Happy and Healthy New Year!
One of my goals for 2017 was to start blogging, but I felt like I wasn't ready and I guess I'll never be. It is already 2018, a new year with new goals, so here we go.
Wonderful Siglufjordur in Iceland. Photo credit: Sigurdur Aegisson.
Introduction First of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Sigurbjörg Daníelsdóttir (yes a Viking name, I am daughter of Daniel). I'm Icelandic, born and raised in the small town Siglufjordur in North Iceland, one of the world most beautiful winter paradise.
In January 2016 I moved to Norway and joined my family that moved here few months earlier. We lived in beautiful surroundings on the coast of the islands Frøya and then Hitra in Mid-Norway. Even though Norway and Iceland have lots in common, like similar culture and Scandinavian languages, it has been challenging to settle down here. What I find the most challenging is the “unwritten rules” in the society. There are always some obstacles to overcome, that’s part of life and makes one a stronger person. I'm thankful for the opportunities we get here.
Starting a business in a new country
I had difficulties getting a job when I got here, plus being a ME-mom as I call it (taking care of our ME/CFS diagnosed daughter for the last five years) I was not able to work full time. You can learn more about ME/CFS here, but to give you some idea more than the severe ME/CFS patients have the lowest median quality of life scores of any disease tested, including lung cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and brain stroke.
However, I got a part time job as personal assistant, which was a great job. I think my boss helped me more than I helped him, he taught me lot about the country and the culture, and I learned more Norwegian.
Few years ago I took an excellent web course in online-marketing with Thoranna. Since then I've been thinking about becoming my own boss, but I always wondered what it should be about. An old idea came up once again, and I decided it was about time to try it out. I decided to start my own business to be able to manage my own time and do what I love, helping more people.
Soon after I got here to Norway I came across Gry Sinding a Norwegian business coach living in NY, such an inspiring lady that gives tips on online marketing and branding, she offers a great online courses as well. Listening to her podcasts made me realise what I really wanted. It was time to go ahead. I was lucky to get in touch with Trønders Kystkompetanse, which is a network for business and industry in the region where I lived, and I got a great support from the lovely people there who are always ready to help. I established my company SjøBjørg AS in September 2016 to produce seaweed capsules, a dietary supplement for people to promote wellbeing. Seaweed can benefit your health in so many ways due to its magnificent ingredients. Here you can read more about SjøBjørg.
Why SjøBjørg All of us that have children and/or pets know how complicated it can be to find the right name for them. It was the same when I should find name for my business. I tried out few names but they were not very appealing. One day when we I was driving home from Trondheim with my family the name just came to me! I was wondering about what form of company to establish, whether is should be ENK or AS and how my Icelandic name would sound in Norwegian. There it was SjøBjørg - of course! Sjø means sea and Bjørg (which is the second part of my name) is an old Nordic name and means help. Therefor is SjøBjørg an aid from the ocean! If you wonder what my own name Sigurbjörg means, it means victory-help.
How did I become so interested in seaweed? As you can read in My history I've been interested in seaweed since 2002 when my husband got a job as director in a seaweed factory in Iceland. When we lived there, in this tiny little village, there was no hotel at the time or it was partly closet, so all the guests that came to visit the factory and had to stay overnight, lived with us. There I met lots of great people with extra ordinary experience of seaweed, people that had been working in the industry for many years, like a Scottish/English seaweed experts, a former president of Organic Trade Association in USA, board members and employers of the parent company, customers, to name few. Yes, there was a lots of talk about seaweed in those days.
Seaweed is a wonderful thing, natural, clean and full of vitamins and minerals for our bodies. I have tried a lots of things with seaweed involved. Besides taking a rejuvenating seaweed bath when possible, I have tried out a wonderful seaweed wraps and thalassotherapy in a spa hotel in Bretagne in France, tried out many different seaweed products like soaps, masks, creams and cosmetics, and last but not the least consumed seaweed for many years for health benefits. I just love seaweed and can´t get enough of it.
At last I want to thank you for reading my very first blog post. I have to admit to has taken time to get this point, but as I said before here I am ;)
Wishing you a wonderful year in 2018.
Have a lovely day,
Yours Sigurbjörg