After giving birth to her first child, Adelaide mum Syrene Corpuz decided to quit her nursing job.
She shares it was one of the lowest points of her life.
“After giving birth, I had very low self-esteem and I wasn’t happy with my situation. I want to be an independent woman and to have personal and professional growth.”
She shares that although she loves being a mother, she wanted to make use of her full potential.
“I know in my heart I have entrepreneurial skills that I need to use and I also want to help my husband and family, work as a team.”
Syrene Corpuz and her family Source: Syrene Copruz
Starting small with prams
In 2015, Ms Corpuz started her pram business as she saw a gap in the market for ready-to-use second-hand prams for a fraction of the price of a new one.
“It did really well and gave me an income more than working as a full-time registered nurse while looking after my kids, this gave me confidence and purpose in life, it made me happy from inside.”
Highlights
- Adelaide mum Syrene Corpuz is managing two successful businesses
- Syrene and her husband manage their furniture business
- Ms Corpuz launched a beauty care business to help women enjoy self-care in comfort
From pram to furniture
Two years later, Ms Corpuz gave up her pram business and moved into selling furniture products and this eventually became a family business.
“It turned out to be our family business now. My husband quit his job and joined me in the business," she said.
"He has creative skills on DIY so it really helps with the business growth.”
With the business taking off, they are now in the process of importing custom-designed furniture from overseas to sell in the market.
"We’re now waiting for our custom made furniture from Bali and will be moving to our first warehouse hopefully by March."
Ms Corpuz can't help but recall their humble beginnings.
"We were living in a small house when we were just getting started and we were using tarpaulins to cover our furniture in our backyard. The backyard was our showroom."
Syrene started a pram business and later on moved to a furniture business Source: Syrene Copruz
Launching a beauty care business
Not long after, Ms Corpuz opened up another business alongside their already successful enterprise. And this time, she shares her mission was to help women enjoy self-care in comfort.
“I’m a mum to three amazing kids and they’re my top priority, not dealing with my armpits and leg hair. Ever since I was a teenager, I used to do waxing and plucking, but once I had kids, professional services were too expensive and time-consuming to keep up. I found out my friends were experiencing the same frustration as me.”
The high demand for simple hair removal and stress-free self-care led Ms Corpuz to an intense pulsed light treatment that one can use at home.
“I took a leap of faith, and put an enormous investment of my time, money and confidence into sourcing the best, hand-picked and professionally tested devices.”
Ms Corpuz says she also collaborated with influencers and organisations such as Miss Universe Australia in order to build her brand.
Syrene Corpuz launched her beauty care business 'Junior Skin Co.' Source: Syrene Copruz
“I made a partnership with other credible influencers and Miss Universe Australia, this organisation is really amazing and multicultural as well."
She adds that her business made an unexpected boom during the pandemic as more people were stuck at home.
"Our distributors in the Philippines, Australia, Dubai and the US saw our product sell out because of COVID demand."
With success comes challenges
She admits that growing two businesses has been challenging, but she is determined to succeed.
"The journey has been bumpy. I’ve made expensive mistakes along the way. But I considered it as a gold lesson. Grit, determination and positive manifestations have helped me to grow."
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