My name is Josephine

I had become a disappointed, heartbroken woman who had sacrificed her career & aspirations to raise a family, support her husband’s career, build a home & conform to society. Forced to face the struggles of being a single mother in a modern world, it was time to see what I was made of.

I moved house four times in two years with two young boys whilst simultaneously enduring a four year court battle. I sacked all barristers & legal representation & taught myself as much family law as possible so I could represent myself as truthfully & effectively as possible. I wanted my children to witness a strong independent woman who led by example & practiced what she preached. I wanted to afford them a good education & show them the world, paving the way for them to create their own futures. And I wanted to build something for myself – I wanted a career, not just a job.

I found myself on the doorstep of Dress for Success as a broken, vulnerable woman trying to piece her life back together, in desperate need for a suit to get a job. My job before becoming a homemaker was as a business development manager, assisting small businesses to improve their organisation. Getting a job proved quite difficult due to my 10 year absence from the industry, as employees saw me as lacking skills. What they failed to see was the unique skillset I’d gained by being a mother.

Motherhood gives you intense time management & multi-tasking skills, matched by no computer or man. Not only did I endure two pregnancies in 15 months, I renovated four houses in 11 years whilst my husband worked full-time & studied law. But I was still seen as pushing 50 & lacking in updated skills.

Through sheer initiative, determination & a fancy suit I got a job in my field. Unfortunately however, I could not hold on to it because my children were so distressed from the divorce I was constantly called to the school. There was no one to take them to after school sports, which they desperately needed as an outlet, & combined with the many other responsibilities of motherhood it simply wasn’t viable for me to work the demands of 9 to 5 employment.

So it was that I found myself on my mother’s doorstep, without a job, crying “what am I going to do?” In a desperate attempt to make enough to get us by, I gathered clothes from my wardrobe, purchased bits & pieces, & was blessed by Dress for Success who allowed me to pick up the clothes they would throw out.

Together, my mother & I washed, sewed & reinvented old clothing which I then sold at the markets, taking me all the way back to where I first started, working weekends at Flemington when I was 14 years old.

In the following 3½ years I worked the markets, creating a small but manageable income. I carefully listened to women & what they were saying, constantly intrigued by what mainstream retail & designers were not hearing or ignoring. Then, as if by divine intervention, I was offered a shop.

This is where my entrepreneurial dreams of empowering women to move forward from difficult personal situations started. By building the confidence of women just like me through affordable quality fashion, personal styling, colour advice, a touch of kindness & sincere interest, I aim to take customer service to a whole new level. After all, to paraphrase Marilyn Monroe, give a woman the right outfit & she can conquer the world.