This queen of hustle is the first to admit that pursuing your true purpose isn’t easy; sometimes you just need to get the day done. But when times get really tough, Charlie De Haas connects to her passion and see failure as an opportunity to learn – now here’s a queen of hustle we can really get on board with.
What follows is the full interview on how the Founder and Director of The Clean Treats Factory overcame her toughest challenges in growing her retail empire.
What is the one thing you would say to someone complaining about how hard it is to run a business in today’s retail environment?
It’s about finding your niche and clientele. Retail is a hard game, and it’s gonna be difficult no matter what you do. My number one piece of advice is to come back to your passion and why. When you’re acting from those points, you’ll be able to find a niche and clients that respond to you at all times.
Difficulties are only opportunities to become better and to create new opportunities and ways to do things.
Tell me about your hustle… you’ve said you’re a hustle queen. How did that start?
In the beginning, you have time and no money. So you have to learn to do everything yourself and then you get to a stage in your business, where you have money and no time. It’s a new ball to juggle – you have to be your number one best friend. You’ve got to get up early, you’ve got to be prepared to pull the all-nighters.
Live your life in a balance that’s committed, give it your everything. It’s got to be your passion, you got to know it’s something bigger than trying to be a boss.
What would you say to a retailer who is ready to give it all up?
Get some rest. I know that’s not the traditional thing to say. Remember why you started. We tend to get too caught up in the day-to-day. The sales figures, the staff, the stock… the measurements of business. We forget about connecting to our true purpose.
You just have to keep going and keep going. Stop doing the same thing. It’s an Albert Einstein quote I think: Craziness or insanity is doing the same thing, over and over and expecting a different answer. If you’re failing and you learn, and you’re looking at that failure as an opportunity to learn. I’ve learnt this, I can now try this in a different angle. It might be a slight change – like 5% – and it might be a whole world for you.
What advice would you have given yourself in the early days when you had doubts about your capabilities?
Some days are going to be about one foot in front of the other. Just being to learn yourself is my best advice to anybody. You got to know when you’re tired, you got to know your reactive points…when are things getting to be too much … when do you just need to have a DVD day at home.,. when are you also doing work and how much work are you putting in.
Being real with yourself as well is something I’d love to be a point of advice and just know to keep going…check back in… is your heart full, is this your passion, is this your purpose? And you’ll know because there are so many magic moments.
To see the rest of Charlie’s story, head to Shippit.com/Hustle.
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