From a psychology graduate to a business owner, I decided to take a leap of faith which is now finally paying off. Not knowing anything about hair at the time I bought my first weave bundle in 2011 at an estimated cost of R3 000, which back then was very pricey considering the profit margins. After sampling the unit for shorter than a month it started tangling and shedding. Because of this bad experience, I decided to venture into my own business. My own personal dissatisfaction with poor quality hair products was exacerbated by the considerably high price point of the merchandise.

I knew that better quality hair existed. It is for this reason that I insist on sampling all my hair products before putting them in the market. I chose to name the business after me because I take great pride in the offering, it is my way of giving the products my seal of approval. I did not intend on starting a business, I was really following a hobby, which developed into a passion. Not going to business school or having any formal knowledge of how to run a business meant that I had to learn a lot on my own. I made a lot of expensive mistakes. I also struggled with cash flow, because retail businesses require capital to make a profit, we needed to sell hair, but to trade, we were required to purchase stock and without the money to buy stock, people were not interested in waiting for an untested product because the market was already saturated.

I would like to extend a big thank you to The Daily Grind Hub and Seda for the Incubation programme, for helping small business owners grow and expanding our business knowledge. The programme requires a lot, but it is extremely rewarding. Although I may be in the beauty business, the journey to success is paved with anything but glamour. Entrepreneurship is a very lonely journey. I have always worked with teams, so I struggled to work alone, and still do sometimes. The emotional and mental toll of running my own business has been immense. The financial burden of starting the business was also daunting, but I made the necessary sacrifices to succeed. I have amazing clients, some who have been with me since I started my business and new loyal returning customers. The God I serve always has always had a plan for me. I will forever stay faithful. He is the King of Kings.

The Lord of Lords. My Alpha and Omega. My parents are my rocks. They have supported this journey since the beginning. My mom never understood why she had to pay over R4 000 just for hair, but I guess she saw the vision before I did. My aunts, uncles and cousins all played a huge role, they believed in me. My friends and my boyfriend also invested so much in supporting my dream. I love and appreciate you all. To my late Father, George Farewell van Wyk. I guess we are the same after all, while studying and graduating as a teacher, he had a passion for Business and had multiple businesses. He would have been so proud of me.