MY JOURNEY
Lisa Anne here … come with me on a J O U R N E Y if you will …
My F A M I L Y home is in Bournville in Birmingham and is part of the Bournville Estate, on The Green and near to the local shops; butchers, bakers, florist and a small community hub, all of which was originally owned by the Cadbury F A M I L Y many moons ago.
Both my Mum & Sister worked for Cadburys back in the day, my S I S T E R in the complaints department and my Mum on production of cream eggs.
The smell of warmed chocolate would P E R M I A T E the air as we literally overlooked Cadburys Chocolate Factory.
a F R I E N D of mine from way back came to stay with me at my little cottage in Monmouth. Kim suggested we watch a film called C H O C O L A T E – Juliette Binoche plays the part of a single parent opening a chocolate shop in a small French village.
I was completely T I N G L I N G from head to toe watching this beautiful piece of adult fairytale and so desperately wanted to have a shop just like the one in the film where people would come and sit and tell their story.
When I conceived my E T H I C A L Jewellery business back in 2006 – www.lajewellery.co.uk I was living in Monmouth with my Husband and my Daughter in a I D I L I C little cottage that brought me much solace and safety.
I was so I N S P I R E D by Cadburys original business model and how they C A R E D for their workers, provided housing and recreational facilities and thus got the B E S T out of production because there was much mutual R E S P E C T between factory owner and employees… this became a huge part of how I was determined to operate my little jewellery business moving forward…
I firstly remember encountering C A C A O whilst watching a weekly documentary about a chap by the name of Willie Harcourt-Cooze back in 2007 – Willies Wonky Chocolate Factory… I was E N T H R A L L E D by his story and how much he cared about his work. He literally bought a CACAO farm in Peru and was growing, harvesting and shipping the B E A N S back to the UK to his warehouse so that he and his family could create the most nutritious Cacao bars.
His P A S S I O N was addictive. I watched avidly each week with my daughter. This was around the time my Daughter was diagnosed with Hodgekins Lymphoma Cancer. At the time, I could only buy his C H O C O L A T E from Selfridge’s in London and I would use it in just about any food concoction from salads to Bolognese and would drink it in warmed coconut milk each morning for energy and N U T R I T I O N. Healthy eating and Nutrition was a H U G E part of recovery and I’m convinced that it saved my Daughters life.
Today I have two Grandaughters Poppy & Pippa and they have a healthy Mummy and I am aware that a healthy mind and body is where it’s at.
I moved to Ludlow in 2011, which is a very B E A T I F U L and picturesque small mediaeval town, situated in the H E A R T of Shropshire. I became the acting chairwoman of the Ludlow arts Society for a very short while. Myself and my friend Jenny, embarked on the project where we created Ludlow‘s very first ever chocolate bar made with 100% fair trade & O R G A N I C ingredients.
The idea was to feature a local artist on the front of the chocolate bar every month to give exposure to the art Society and its members. It was a great little project and I’m proud of being a part of it.
I probably made a loss of around £1000, but this could’ve been due to the amount of C H O C O L A T E bars I was consuming as I was selling them in my little shop and temptation, unfortunately did not evade me!
In 2019, I started creating holistic retreats with my friend Melaina – www.ladiesbythelakeretreats.co.uk due to the fact that my daughter was now battling with mental health and addiction issues probably due to ADHD and the trauma she experienced with the cancer, and I desperately wanted to S U P P O R T her R E C O V E R Y so I decided to create a R E T R E A T and figured that if I sat her in a field and surrounded her with 20 or 30 powerful women then we’d have it sorted within a weekend…. How wrong I was. It was going to take three whole years for her sobriety, and then a lifetime of work.
In early 2019 I took in my two Grandaughters as I desperately did not want them going into the care system and I knew my Daughter needed support. There are lots of W O N D E R F U L Foster Carers out there that create beautiful homes and have wonderful intentions but I just wouldn’t be H A P P Y with them staying with strangers and I knew that I would never have been able to smile again.
2024 and my Daughter is clean & sober and doing the work… I’m proud of her. Poppy & Pippa will be moving back H O M E with Mum in July 2024 after 5 years. I’ve done a lot of advanced grieving as I shall miss the little darlings but I am now ready to E M B A R K on my own journey.
I plan to do all of the things that scare me, all of the things that have held me back through my life, and I’m going to have an adventure!
I thought I’d lost my F R E E D O M when I took in my two Grandaughters but I have realised that due to the fact that I had to get my shit together and get myself a really G O O D therapist so that I was able to look after the children properly and give them what they needed, they’ve actually given me my freedom, the freedom in my head and the freedom in my H E A R T … I will be forever Grateful.
They are my biggest teachers🙏🏼
