I genuinely appreciate stories of women who can rise from their tough beginnings in life to show up as the incredible examples of determination, drive, perseverance and purpose. We need these stories to help push us along to become our best! History is sprinkled with such stories…here are a few I was able to find.

Coco Chanel aka Gabrielle Chanel

Some may struggle with Coco & the way she lived her life with multiple lovers, drug use, socialite parties, rumors, drama…but this was a strong woman who came from nothing, struggled through life and had a conviction to make a rich life. She lived on so many levels. There will always be critics of any story, but I believe you can always find the good in any story. She had true love, heartache, emotional wounds, rejection, abandonment, but she was able to rise from the broken pieces that were her life to create a legacy to be remembered. You have to respect this woman and all she did.

“Elegance is when the inside is

as beautiful as the outside.”

So much history: Chanel has done a beautiful job sharing the history and stories of Coco Chanel https://www.chanel.com/us/about-chanel/the-history/1910/

I watched the movie about her life—-Lessons learned from the movie Coco Before Chanel

“Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds.”

Her Style: I think one of the greatest things she did—she gave women freedom from the tortured (corset) fashions of that era. She re-created the fashion world into something that women could live in. “I make fashion women can live in, breath in, feel comfortable in and look younger in,” she said. True to her word, Chanel’s signature little black dresses, stretch jersey garments and mannish tweed tailoring were all created to liberate ladies from the restrictive apparel that had dominated in the early 20th century. -scmp.com

“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.”

It was a sad beginning. Her and her 2 sisters, Julia and Antoinette were dropped off by their father to an orphanage around…11-year-old after their mother died of tuberculosis & she stayed there until she was 18. The family—which eventually included six children—lived in poverty while moving throughout the French countryside. After her mother died in 1895, 11-year-old Gabrielle Chanel was sent to a convent-run orphanage in Aubazine.

Her last and longest childhood home was in Brive-la-Gaillarde, a bustling market town in the Corrèze department. Gaillarde means spirited, aptly for the young girl who showed such spirit when she’d grown up. -tatlerasia

She wanted independence and created her own life: Coco Chanel began working as a seamstress in her teens, and she opened a small millinery shop in Paris about a decade later, in 1910. In 1912 she established a boutique in Deauville, France. Her practical, elegant designs attracted influential women, and Chanel was soon heading a thriving couture house. “My life didn’t please me, so I created my life,” she said. -britannica

‘What really interested Chanel was influence,’ says Chaney, author of Chanel: An Intimate Life. ‘She wanted power, but not for power’s sake. She wanted what power brought, which was independence.’ -Tatler

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different”

Power of influence & the people around her: After working as a seamstress and a cabaret singer – it’s thought that one of the popular songs she sang in Moulins gave rise to her nickname Coco – Chanel met Etienne Balsan, heir to a textile fortune, who established her as his mistress in his chateau at Royallieu. It was Balsan who, in 1908, introduced Coco to her English lover, the polo-playing playboy Captain Arthur Edward ‘Boy’ Capel. ‘He was my father, my brother, my entire family,’ Chanel later said of him. Educated at Beaumont College, Berkshire, and then Stonyhurst, Lancashire, Capel was the dashing son of a rich shipping merchant. ‘He was one of the most important people in her life, if not the key person,’ says Chaney, who was the first biographer to have access to Capel’s personal papers. It’s generally accepted that the inspiration for many of Chanel’s most iconic designs – including the CC logo, the design of the No. 5 perfume bottle and her use of unconventional fabrics such as jersey (previously used for men’s underwear) – all had their roots in her affair with Capel. Her lover channelled money into Coco’s first shop selling hats and within months Chanel’s exquisitie creations were being featured in national magazines. Soon, Chanel opened a boutique, again financed by Capel, in the fashionable resort of Deauville, followed by one in Biarritz and then a store on Rue Cambon, in Paris.

Edward ‘Boy’ Capel died in a car accident, in December 1919. ‘His death was a terrible blow to me,’ she said later. ‘I lost everything when I lost Capel He left a void in me that the years have not filled.’ Yet Chanel busied herself with work and, after several months in mourning and then a trip to Italy with Misia and her husband, she returned to Paris ready to live again. Following an affair with Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich – who introduced her, in 1920, to Ernest Beaux, the man who helped her create Chanel No. 5 – she embarked on a long relationship with the 2nd Duke of Westminster. -tatler

“You were born an original, don’t become a copy !”

She was unapologetically herself in all she did: Whether it was the boyish style clothing she would create, the muted tones she would wear, the mood swings, the independent attitude—she was her own woman. She was never going to be tamed or cornered into a life she did not desire. She truly did create the life she wanted. She could have married many men, but she had decided early on in her life to not marry anyone. She was her own woman.

In 1921 She creates the first perfume (No 5) by a fashion house. She wanted to create “A woman’s perfume with a woman’s scent,” with over 80 scents to create the essence she desired. It becomes the number one selling perfume in the world. So many firsts to ensure the test of time. She has had 100 years of celebrities from Marilyn Monroe to Brad Pitt…the list is endless of the faces behind Chanel.

Few designers are as revered as the iconic Coco Chanel, one of the most influential designers of the 21st century. Now considered by many to be the first modern perfume, Chanel No. 5 is as recognizable and enduring as Chanel’s most famous clothing designs, and the designer herself. -history

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“Freedom is believing in yourself”

-Margarete Steiff

Margarete Steiff contracted polio when she was just 18 months old, which meant that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. 

However, this spirited and courageous young woman was not going to let her life be defined by her disability. She learnt sewing and tailoring and soon became a very skilled seamstress. She started up her own small business, initially making ladies’ and children’s clothes, but soon diversified into other products. 

Little did she know, when she was working on a little felt elephant to be used as a pincushion, that she was laying the foundation stone for the international company of the future, Margarete Steiff GmbH. -BearGarden

The following timeline is from the steiff website:

The Margarete Steiff felt goods factory is founded
On 3 March 1893, the toy factory is registered in the commercial register as “Margarete Steiff, Filzspielwarenfabrik Giengen/Brenz”. Our toys are presented for the first time at the Leipzig Toy Fair. Margarete now employs 4 sewers and 10 home workers

1895 Harrods sells first Steiff products
Our first foreign business relationship with Harrods, London, is established.

1906 The Steiff bear becomes the teddy bear
American President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was “Teddy”, played a major role in the success of the Steiff bear and in giving it its name. He refused to shoot a helpless bear tied to a leash during a hunting trip. As a result, he was portrayed by cartoonist Cliffort K. Berryman in the Washington Post along with a small bear. This is the best publicity for our Teddy Bear, the Teddy Boom begins and our Steiff brand achieves worldwide recognition.

1907 Teddy Bear Boom
Steiff produces 1,700,000 toys and 973,999 teddy bears with 400 employees and 1,800 home workers!

1909 Margarete dies
At the age of 61, Margarete Steiff dies on 9 May in the presence of her family as a result of pneumonia. After her death, the company is continued by her nephews and the toy and plush range is further expanded.

Her work went on and still continues to this day.

I first came across Margarete’s story when I was looking at teddy bears on eBay and came across the Steiff brand and wondered why they were so expensive. I then found a small Steiff elephant that is missing the ear tag, but I excitedly purchased it and now look at that little elephant as a great reminder of her story and know its history. I think of this woman who created the elephant as a pincushion & from there a larger, magical toy elephant that would transport children to far away lands. There is a history in this brand, as well as a beautiful story about perseverance, purpose…a woman who started out just sewing and then began to create toy gifts for friends and family. Her business began small, but she created with her heart and big things happened.

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I hope these stories help you see…From you heart your destiny will fulfill your purpose for this life. Follow where it leads you. There is only one you…one story that is all your own, so follow your heart and fulfill the gift you were meant to give. These women were great examples of finding their own freedom and living from that place to pursue their greatest purpose.

Have a beautiful and blessed day. Peace, Love and Light to you xoxo -H