keepsakes... I know I did :) It always gives renewed perspective!

I have previously referred to, and do so again now - a conversation I once had with my father, where he told me that he sat at a boardroom table with at least 12 men his age (65-75 yrs) and as very financially successful men they each shared a hilarious afternoon of reminiscing about their COUNTLESS failures in the road to getting where they currently stood. I will never forget that little bit of motivational converse. I may have failed a few times already, but what I haven't done even once yet... is give up.

This enthusiasm for problem solving and making the best of what we had did not decrease as the years went on... My brothers and I have continued this pattern. So, it is no surprise then that we have all grown up to work for ourselves. It is pretty much a “no-brainer” when you have an attitude of “solution” rather than problem! Thinking like this allows you to move forward when so many others stay stuck - chasing their tails in circles. Now, it is something that we have all begun to impart on our children.

We needed (or wanted rather lol)) money - and as our folks could and would not simply GIVE it to us - they taught us instead to make it for ourselves... so that we could learn to be self-sufficient and find SOLUTIONS for the challenges that we were presented with - just as it is in the "big world", instead of standing with our thumbs in our mouths. I was faced with this reality EVERY SINGLE DAY in my business. You cannot burst into tears and hide in a corner when things get stressful, or don’t go quite the way you had intended. No – you have to switch into solution mode. You have to fix it, and you have to fix it QUICKLY! I feel that my brothers and I have been truly blessed to have been brought up with this kind of mentality and I do whatever I can to instill this into my son and his daily life too. I think ALL parents should afford their children such an opportunity. It will stand them in good stead later on in life.

I may have chosen to re-prioritise my "stresses" (and I am ever grateful that I did) - however, this does not mean that I am not met with an array of new challenges on a daily basis - but the fact remains... I will continue to meet each and every single one of them with precisely the same mindset of "solution". The wonderful thing about retaining this, is that every time you go "through" it and come out on the other side... you are that "little bit stronger" for it and you stand with added faith in your capabilities.