My Story

MY STORY

Zilvi began humbly - in the basement of our small suburban home in Brisbane. What started as a quiet longing to create with my hands became my first collection in July 2014, crafted from timber using only the tools we had in our shed.

From the very beginning, Zilvi was more than a business. It was my creative heartbeat - a reflection of everything I believed in: artistry, authenticity, and connection. Each piece of timber art I designed carried a story - one that intertwined with yours through moments of pregnancy, birth, love, loss, and celebration. Together, we built something that felt deeply personal, rooted in care and meaning.

In 2016, when Zilvi turned two, life whispered for change. We traded city streets for mountain air, moving to 60 acres in Kin Kin, a tiny hinterland town surrounded by forest. There, beneath the trees, our studio and timber workshop became a sanctuary - a place where we lived slowly and intentionally. We homeschooled Felix, kept bees, grew food, and built a life that mirrored the values at the heart of Zilvi.

Over the years, I learned that creativity and motherhood move in rhythm with each other. Zilvi was born just months into my journey as a mother - a time of tenderness and transformation that shaped how I worked, loved, and lived. Every decision I made since has been guided by that calling to nurture both my child and my creativity, side by side.

In 2021, Zilvi Tea was born - a natural extension of our ethos. Each blend invites stillness, presence, and pause - a gentle reminder to slow down, breathe, and savour the beauty in ordinary moments.

Then, in 2023, we felt the pull again - to explore, to rediscover. We sold our mountain home, packed up, and began travelling Australia in search of what would come next. That journey, like Zilvi itself, became a story of trust - of listening when life whispers for change.

Eventually, the road led me home again - this time to new soil, where I’m building our cottage, planting gardens, homeschooling Felix, and reconnecting with the rhythm of everyday life. It’s here, in this stillness, that I’ve realised my creative path is shifting once more.

After eleven years of designing timber art, my heart has guided me toward a gentler way forward. I’ve passed the torch of Zilvi’s timber art designs to Shar from Shartruese, a maker whose hands and heart carry the same devotion that built this brand from the beginning. It’s not an ending - it’s an evolution. Zilvi continues, growing in new directions while I focus on creating, teaching, and nurturing what’s next.

Through every chapter - from the basement studio to the mountains, across open roads and into new beginnings - you’ve been part of this story. Your support has allowed me to live creatively, raise my son, and share pieces of my world with you.

Thank you for walking this path beside me.
For believing in handmade.
For welcoming our art, our tea, our story into your homes.

Here’s to motherhood.
To courage, creativity, and connection.
To trusting the seasons of our lives - and letting new ones bloom.

Nicole
Live your life in chapters — your story has no beginning or end.