How this brand came to be what it is

So, as we wrap up this year and with only two days left until we welcome in 2020, I wanted to tell you about how things came to be where they are today. Now, on the 18th of March 2009, I was working in retail at Cape Union Mart in Cresta Shopping Centre in Johannesburg and on this particular day I had come to blows with my manager about the amount of time that I was taking off of work to go and do something that I had been getting an extra income from and I had explained to him that it was unpredictable and that I could be called at short notice for it. This point went in one ear and out the other. So when a major deal came up for me and I needed to take more time off and it meant I would be off for three straight days and he refused to let me take it up. So when I left early that day and this was a week before my birthday, after doing what I needed to do and having a mental breakdown because I was so upset about losing out on that deal which would have guaranteed me money for a year. I decided that it was time for me to leave the company and I resigned the very next day and left at the end of that month. I decided I was going to do my own thing and make my own money in whatever way possible.

I tried a whole lot of different things and I realised one very important thing, I had to have full control of it. So, fast forward about two and a half years, my mom cam up to me and suggested that I try beadwork, which I agreed to do. I was willing to do anything that would keep my hands and my brain busy as much as possible and this seemed to be the key.

So she helped me to get started by getting the basic tools and a few starter packs of beads and charms and packaging etc. I realised that after making a few of the pieces and my mom doing a demo for me at her work that this was going to sell very well. So over the years I perfected the craft and started making more eccentric and bolder pieces, which suits my personality perfectly as I am a very bold and eccentric type of person. At one point in mid-2016 I decided let me see how the response would be if I use my social media to put the product out there. Along with a little bit of word-of-mouth advertising they started selling quite well.

This went on for quite a while and I made quite a few sales from it. So in August 2018 I launched the Facebook page Blaze Designs (www.facebook.com/blaze-dezigns) and started to put in on my Instagram page as well (www.instagram.com/helensellick) and from there it started taking off really fast. By the end of that year, I had taken part in a gift fair run by my very good friend Nina Venjakob and as my confidence grew with putting it online, I then launched the website/online-store with this blog included in May this year.

Within the last six months this brand has received so much more attention and had so much growth it is incredible. I am really thankful that I found something that resonates with who I am as a person and has really allowed me to gain the confidence to show what I am capable of. I have become a proud mama bear over all of this. There is so much planned for the coming year and I am really excited to show it all to you. One of those things is lessons on how to make your own beadwork.

This brand is also about more than just the beadwork, it is about showing who you are as a person and showing that without any fear of judgement of any kind whatsoever. I have shown you a side of me that up until now has been kept quite. It has given me a voice to say that you can be true to yourself without filters or falsehood, you can be who you are inside and out. Even go fresh-faced and not wear a stitch of makeup if you want to.

I put all of this under a name to show you that you can create your own style and be uniquely you no matter what. You can show all your quirks and flaws and to show you that it is okay if you have that. We are all unique and special in our own way and it is time to show that to the world. Be fearless and resilient.

I have always been the type of person to tell a story and share my thoughts and opinions, but, when I was younger, every one always used to talk over me and not let me speak. It really annoyed me. This has been the best way in which to do that and I think it has silenced a lot of my critics, almost all of them in fact.

Just goes to show what happens when you decide to be yourself and see where the world takes you. It has brought me to this point and the journey is far from over for me. This brand has been almost 11 years in the making and I am so proud of the person I have become as a result. Having my own personal brand has been the greatest gift that I could have ever given myself.

We all have a personal brand and what we stand for. What is yours?

I think its time that each one of us took that journey and showed our true selves to the world no-holds barred.

My journey has really just begun and I am loving every moment of it.

I will tell you all more tomorrow.

See you then

#blazedesigns #mypassion #beyoubereal #blessed #personalbranding #lovinglife #startyourown #fearless #lovewhatido #storyteller