Chantel Gilbert never liked sticking to a rulebook. When she and her husband Josh started their lives together, they knew they wanted a lifestyle that would let them write their own rules.
Together, through a lot of late nights, they built Bluegum Electrical Solutions from scratch. With Chantel as general manager and Josh as head electrician, they provide quality electrical services to customers in regional Victoria.
“When we launched everything, we had all of our systems in place, and we just waited for that first phone call, and it came through. I was so nervous and so anxious. I felt sick in the stomach and even when I hung up I was sure I’d done a terrible job.”
In this video, Chantel describes what building her ideal business has done for her life and the life of her family and how seeking the support of the HerBusiness community helped her progress from a business novice nervous to take the first customer phone call to an award-winning business owner.
“Josh put his uniform on, and I remember watching him drive the ute out down the driveway and thinking, ‘This is it. This is going to happen. We’re going to make this work’.”
Chantel loved the freedom of running her own business but struggled with working alone, not having anyone to turn to for feedback or advice. That’s where HerBusiness came in.
“I knew that I needed help to get where I wanted to go and that I’d done what I could on my own. It’s really the best thing that’s happened.”
Now, working out of a new warehouse with a loyal team behind them, Chantel and Josh are well on their way to having an ideal business for themselves and their new baby, Max.
“It’s not just about business. It’s about having a business that gives you the life that you love.”
This post was authored by Sophie Grosserode. Sophie is completing a journalism internship at HerBusiness. She studies journalism and media at the University of Tennessee in the United States.
