Meet Belle; Owner Operator of Born to Sparkle

 
Known affectionally as Mrs Sparkle, Belle was in a terrible car accident in 2015 that threw her life as she knew it into disarray. No longer able to return to her occupation in aged care Belle created her business Born to Sparkle which been up and running since early 2017.
 

 
Born to Sparkle's mission is simple: to put smiles on faces. You will find them at our markets with glitter tattoos and glitter face applications – what kid (or adult) doesn’t love a bit of a glitter?

Amazed by the number of people that came to see them in their first few markets in 2017 they have been going strong ever since. 
‘Turquoise, Glitter & Rainbows are inspiring to the Born to Sparkle team of course, but mostly they enjoy being active in their Community.

“We love coming up with new designs and ways to make you sparkle.  The community is important to us and I love seeing people working together and making a difference in their world. This is a big driver in why we offer fundraising packages to schools/sports clubs/ and Not-For-Profit organisations.' 

Belle also derives much inspiration from her daughter (who goes by the stage name Glitter Glam!); "She's the reason the journey was started and she is the Sparkle in my life".
After her car accident Belle was left unable to work in her existing job and found herself quite depressed at the prospect of not being able to help her community. The idea of glitter tattoos started with a simple conversation between her daughter "Why don’t you make people smile anymore?" Belle was forced to respond; "I can't do things anymore" ...with the youthful exuberence of childhood her daughter said said “You can face paint!!”
 
Doing her research Belle saw a niche in the market. "I thought about face painting work for a couple of hours at a time, I could do that! I researched and found out about Glitter Tattoos and realised no one was really doing it in Perth." 
Taking the ball and running with it Belle enrolled in a government incentive scheme NEIS  which taught her fundamental  business skills and  she has since been  nominated for   national recognition  thru the scheme   as Best New Business 

A key member of the BTS team is Mr Sparkles (Mark) who has been with them since the beginning. A long term friend of Belle's he decided to come along for the ride and is a source of encouragement for Belle. With a passion for the arts Mark loves designing (which also plays a part in his other profession - Engineering), so Mr Sparkles is the creator of the tattoo stencils used at the markets and you can often see him at events, getting his glitter on!
When asked for words of wisdom Belle responds with; "Focus on slowly building a quality line and build relationships with your customers. It's also important to ask your customers for feedback (and then listen to it!) as they are the key to your success. Enjoy the victories, even if they are small, and learn it's O.K. to fail - just don't give up. Work out why you failed and ask for help - we are all human!"