{"id":129,"date":"2026-06-09T14:44:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/?page_id=129"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:57:14","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/?page_id=129","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi, I’m Nicole. And This Is My Real Story.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I honestly didn’t know what to write here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you introduce yourself in a way that’s real? That’s honest? That doesn’t just say “hi I’m Nicole, I make pretty things, please buy them”<\/em> , because that’s not who I am and that’s not why I’m here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I decided to just tell you the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It Didn’t Start Pretty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I was born in June 1987. A Cape Town girl, my mommy’s baby, part of a beautifully complicated big family full of steps and halves and all the love and chaos that comes with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But underneath the surface, from as young as junior school, I carried something heavy that I couldn’t explain. I felt like I didn’t belong. Like I was somehow different in a way nobody could see. I didn’t have the words for it then. I just knew something wasn’t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What saved me in those early years was a teacher, my grade 6 and 7 teacher, who actually listened.<\/em> Who let me journal. Who showed up like a father figure when I needed one desperately. I’m sure I gave him grey hairs. He kept his head shaved so nobody would know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Years That Broke Me Open<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

High school brought church, brought love, brought loss. My stepfather, the man who called me his own, who spoilt me rotten and taught me how to work on cars, passed away when I was 15. That loss cracked something open in me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then at 16, something happened that I carried silently for years. Something I blamed myself for for a very long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not my fault. I know that now.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After school I went straight into work, no opportunity to study, so I just kept moving. Fell in love, got hurt, spiralled. I kept searching for validation in all the wrong places because all I really needed was to be seen.<\/em> To be heard.<\/em> To be healed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, my manager at the time noticed I wasn’t okay and referred me to our company wellness programme. That one moment of someone paying attention changed everything. I ended up at Crescent Clinic, a mental health facility, where I attended every single class. Religiously. Because for the first time I wanted to get better. I wanted to heal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But God Had a Plan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the part that still makes me smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My husband and I actually met when we were six years old.<\/em> He was playing outside with a friend. I remembered his friend’s name but not his, sorry hubby! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reconnected in 2011. Got engaged in 2012. Married in 2013. And we are still married today. Two boys, a home, a life built together. One of our sons is adopted, now 11 years old. Our youngest we are fostering he turns 2 next month. Both of them are my whole heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road to get here was not straight or easy. There were more spirals. Another stay at Crescent Clinic in 2019. More jobs tried and left because I just couldn’t find my passion. I worked at a vet for a while \u2014 because what could be better than helping people and their furbabies? But losing animals, losing pets, it hits you in a place you can’t prepare for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Diagnosis That Finally Made Sense of Everything<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I have Bipolar Mood Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say that plainly and without shame, because for too long those words felt like a life sentence. Now I know they’re just part of my story. I see my psychiatrist monthly. I take my medication. I do the work. Every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I share this because somewhere out there is someone who needs to know that a diagnosis is not the end of your story. It might actually be the beginning of understanding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And Then Came Charm & Zen Creations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I knew I couldn’t work in an environment that wasn’t inclusive of my mental health. I knew I needed something that was mine<\/em>, something built with purpose, with intention, with heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I built it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everything in my shop is handcrafted, but everything was chosen with you<\/em> in mind. Every mug, every bracelet, every little keychain and pair of earrings. Selected because I believe your everyday life deserves beautiful things. Because you<\/em> deserve beautiful things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And my outreach, supporting Hannah’s Place of Safety<\/strong>, that’s personal too. That’s where I met my foster son. Love at first sight. A little boy who needed a family and a family who needed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why I’m Telling You All of This<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I’m not sharing my story for sympathy. I’m sharing it because I genuinely believe that somewhere in these words is someone who needs to hear them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone who feels broken. Someone who has been through the valley and can’t see the way out. Someone who has been told or has told themselves that they are damaged goods, that they are too much, that they have missed their chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You haven’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The valley is dark. But that’s where the flowers and the plants grow the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find the version of yourself that you deserve to be. It might take time. It might take help. It might take two stays in a clinic and a hundred false starts and one small business built from love. But you will find her. I promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glory to God for being with me through every single chapter. Even when I wasn’t the best daughter. I don’t always have the words to pray. But I speak to Him silently and He knows my heart.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

With all my love,<\/em> Nicole<\/strong> Founder \u2014 Charm & Zen Creations<\/em> \ud83d\udcde 082 606 5705<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, I’m Nicole. And This Is My Real Story. I honestly didn’t know what to write here. How do you introduce yourself in a way that’s real? That’s honest? That doesn’t just say “hi I’m Nicole, I make pretty things, please buy them” , because that’s not who I am and that’s not why I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-129","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/charmandzencreations.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}