Face behind the brand

Hi Girl Boss <3

My name is Linda Slijkerman, I’m 26 years old, born on the 13th of June 1997 and raised in the Netherlands. My gorgeous mom is from Kenya, where I got my curls from, and my lovely dad is from the Netherlands, where I got my blue eyes from. I'm blessed to be surrounded by one brother and five sisters.

When I was younger, I always wanted to work with kids. Whenever there were kids around, there was me. That’s why I studied to become a pedagogical youth care worker. After that, I furthered my studies as a social worker. Besides school, I worked as a nanny at daycares, which I really enjoyed. In my second year, when I was 19 years old, I joined a modeling competition called 'Elite Model Look' and made it to the semifinals. From that moment, my modeling career started. I got signed with a Dutch agency and started doing test shoots and small jobs to build some experience.

After my third year, when I was 22, I took a gap year to fully focus on my modeling career. During this time, I changed agencies twice and got signed internationally. I traveled to Cape Town for three months to model. Initially, it was a bit scary because I had to step out of my comfort zone, travel by myself (and I’m scared of flying), and adapt to a new environment. But new experiences often bring new opportunities. I had the best time of my life in Cape Town. I got to know myself on a deeper level, met amazing people who are still my friends, and gained incredible experiences. Workwise, I strengthened my portfolio with new photos and booked multiple jobs. In mid-December 2019, I returned home, but because my agency wanted me back in Cape Town, I went again for a month from February to March. I had another amazing month, met more people, and created more memories. During this trip, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and many things started to change. Flights got canceled, but luckily, my friend and I managed to get on the last flight back to Amsterdam.

During the pandemic, there wasn’t much work in the modeling industry as many activities were restricted. This gave me the opportunity to finish my last school year without missing too much work. After a year, I completed my studies and got my degree! I was over the moon, knowing I didn’t have to go to school anymore and could pursue my passions without any obligations. I continued modeling, working in daycares, and started traveling more. That’s what I did throughout 2021 and 2022. I had some business ideas but couldn’t realize them. From 2022, my Instagram started growing, and I went from 6k to around 60k followers in one year. That became my third source of income. I got invited to events, received a lot of free stuff, and did paid collaborations with brands. While I felt blessed to experience this life, it didn’t fully satisfy me. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t feel like my true purpose. I wanted to start something for myself. Turning 26 that year, I felt the pressure to discover my purpose in life. It was constantly on my mind, causing stress because my business ideas hadn’t materialized yet. I wanted to buy my own house and start a family, but it all seemed out of reach.

2023 was a year of significant changes. Let’s start with my relationship ending after 8 years. It was one of the hardest parts because we still loved each other, but sometimes love means letting go. After the breakup, I promised myself to focus on my mindset, energy, and self-growth. Impulsively, I decided the best way to move forward was to get out of my current situation, so I booked a one-way ticket to Bali. The first week was harder than I thought. I cried every day, wanted to go home, and wanted to return to my old, comfortable life. Fortunately, I was on this trip with one of my best friends, who was going through similar struggles. We were able to heal together. After the first week, we told ourselves, "Suck it up and get out of the house," so we did. We went to a beach club and met some people. Like it was meant to happen, someone approached us and had a philosophical conversation (without knowing what we were going through). I will never forget what he said: "Train your mind to be stronger than your feelings." This sentence helped me immensely in training my mind. He also said, "Only you decide what kind of day you will have and how you feel." So, every morning since then, I’ve started my day by telling myself, "I am going to have a wonderful day." The days started to get better, and I felt happier.

We also visited a Balinese healer, and this experience gave me so much motivation! He helped me understand myself on a deeper level and highlighted things I should pay attention to. Besides focusing on self-growth, I was supposed to do an e-commerce course for drop shipping, which I did for the first month. However, it didn’t excite me enough. I built my own dropship webshop with women’s fashion and started advertising, but I soon realized it didn’t feel like something I would be proud of. That’s when the idea to start my own fashion brand came in December 2023. Everything moved quickly. If you know me, you know that when I want something and believe in myself, I go for it no matter what. And that’s what I did. I wrote a business plan, found a manufacturer that met my requirements, created a first collection, and had someone build my webshop and worked on the marketing strategies. This process excited me, and I fell in love with the concept I created: a women empowerment brand.

This marked the start of a new life, which felt scary because it was unknown, but also very exciting because it opened new doors for me. Start believing in yourself and become

HER <3.