Cheryl started her own full-time business in 1996 when her children, Jerome and Carey, were 20 and 16 years old respectively.  Her original business, Nature’s Warehouse, still operates.  Cheryl’s focus has now shifted to the world of coaching and coaching training, and she, Jerome and Carey became the founding members of People SA in 2006. 

What inspired you to start your own business?
To cut a long story short, there was I time that I literally needed to work for enough money just to buy food for my family.  I got a job at Mary Anne’s Health Food Emporium, where I worked for about 3 years. I wanted to learn everything, so I worked in the kitchen, I waitressed, I was the teller…  In that time I started using Barley Green, and shared it with a very ill friend who made an incredible recovery when she started using it.  I helped lots of people who visited the store, and more and more people asked me for information.  My Barley Green business really took off.  I also started to sell organic dried fruit and nuts from home, and the demand just kept on growing until I decided to open Nature’s Warehouse. 

How has your business set-up evolved from when you started, up to now?
I converted a room in my house into a shop with a separate entrance.  The nutritional counselling and health shop was actually a sideline –
my main effort started going into managing my downline.  This is how I got involved with PNI (Psycho-Neuro-Immunology) and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), in order to develop myself to work better with my downline.  I loved coaching and ended up becoming an internationally certified Neuro-semantics Trainer.  Nature’s Warehouse is very capably managed by John, while I spend my time coaching and training coaches. 
But I miss the nutritional counselling, and the next step is to integrate Wellness Coaching into our coaching business.

What were some of the most formative experiences and lessons that you remember now?
By the time I started my Health Shop business, I had already made the decision to get divorced.  I researched “How To Get Divorced” by attending a series of “divorce classes” presented by a local church – I did that course three times!  It helped me to prepare:  I got my own bank account,
own credit card rating, learned about all the crises of divorce…  I deliberately decided to put everything into the business in order to build it up to enable me to get divorced – and deliberately kept my husband’s involvement to a minimum.  It had to be mine.  I worked long, hard hours, allowing people into our family space all days, all hours.  I worked until 2 or 3 am in the mornings, and I was up again by 5 or 6 am. 
I personally oversaw all aspects of my business, avoiding being let down by anyone.  It was for survival!

At that stage, I was the Business.  I believed I had to know and do everything … but then I stayed locked into that space, instead of passing some of the tasks and responsibilities on to others.  My independence harmed me.  I had such low emotional intelligence then.  My strong fear of being
let-down led me to reason that it would be harder to recover from a let-down than from overwork, so I just did everything myself.

I was too proud to ask for help, or to admit that I was struggling.  My sister literally dreamed one night that I was desperately short of money,
and based on that arrived with a cheque.

I realise that my energy levels used to be very high because I so enjoyed what I did.  My mind over-ruled my body, and I didn’t allow myself to feel my emotions.  But I ended up pushing myself to burn-out.  The divorce hit me much harder than I expected, despite all my preparation. 
I sank into depression, very aware of the failure.  The culminated effect of years of emotional draining in my marriage, over-work, lack of sleep, and then the impact of the divorce led to my first episode of burn-out.  I ended up in hospital for 10 days, cortisone and all.  Fortunately, I bounced back after each burn-out episode, and I have undergone a deep personal transformation thanks to those experiences.

What is this personal transformation all about?
It involves many facets, and it has been developing over time and is still continuing every day. 

One of the first shifts were to set some boundaries.  I simply allowed too much intrusion and interruption in my life.  That started to change when
I announced “Shop Hours”.  Managing interruptions is still a challenge for me today – it is so deeply engrained to help when help is asked…

Another crucial shift was from Independence to Interdependence.  I now have a systems-approach to business and to life.  I want to get to a point where I “own” the business, so that it can run in spite of me, not because of me.  I’ve also learned to use people-resources, and I’ve come to realise that being let-down is just one of those things – and that I can deal with it.  

The realisation that “I’m not my provider, there is a whole system behind me”led to a big leap of faith.  I started learning to create synergy; faith in the bigger picture.  It wasn’t just ME that was making it happen.  I let God help, and I finally started giving God credit.

The religious environment in which I was brought up was cold and clinical.  I didn’t like the framework, but I knew there must have been more. 
My transformation led me from feeling separate and fragmented to feeling ONE and connected.  My journey has been to return to Oneness.  And this has had a huge effect on my heath and energy.  I realise that we need to take care of ourselves physically… but in sync with the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our being.   It’s not an Either – Or scenario, it’s a matter of Both - And!

On a practical level I have committed to meditation and spiritual practices for which I wake up early every morning and on which I spend 2 – 3 hours every day – and this is not negotiable.  I also plan a retreat once a year, and I choose to keep my weekends open and not work. 
This is much different from how I used to live, when the only “me-time” I ever took was to attend courses.

When I do get sick now, I see it as a way to get into my body.   I had some baffling lung symptoms a while ago - low oxygen levels in
my blood, battling to breathe, blue nails, very low lung capacity.  The doctor couldn’t find a medical reason for my condition.  I think I needed to FEEL the pain and discomfort,  to breathe through it and  use it as a time for reflection. 

Did you spend enough time with your kids;  did you attend events that were important to them – did you take time off work, reschedule your  programme to attend their stuff?
YES.  That was why I wanted my own business, so I could do that.  I would work other longer hours, so I could attend their events.

With hindsight, what are some of your insights in terms of your marriage?
I realise that there was a lot of non-acceptance from my side for how my husband was.  He hated learning and courses.  We grew apart because of my growth and development, and I couldn’t accept that he didn’t want that too.  I accept him now.  But I still choose to not be with him.

How would you describe your relationship with your children?
I’ve always had a good relationship with them;  they could and did tell me everything – which sometimes freaked me out and made my hair stand up!  But I somehow managed to accommodate where they were.  Our relationship wasn’t always comfortable, because of the level of honesty. 
But I wouldn’t want it any differently.

What advice do you have for the current generation of Mompreneurs?

• Being your own boss is the greatest way you can become the best you can be, AND be there for your children… even if you’ve got to go through all the learning curves. 
• To have business, children and marriage ALL in the foreground requires a lot of commitment to holding the space for one another, and two complete, whole people to start off with.  And a reciprocal giving of space.  And when things are not working, it’s important to TALK. 
  We don’t talk, because we fear the feelings – or we fear he will go…
• Don’t give up any part of who you are; your human-beingness.  As a young parent, it’s a tall order to take care of your child’s needs,
  and your marriage, and your own.  It requires a lot of talking.   And you’d better learn to receive feedback without feeling annihilated!