31/08/2026
Hiiiii, itโs me, Shez ~ the Owner of Bella Vita
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โผ๏ธ
As we draw an end to Womenโs Month and approach the start of a new season here at Bella Vita, I feel the need to share a little bit about myself with all of you.
Firstly, what a ride โ and what an honour โ it has been running this salon for the last 15 years.
I realise that so many of you donโt actually know me ๐๐
Thatโs because Iโve never really felt the need to promote myself, especially on social media. Itโs never been in my nature to have all eyes on me, to boast, or to draw attention to myself.
So you can imagine my utter disapproval when the world started changing and suddenly everything became about reels, videos and sharing your entire life online. ๐ Weird ๐๐คท๐ผโโ๏ธ
I have always been a huge believer in promoting my staff. Uplifting and educating them has always been a major priority for me. I wanted every staff member who walked through the doors of Bella Vita to feel confident and secure within their trade, and never inferior to a fellow colleague.
At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with in-house training and development โ from creating our own Bella Vita treatment sequences to constantly evaluating, teaching and improving everyoneโs skill level.
But to understand where Iโm heading, I feel like you should know a little about where Iโve beenโฆ
I was born and raised right here in East London.
When I was young, my parents got divorced. When I was 8 years old, my Mom made the decision to leave me permanently with my Dad and moved to Johannesburg to start a new life.
It was a decision that impacted me for a very long time.
Back then, we had no social media or cellphones and very few ways of staying connected. Once she left, she was gone.
At the time, I never received an explanation. I had so many unanswered questions, and I remember the feeling of constantly wonderingโฆ constantly waiting for her to return.
I waited for years.
My Dad, John, and I developed an incredibly strong bond. My Momโs decision was equally a shock to him, and he wasnโt prepared to suddenly have me living with him permanently. A single Dad in those days wasnโt common.
But my Dad was a human being ahead of his time. He was the most disciplined, hardworking and emotionally evolved man I knew. He was obsessed with health and fitness and taught me so much from a very young age. All our meals were home-cooked by him. Exercise and movement were simply part of everyday life. The beach, surfboards and our dogs were his everything.
He would always say to me:
โMy girl, you canโt cover a wound with a plaster forever. It will fester and become infected. You have to open it up and clean it out so that it can heal.โ
What a legend. ๐๐ปโค๏ธ
My Dad started working 12-hour shifts to support us, as my Mom never assisted financially with me during that time.
Sometimes those shifts were night shifts for an entire week, which meant I would sleep over at my Grannyโs flat.
I didnโt have a bedroom there. My Aunt and cousin also lived with my Gran, so I slept on a single mattress on the floor in her lounge.
And my Granny? She was AMAZING.
She was naughty, mischievous and Irish. ๐๐
She filled all the gaps and fixed all the ouchies, but she never overstepped and always somehow knew exactly where her place was.
She taught me so many valuable lessons, and I can still hear her and feel her with me today.
In fact, my interest in body therapy started with my Gran as my very first client. ๐
I remember rubbing all sorts of creams onto her feet and legs and placing tissues and cotton pads everywhere as if I knew exactly what I was doing!
I became fascinated with reflexology and received my first reflexology book for my 10th birthday.
Those were hard years. But they were good years too.
My Mom did re-enter my life when I was older and about to enter High School. That, too, was sudden and unexpected.
But thatโs a story for another day. โจ
Fast forward to my Matric yearโฆI went for my very first professional facial.
Man oh man!!! ๐
Tell me you werenโt completely amazed the first time you had a professional skin treatment?!
I was lying there thinking:
Giiiiirlโฆ how many more products are you going to put on my face?! Like daaaaaym, what you got back there?! ๐๐ I genuinely thought I was going to look in the mirror afterwards and see a completely new person. ๐
But strangely enough, the products werenโt what stayed with me.
It was how the therapist made me feel.
Calm. Still. Safe. Free.
It wasnโt a normal feeling for me.
And I remember thinking: This is what I want to give people.
People who are hurting, people who are tired, people who feel unloved.
I want to give people this feeling of love and care.
Shortly afterwards, I enrolled at Beauty Academy International and completed my two-year Advanced Diploma.They were two of the best years of my life.I made the most amazing friendships, and for the first time, I felt as though I had stepped directly into my true calling and passion.
I later worked as a Lecturer at Beauty Academy for over two years, and thatโs where my passion for teaching and skills development really began to accelerate.
And then came Bella Vita.
My goodnessโฆ I could write a book.
The lessons.
The mistakes.
The disappointments.
The people.
The laughter.
The tears.
The victories.
The growth.
This salon has given me the opportunity to reach, touch and help so many people. But Iโve reached a season in my life where Iโve realised that itโs also important for me to help myself.
Three years ago, my Dad passed away from pancreatic cancer. ๐โค๏ธโ๐ฉน It was sudden and severe. From his diagnosis to his death was exactly eight months.
During those eight months, my eldest daughter, Sky โ who was only 5 years old at the time โ and I moved into his home so that I could take care of him.It was an extremely intense and difficult time for us. I was alone with my Dad when he passed away.
It is something I am still dealing with today.
Watching my hero slowly deteriorate and die radically changed me. There was nothing in this entire world I could do to save him.
The man who had sacrificed so much so that I could have a life worth somethingโฆ
And all I could do was hold his hand.
Even now, I canโt allow my mind to think too deeply about his passing because it becomes too consuming.
My Dad, my hero, my best friend. โค๏ธโ๐ฉน๐ค
And then life, in the way that it so often does, brought new beginnings alongside the grief.
My husband and I welcomed another beautiful baby girl into our family in January this year โ our little Miss Emma. ๐
Sometimes, when I feel like a failure, I have to stop and look at how incredibly The Lord has blessed me.
I am now a mother to two beautiful girls. Perhaps one of the greatest realisations of my life has been this, the mother I never had, I now get to be.
The love I was never shown, I now get to give.
The care and compassion I so desperately needed as a little girl, I now get to pour into my own children โ and share with my clients.
And that brings me to the next chapter of Bella Vita. From tomorrow, I welcome two new partners to Bella Vita.
Althoughโฆ they arenโt exactly new. ๐โค๏ธ
These two phenomenal women have held my hand, stood beside me and loved me twice as hard on the days when I needed it most.
They have an incredible passion for this industry and for Bella Vita, and they cannot wait to share all of their excitement, ideas and energy with you โ their loyal clients.
And as for me?
I finally get to simply be myself. Iโm not disappearing. ๐คI will still be taking bookings, doing what I love and offering short courses.
But Iโm entering a different season. One with a little more space to breathe. A little more time for my family. A little more room to teach, treat and connect in the ways that have always meant the most to me.
My goal has never been to stand in the light. It has always been to direct the light onto others.
Making room for more women to grow.
More women to lead.
More women to shine.
Because after 15 years, if Bella Vita has taught me anything, itโs this:
Together, we can go further. ๐ค
Below is a picture of my Dad and I at my First Year Graduation Ceremony.
I won Student of the Year that year, and he was so incredibly proud.
I think he almost flipped the table over when they called my name. ๐โค๏ธ
Hereโs to the end of one season, the beginning of another, and the women who hold one anotherโs hands through both.
Happy Womenโs Month, from one woman still learning, growing and healing to another.
With love,
Shez x
Owner, Therapist, Lecturer, Momโฆ and forever the girl her Dad taught to open the wound, clean it out, and let it heal.
