Olivia Carr knows what it's like to struggle. -
Olivia Carr knows what it’s like to struggle and to be scared she’ll drown in a sea of bills and debt. The founder and CEO of Shhh Silk says she’s always been a dreamer with an entrepreneurial attitude, but when she found herself pregnant and single at the age of 19 all her life plans went out the window.
A student at acting school TAFTA (The Australian Film and Television Academy) at the time, with a summer school at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) under her belt, Olivia’s dreams of stage and screen, Olivia was newly single when she found out she was pregnant.
“I remember my sister holding me in her arms as I cried,” she says. “I was living in my aunty and uncle’s spare room after separating from my long-term boyfriend one month prior and was unemployed.
“I picked up the phone and said, ‘Mum, I have something to tell you’. She said, ‘You’re pregnant’. I hung up the phone and didn’t take any calls from my parents for weeks.”
After weeks of feeling too ashamed to face her parents, Olivia picked up the phone again and found she had their unconditional love and an offer to come home.
Wanting to maintain her independence, Olivia decided instead to move in with her sister and brother-in-law, securing a part-time job just one month after giving birth to her daughter Georgia.
But Olivia was struggling with what she now realises was post-natal depression.
Things get tough
“Mental health issues were not something we spoke about back then,” she says. “I resonate with women who talk bravely about their battles with mental health and anxiety. I wish someone had known to ask me three simple words: are you okay?”
Olivia was struggling to cope, and had debt collectors chasing her, threatening to repossess her car. It was a low point Olivia still struggles to think about.
“‘I was scared. My baby was scared,” she says. “I would walk into the supermarket, penniless, and need to buy my baby nappies and formula. I hate having to admit this, but I had to shoplift to survive.”
A turning point came for Olivia when an old employer who had become a friend came over to her house and helped her answer legal letters and organise a payment plan for her debts and bills, also helping to create a budget for her to follow.
“I’ll never forget her kindness and friendship - he was selflessly committed to making sure I was safe and empowered to make a change.”
That night was a major turning point for Olivia, who went on to climb a corporate ladder, including a role in corporate sponsorships at the National Breast Cancer Foundation, before being head-hunted for the position of general manager at Pacific Brands at the age of 32.
Starting Shhh Silk
Then Olivia was ready to go out on her own, creating Shhh Silk, which is going from strength to strength thanks to what Olivia calls “big idea-style thinking”. The silk products brand is loved by celebrities including the Kardashians and Chrissy Tiegen.
Olivia Carr knows what it’s like to struggle and to be scared she’ll drown in a sea of bills and debt. The founder and CEO of Shhh Silk says she’s always been a dreamer with an entrepreneurial attitude, but when she found herself pregnant and single at the age of 19 all her life plans went out the window.
A student at acting school TAFTA (The Australian Film and Television Academy) at the time, with a summer school at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) under her belt, Olivia’s dreams of stage and screen, Olivia was newly single when she found out she was pregnant.
“I remember my sister holding me in her arms as I cried,” she says. “I was living in my aunty and uncle’s spare room after separating from my long-term boyfriend one month prior and was unemployed.
“I picked up the phone and said, ‘Mum, I have something to tell you’. She said, ‘You’re pregnant’. I hung up the phone and didn’t take any calls from my parents for weeks.”
After weeks of feeling too ashamed to face her parents, Olivia picked up the phone again and found she had their unconditional love and an offer to come home.
Wanting to maintain her independence, Olivia decided instead to move in with her sister and brother-in-law, securing a part-time job just one month after giving birth to her daughter Georgia.
But Olivia was struggling with what she now realises was post-natal depression.
Things get tough
“Mental health issues were not something we spoke about back then,” she says. “I resonate with women who talk bravely about their battles with mental health and anxiety. I wish someone had known to ask me three simple words: are you okay?”
Olivia was struggling to cope, and had debt collectors chasing her, threatening to repossess her car. It was a low point Olivia still struggles to think about.
“‘I was scared. My baby was scared,” she says. “I would walk into the supermarket, penniless, and need to buy my baby nappies and formula. I hate having to admit this, but I had to shoplift to survive.”
A turning point came for Olivia when an old employer who had become a friend came over to her house and helped her answer legal letters and organise a payment plan for her debts and bills, also helping to create a budget for her to follow.
“I’ll never forget her kindness and friendship - he was selflessly committed to making sure I was safe and empowered to make a change.”
That night was a major turning point for Olivia, who went on to climb a corporate ladder, including a role in corporate sponsorships at the National Breast Cancer Foundation, before being head-hunted for the position of general manager at Pacific Brands at the age of 32.
Starting Shhh Silk
Then Olivia was ready to go out on her own, creating Shhh Silk, which is going from strength to strength thanks to what Olivia calls “big idea-style thinking”. The silk products brand is loved by celebrities including the Kardashians and Chrissy Tiegen.
“My business partner and I solely funded Shhh Silk to date and invested well over $1,500,000 of our own capital, from any means we could - including selling property,’ she says.
“I am always learning and, regardless of what happens, I am a richer person for the knowledge.”
Olivia now says she mentors, rather than manages, her staff.
“I encourage all of my staff to be brave, back themselves and take their individual talents and turn them into their own businesses,” she says.
“We are young, passionately fierce from a good place and want nothing more than to give back to the world in which we all reside. How will we do that is by growing so big we can do big things for others – that’s what motivates me.
“It makes me less likely to worry about competition, as I know we are on our own path and that path looks very different to anyone else’s path.”
Olivia is now a mum of two – with a son, Hudson – and she says that the challenges she has faced have only made her stronger.
When times get tough now, Olivia refers to a message she had tattooed on her forearm earlier this year. It reminds her of how much she’s achieved, and how many opportunities are still out there waiting to be explored.
It says, “I didn’t come this far, to only come this far.”