With a loan from Qredits, Gillianne purchased an unused school bus and turned it into an attractive store with clothing and fun gadgets for the home.
Gillianne’s biggest source of inspiration is her mother. She used to have her own boutique, is very creative, designs and sews clothes herself and makes all kinds of things to decorate houses and make them cozy. ‘On Curacao people like to make their houses beautiful, but they don’t quickly engage an interior designer. I want to make interior design more accessible, think along with people and work out their ideas in concrete plans.’
Gillianne has mapped out the route to her own interior design and fashion store. After completing her VSBO education in 2009, she took the time to find out what possibilities there are in this direction. She followed a two-year course at the Sheffield School of Interior Design. This training institute, nowadays known as the New York Institute of Art and Design, offers six different online home study certificate courses for creative professionals. Studying trends and history, furniture styles and fabrics, color theory and lightning formed part of this study. To provide for her income, Gillianne had various jobs, including at Subway and the Renaissance Hotel. In 2015, she decided to take the next step to becoming a designer and moved to the USA to take classes at college and university level in Missouri. Motherhood made her return to Curacao in 2017. She accepted a job at the airport but did not give up her dream to become an interior designer. Via via she had the opportunity to gain practical experience in various ways. For example, she made a design and gave advice on the design of the Shon Fia office in Sta. Maria. The owner bought her idea and then implemented it in-house. A new opportunity arose when she was allowed to support Kooyman’s regular interior designer in the design of boots in the store. For the local housing association Fundashon Kas Popular, she furnished a number of houses as model homes. ‘I did not yet feel ready to start my own business, but I did start to make the necessary preparations by purchasing materials and such’, says Gillianne.
A few months ago Gillianne cut the knot to become independent, and decided to take the step to approach Qredits for a loan. The bus has since been purchased and she has an terrain where the bus will be positioned. The bus has been transformed into a beautifully attractively decorated store. ‘My vision is to only sell things made locally on Curacao. I have built up a wide network of producers and suppliers, including my mother. ‘In Gigi’s Home Decor, customers will soon be able to get good and creative advice about the design of their home or business. They can also walk in to buy nice gifts or a showpiece for their own home. In addition to home accessories, Gillianne will also sell clothing. With the clothing also applies that everything is made locally. She’ll focuses on a special market segment: people with large sizes. The choice to buy from for this target group is limited on the island, while the number of people with a larger size is considerable.’
Although part of her dream has now been realized, Gillianne does not stop dreaming. ‘It is important to develop further. Of course I would like to grow and hope that my company will soon have the necessary fame not only on Curaçao but also abroad. But above all I also want to be a source of inspiration for other young people. I have my own business at the age of 28, and others can too. If you know where your passion is, don’t give up when things don’t work out and you are prepared to work hard for it, then you can achieve your dream!’