Hi everyone

I thought I would share a little background story about where GIGICO started.

But first, I have to take you all the way back to 2005. In 2005, my mother started her own industrial embroidery business out of our home garage, “Gear Dimension”.

She started with 2 single-head machines. Later that same year, she bought another machine — a four-head machine. (In total, she had 6 heads to work with.) She worked day shift and night shift, 24/7, for 3 years straight.

My father was right beside her, supporting her every step of the way. He later quit his 9–5 job and started working for/with my mother.

My father helped with the digitizing, as seen in slide 4. He was also an incredible salesperson and handled all of the marketing. In 2006, he went back to working corporate in IT, where he still works today.

She later bought another 6-head machine in 2007, completing her set of 12 heads. (Can you imagine that noise?) She had big contracts internationally and in South Africa. For example:

• Chrysler Dub Car in Pennsylvania, USA

• 2010 Soccer World Cup merchandise, SA

• CELTEL(Madagascar)

• BMW, Rosslyn SA

• SADTU, 2007

• New Holland Agri, 2009

My brother and I basically grew up around embroidery machines. When my mom started the business, she was only 29 years old. I was 2 years old and my brother was 1 year old.

In 2008, a big tragedy occurred in our family, and my mom stopped working night shifts and had to work weekends to manage the workload.

To cut the story short, in May 2010 my mother closed down her very successful business due to her dad and brother lost their lives. She then became a full-time stay-at-home mom, and my brother and I were blessed to have her around.

Around 2015, my mom was eager to get back into the game. She bought a single-head machine. I was 12 at the time, understood more, and learned a lot from my mom. The business later became only a hobby, and she eventually sold the machine again. Embroidery intrigued me greatly and was always at the back of my mind.

I started homeschooling at 17, in 2020. I did not know what I wanted to do after school, but I started researching embroidery and had a lot of ideas. I did end up studying from 2022 until 2024, but in April 2024 I decided that I did not see myself pursuing that direction in life. I did not complete my studies and got my first machine on 19 June 2024. GIGICO (Pty) Ltd was officially registered as a business on 3 July 2024.

My dream for GIGICO is to excel in every way and achieve even more than my mother did with Gear Dimension.

The name “GIGICO” comes from my nickname “Gigi” (short for Gillian) + “co” for company.

Thank you all for the support over the last 2 years!

Love,

Gillian Harris