This is Charlie De Haas, a fitness-model-turned-health-food-entrepreneur who personifies the word ‘hustle’. Her success rests on three things; knowing her purpose, acting from love and not caring what other people think. When you believe wholeheartedly that you’ve found your passion in life, failing isn’t an option.
What follows is the full interview on how Founder and Director of The Clean Treats Factory was inspired to bring her passion to life.
Could you please share your founding story and how you started?
When I actually started, I wanted to do something, I knew I wanted to work for myself. So many people want to be a boss or entrepreneur or they have this dream life, like living in Bali …or whatever it is. You’ve got to do the work and you’ve got to have those healthy habits to pick up every day.
Where did the idea for your business come from? What was your job at the time? What prompted you to do something about it
I was a business develop manager and a fitness model for a protein, supplement company and I kind of got a bit sick for myself. I would actually be doing promos and making treats…somebody said you should just do it. I also quit my job at the time, somehow managed to live on $10000 on a tax refund for 6 months, and just started going to cafes. I would go buy more product and do more sales and would cold call to another café
My whole life has led me to where I am today. Every company I’ve ever worked for. With business development, education, skincare, fitness, health, whatever it was has led me where I am today. I know for a fact that I’m doing what I should be doing. You’ve just to keep getting back up and to keep trying.
What was the first challenge that you had to overcome when you started? Was it giving up your day job? Was it the money?
The challenging thing about starting you first start your business is generally you don’t have the money or you have too much money cause you’re waiting for that perfect moment. For me it just happened, so I didn’t have a lot of money. I had to make it work. I had to pay my rent. I had to have friends around me that paid my rent.
I was extremely poor. I had to have other people around me pay my bills. That was a driving factor me. That was motivation. That was the most challenging thing for me.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone who has an idea but is afraid to do something about it?
My one piece of advice would be to act from love, not fear. Fear is only a thought you’re going to fail and what people will perceive as failure
As adults, we’re so scared about what people think and in being ridiculed and being a failure or not being good enough – just start. Start somewhere.
If you don’t giggle or laugh at where you started from, then you started too late. I look at our first logo and I’m like eugh…
It’s about doing something about it. Is this the person you want to be? Is this the dream? Do you actually really want it? Otherwise, you’ll never make it happen. You won’t make it through the challenges, hurdles or pitfalls … to become successful.
Stop caring what other people think. Choose to act from love, just check in know it’s your passion, know it’s your purpose and don’t be scared to fail. You can fail if you don’t quit. Just try something new.
To see the rest of Charlie’s story, head to Shippit.com/Hustle.
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