GRAHL slimming & Beauty was started by myself Natalie Vahl. I am a qualified Foundation Phase teacher and mom of two beautiful children. I had my daughter when I was only 22 years old and my son followed 15 months later. I was full time mom, teacher and wife and gave myself very little attention or time to work on me. 

My sister got married in 2013 and decided to buy all the bridesmaids dresses online. They all arrived and everyone’s looked stunning.. but mine.. mine did not even zip up. The wedding was only 2 months away and I was in a state of panic. 

I was reading the Highway Mail one evening and came across an advert for a slimming treatment called Laser Lipo. I immediately booked for the next day. I told the school I was working for at the time I needed to leave early and I drove up the hill at the speed of light. I was so excited. I needed this miracle treatment. Let’s just say I paid an absolute fortune and had I known then what I know now I wouldn’t have paid what I did! At that point there were very few places offering this treatment. The tiny shop with a bed behind a curtain had a small machine with just 3 handles. I enjoyed the treatments, they felt like a hot stone massage and were only 40 min long. After 6 sessions I had lost 5kgs but was now addicted. The treatment is relaxing, enjoyable and when I stood up I had lost centimetres. It was amazing. However it was also expensive.

I looked at this little machine and knew I could ask my ex husband to look for one for me on his next business trip.  And he did exactly that. However he found the same machine but better, with all sorts of extras. I was intimidated and terrified to use this machine. So it sat in the box in my sons room for 2 months while I watched every youtube video I could find, read every article I could and did as much online training possible. Eventually I was brave enough to give it a go. 

Within a month I had lost 8kgs. (I did start walking, then jogging). I had every teacher at my school and all my friends and family at my house every afternoon for their free lipo sessions. After a while I started charging them R100 a session. And then word spread. I had people contacting me from everywhere. They had heard about my machine. 

I decided to open up a small salon from home and hired a somatologist to run it for me while I was teaching. We were fully booked. After two months I resigned from my teaching job and took the leap to dive into the beauty industry. I have not looked back once! I have loved every minute of being in this industry, forming friendships and learning so much about people. We don’t realise how vital our beauty therapist is. She is the person we pour our soul out to. Over the past 7 years I have heard so many life stories, formed so many relationships and laughed so much and I cannot tell you how thankful I am that this life change presented itself to me. 

Back to Grahl. About 3 months after I opened my salon I had other salon owners contacting me asking where I got my machine from and if I could help them import for their salons etc. I saw this as an opportunity however selling wasn’t my passion. I started Grahl at the end of 2013 and did absolutely no advertising for 4 years. I worked purely on referals and supplied machines to those who contacted me asking to buy one. 

To this date I have sold at least one machine every single month since 2013. I not only supply to SA but I have sold machines to clients in Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand. In 2018 I decided to shift my focus from my salons and nurture this business which just started itself. Between 2013 and 2018 I have owned 5 salons. I sold my final salon in 2018 and decided to make GRAHL my focus. I got slightly distracted and bought a clothing company called Catwalk Couture. Loved it, but again GRAHL kept pulling me back, 

So here we are in 2020, GRAHL is now 7 years old. I have built incredible friendships with my suppliers, I have learned alot, I have travelled and I have grown so much as a person thanks to this little business of mine. I have faced difficult situations as well as had the most incredible moments I will never forget with my clients. I love this business and I love what it stands for. Women empowering women! 

So this is me, this is GRAHL and I couldn’t be more proud.