D.I.V.A of the Month – January 2012
D.I.V.A of the Month – January 2012
Carol Giselle, the multi-talented ‘life enhancer’ shares with us about the challenges of running a business in a freshly budding industry.
Lelemba: Who is Carol?
Carol: Carol Giselle as most people know her, is a woman of many talents, graced by my heavenly father. Carol is a mother, business woman, social marketer and a woman filled with zeal and a passion to enhance life.
Lelemba: 🙂 I Like that ‘passion to enhance life’. Tell us about what you do for a living and your family life
Carol: I am formally employed as an External sales banker at FNB Zambia. I also run my own lifestyle company called House of Giselles. I am a mother of a nine month old boy Israel Samuel. I am currently in a serious relationship and live in Lusaka, Zambia.
Lelemba: Can you tell us more about your lifestyle company? When did you establish it, why this line of work and how has business been thus far?
Carol: Wow where to start. House of Giselles was established in 2007 after i quit my modelling career. At the time the market was not paying what we were worth and I decided to be on the other side of modelling which was grooming and general image consultancy. The business has gone through a lot of stages as I struggled to define it and had to attend different courses. I finally established and defined what areas of the business I wanted to grow and House of Giselles was reborn December 2011.
House of Giselles (HOG) is a lifestyle business that specializes in the feel good aspect of a human being. My team and I seek to enhance lives through our services of event management, image consultancy and professional makeup. And we recently added on intimates-gabrielle, our online store for men and women which is a brain child of HOG.
We have been operating as HOG just over a month now and we can say we are heading the right direction. And as all business go through, we are still facing a few teething problems but we are learning each and every day as to how we can satisfy our customers and establish long term relationships.
Lelemba: Congratulations on the relaunch! How do you balance your work with your personal life and your budding business?
Carol: I don’t. Hahaha! I honestly say that but I have put in place as a priority to spend time with my son, my partner and friends and ditch my blackberry and laptop at those times.
Lelemba: LOL! You just have to sometimes I guess. Do you ever get ‘me’ time and if yes what do you do during this time?
Carol: When I do, I read or research on all the places I want to visit before and after retirement.
Lelemba: Ha! That’s interesting. What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced and how did you overcome them?
Carol: Hmmmm personally having a baby before my planned date was not easy. However I had a very supportive group of friends during that time and after I gave birth I have been more than blessed. My baby is healthy and blessed. Business wise, my industry is not exactly a full blown industry and our Zambian market does not always embrace what we do. All the same, this still encourages me to do even better and to continue to raise my standards as a pioneer.
Lelemba: What are some of the highlights you have experienced?
Carol: I think my highlights all center around my son now. I took a step back one day and I was looking at how much I do and having to still continue that even after having my son. I got back to work two weeks after giving birth! I never in my lifetime would have thought I would do that, but the well being of my son was my priority then.
Lelemba: Who/what else inspires you?
Carol: a lot of my inspiration comes from God and reading the word of God. I read a lot about people that have not relented in their efforts and I get motivation from that. I also have a very strong support system and we help each other as days come by.
Lelemba: Where to from here? Can you share what some of your dreams or goals are?
Carol: Beyond the sky! I dream to be the first and best in my lifestyle industry. I want to live a legacy and leave a legacy! I want to be an inspiration to young women. I want them to follow their passions and not to let circumstances determine the future. Lelemba my dream is BIG! I want to enhance life!
Lelemba: 🙂 Thank you very much for sharing your story with us. I am sure it will encourage a lot of people out there. I wish you the very best with ‘enhancing life!’