Today I want to tell you a story about how a dream can become possible, and what lessons I learnt during the journey from the wonderful dream to the vivid reality:

My passion for making fudge started when I was 16. Almost daily, as soon as I returned from school, I made one batch after the other. Soon, that wasn’t enough anymore and I decided that it was time to do some business. My dad gave me the opportunity to sell my fudge to the unsuspecting clients at his shop.

This was the beginning of my dream – and also some well-earned pocket money!

After school I studied Food and Nutrition ND and really enjoyed the product development subjects. Unfortunately however, I couldn’t find a food related job as I had no experience in this field. I did however find a job at a leather shop and worked there for 7 years. I was baking as a sideline, because this was my passion.

In the meantime I had two setbacks: My baby was stillborn and I lost my husband in a car accident. When my husband passed away I was 4 months pregnant with my second baby. I resigned as manager at the leather shop and stayed home for the rest of the year. This was the ultimate low in my life.

In 2007 I remarried and started working at a motor dealer in an administrative position. I badly wanted to start my own business, but I was not ready to take this big step yet. I was again making fudge as a sideline and selling to nearby shops.

About 4 years ago I attended a workshop “Food for Fun and Funds” hosted by “Your Family” Magazine at Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. I was hoping to accumulate enough information to make this baking thing work.
This was exactly what happened!

At the workshop, I learnt amazing things: How to decorate with molten sugar, how to work with business finances and a variety of other gems. One of the speakers was a guy I had never heard of. His name was Christo van Zyl and he presented something called Wealth 101. Essentially it was about how to change our lives by thinking, speaking and behaving differently. What stood out for me at that point in my life was that:

If I was to change my life; I had to “take action.”

I did not resign my current job, but asked my boss if I could work half day? (I still needed that financial security the end of the month.) I was now doing my admin job in the mornings, making fudge while my family was sleeping and doing deliveries in the afternoons. This was no small task as I discovered. My business was growing steadily and everything went well – until I landed up in hospital due to total exhaustion. I had a big decision to make:

Work multiple jobs at the cost of my health, or expand my fudge business and do it full time?

My husband supported and encouraged me to expand my business, to build my dream and to make fudge full time.

Today, it is 5 years down the line and I will never look back: I own Funky Fudge, a fudge factory with 4 staff and 5 distributors supplying a full range of mouth-watering, wonderful looking and funky flavored fudges.

Today, I am no longer dreaming – I am living my dream!

I sometimes still wish I took action sooner in my life. Just last month I found a site on Facebook called “The Secrets to Wealth.” You will not believe how surprised I was when I discovered who is behind it: Yup – Christo van Zyl! We are now friends on Facebook and interact several times a week! I hope that more people will learn from my lessons and learn from your workshops.

He said it was possible, but now I know: Anything is possible – even your dreams!
Thank you again for the fantastic workshop! It has literally changed my life!

Kindest regards,
Yvette Kleyn
Owner: Funky Fudge
PS: When you are in Capetown again, you have to come taste my dream