Swart admits she should have asked for help sooner. Photo / Michael Craig, Styling / Elise Anderson.
For Edna Swart, businesswoman, social media influencer and star of reality TV’s Boss Babes, documenting the glamorous aspects of her life on social media has become a normal part of her routine.
The 32-year-old shares many selfies and posts in glamorous gowns, partying with other influencers and enjoying holidays in exotic locations around the world.
But in the past 18 months her swimwear and skincare venture ed&I body was on the brink of closure and the harsh reality of running a business began to sink in. The experience and stress left Swart with major health issues, battling feelings of loneliness and depression and the fear her business and everything she had worked hard to build would not survive.
At the moment her spirits are high but she says hitting rock bottom has forced her to learn major life lessons. Most importantly, she's learned how to be more open and vulnerable to her friends and family, to her online community – and to herself.
"You have this pressure on you that you have to be perfect for your online community - then all of a sudden everything was falling apart and I had no control. I felt like my life and business were falling through my fingers, and I didn't know how to communicate that to my community and reach out for help.
"I'm not everything that you see. I'm also human, and I found it so dark and lonely and I didn't know what to do. I felt like I had failed. Everyone looks to me as the 'boss babe' who has everything sorted, and that was just not the case. I was embarrassed and I hid away from the world."
Swart was born in South Africa and moved to New Zealand with her family when she was 5. She ditched a career in corporate banking to start ed&I body with her business partner Harry Ferreira in 2016, first as a swimsuit brand, then adding a skincare range to her line of products.
Surprisingly, before she started her business Swart wasn't active online, having one social media account with only one photo. But she saw the importance of using social media to enhance her brand and help build her business.
"People don't relate to a business. People relate to people," Swart explains. "When it comes to business and social media, you need to have a face. People need to relate to others to understand the brand, the purpose and the drive. It made perfect sense for me to build a social media presence in a way that I could build a community that could support my brand. There's a massive correlation."
Swart says the success of her business and her social media presence go hand in hand. So, she took a break for four weeks in 2021 from running ed&I body to compete in the reality TV competition Celebrity Treasure Island, where she reached the final three. Swart dedicated her appearance on the show to her mother, who died of a stroke when Swart was 17; the show gave her the chance to raise money and awareness for Stroke Foundation NZ.
"It was great to be on Celebrity Treasure Island but my business needed me more," she says.
"Reality hit me in the face and I became super-uncomfortable in business for the very first time. We were in the growth stage, and I'm the face of ed&I body. When it comes to running the business, I was the biggest advocate, influencer and ambassador there was. People looked to me in order to understand the product and in order to purchase.
"The business wasn't in the self-sustainable stage where, if I walked away, it would still continue to operate at a viable level. So when I left it went downhill. This period was difficult because it was the first time since having the business that I questioned my own ability to get through. It was the first time that I doubted myself."
It took Swart nearly a year to rebuild her business and get it back on track. The struggle took a toll on her mental and physical health. She was hospitalised because of the stress and in three weeks she gained 9kg and suffered from inflammation around her joints.
"I had to change my lifestyle. I had to look at what is important and knew I had to salvage my business, as much as I felt like I was falling apart. My business was my passion and my purpose."
Swart had to reach out to others and admit that she needed help.
"I learned the importance of having a self-sustainable business; that if you walked away, it could still operate. I had to learn and rebuild the simple things, the supply chain management, the marketing, the logistics behind the day-to-day operations. The need to surround myself with people who are more educated and advanced and specialised in certain areas."
However, as Swart was struggling to save her business she had support from her husband Reid Stephen. The couple met after Swart replied to a Trade Me ad posted by Stephen looking for a flatmate. They dated, got engaged and married within a year.
"When you know, you just know," Swart says. " I didn't know him when my business was thriving. He was there when everything was going downhill. He saw it all unfold before we were even romantically involved. For him to support me from day one, and see me come out and rebuild myself, means so much."
Today, Swart is happy and content in her personal and professional life, and her business is back on track.
"I'm proud because, at the time, I hated my business, I hated myself, I was very depressed. I didn't know where I was going to go and what was going to happen. But I persevered and pushed through. Now, the business is more sustainable, and there are more foundations and operations I wouldn't have built if I didn't go through this learning."
Swart says the experience has changed her as a person and as a businesswoman. She realises now that portraying a perfect life on social media isn't reality and is open to being honest about the challenges she faces.
"I didn't take my community along with me because at that point I didn't know how to share what I was going through. I felt that I could only share when things are going well, not when things are going sh**. There was this front that everything was so good with me, and it wasn't."
She will feature in the third season of TVNZ's Boss Babes, a reality series on TVNZ following Swart and her best friend and fellow businesswoman Iyia Liu, as they navigate the world of business and Auckland's social scene. Swart says she is more raw and open this season than in previous episodes.
This year she also had the opportunity to display her acting chops after being shoulder-tapped for a role on TV's Shortland Street, playing a single mother who works for a media company.
"I'm no actress but if Hollywood wants to call then let me know," she laughs. "I'm the type of woman that believes that If an opportunity opens up, don't shy away. Be open to what the world is giving you. Being on Shortland Street, I'm just glad I'm a little part of New Zealand history. I tried and did my best but I'm a reality TV girl at heart. I love just being me."
Playing a pregnant woman on TV made Swart think about her own life, and her desire to become a mother.
"God willing, I hope to one day be blessed with a child. I'm adopted and I feel like I didn't come from a very supportive or stable family. So I'd like to have a child and be a teacher to that young one. Give them a life and the support I wish I had, and teach them the things that I wish I knew when I was growing up."
Series 3 of Boss Babes screens on November 9 on TVNZ+
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call police immediately on 111.
Or if you need to talk to someone else: Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202 Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) Need to talk? Call or text 1737
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