People often ask me about starting a business and how I juggle motherhood with selling shoes. The truth is there was never a plan with Palmaira. Lisa and I had grown up wearing Avarcas, they were a part of our fashion heritage, a comfy summer essential that was just a given for us, in the same way that a bikini, sunscreen and sunglasses were... If someone had’ve said to me a decade ago that I would be co-running the business that I am today I would never have believed them. I was a young mum with three kids who were my entire world. I chose to stay at home full time and be their constant. I left my hectic job at the BBC, took the decision to lead a simpler life with less money but more time for my kids. We couldn’t really afford for me to do this, sacrifices had to be made but the pros for me were the precious moments spent with them, just everyday moments, not landmark ones. Watching them eat lunches in their high chairs and then falling asleep in their spaghetti... rare little snatches of magic that seem like a lifetime ago now. I suppose the flip side to the stay at home life was that I lost some self-confidence outside of being a mum. That is why Palmaira would never have started from an ambitious plan, it was destined to be a spontaneous flip-of-the-coin journey. A throwaway comment from me to Lisa one summer’s day in Menorca which she acted on. My little sister, so full of drive and energy. I inspired her to act and she inspired me to believe in myself again. And so, Palmaira was born, and now we find ourselves at the helm of something which is about much more than a pair of sandals. With six kids between us aged from 15 through to 4 months life is certainly hectic... We may be business women now and I’m not going to be flippant about that, we have to work hard and make serious decisions... some days are physically hard work. But underpinning this is the fact that we are mums and sisters... the kids and family will always come first. So my advice to anyone thinking of starting a business is not to get overwhelmed by thinking too big... the mother in me advises baby steps... little by little can get you a long way. Tracey 💋
