For as long as I remember I have wanted to “trade” – selling handmade sweets and other treats at school and later buying and reselling clothing to earn an extra income. Being an entrepreneur, thinking of ways to do business has always fascinated me. In my venture into the clothing business, I started small business with like-minded friends. At the time my Mom owned a décor store and she gave me a little corner in the back to set up shop. After school I would work in my little shop and when I was not busy, I would spend my time rearranging the furniture and creating beautiful displays in my Mom’s store.

I had to give up my little shop when I decided to go to boarding school in Grahamstown. It was here, under the tutelage of my design teachers that my love of design and creativity blossomed. It was here that I also became more involved in charity work and have always wanted to combine my love of design with helping the less fortunate. I never really had a platform of my own that could create a significant impact.

After studying Design at Stellenbosch, I moved to Johannesburg in 2019. I spent hours scrolling through the internet looking for a job. I had an idea of dressing up and going into the corporate world. This never materialized and as that old cliché says, “It all happens for a reason”. With the corporate world not being an option, I happened to land up teaching design and realized that I really had found my passion working with children in a creative environment. There was one element missing though, I needed to come up with a sustainable idea to help those who might not have had the opportunities I had, those who had loads of talent but were not able to support themselves through this, those who perhaps needed help launching their design products. I got thinking and that is when I decided to start Harvey’s online store.

Harvey’s online was created on the cornerstone of passion, creating beautiful spaces and the desire to assist others. It was a huge leap of faith during the time of Covid19, but this is a platform that I could use to find other mainly South African designers and artists and help them launch their small businesses. It is also a platform that will eventually allow me to travel and source throughout the rest of Africa and the world.

I hope to provide items for the consumer to create beautiful spaces in their homes, places that bring joy and peace. In doing so they can support small businesses and start ups. There is also a mentorship and up-liftment program I will be running under the I AM HOPE umbrella. This program will concentrate on identifying talent on the streets and lifting them up to be able to trade competitively in the market. I would like to focus initially on marginalized women and the skills they can use to produce an income. As Harvey’s online grows, I hope to implement some of the other many other ideas for I AM HOPE, so watch this space.

I live by the mantra “Empowered women, empower women”