Sometimes, deep down, you\u2019ve known for a while that something is no longer sustainable, yet you keep trying anyway. Because you\u2019ve invested so much time in it, because you still love it, because it holds so many beautiful memories and because you\u2019ve met people along the way who have become important to you. But most of all, because you keep hoping: maybe this time things will change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, the moment when I finally had to let go of that hope came on September 20, 2026. After almost six years, I decided to close my active chapter with Younique and Curated. Not because I suddenly stopped loving the products, and not because the past few years no longer meant anything to me. After years of fighting for better conditions in the Dutch market, I simply had to accept that I couldn\u2019t keep doing this forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And although at that moment I was mainly letting something go, I had no idea yet how much space it would create for something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Younique came into my life in November 2020, I could never have predicted everything it would bring me. Because of my sensitive skin, I had barely used cosmetics for years. Suddenly, I discovered products that I could use, and beauty became something I enjoyed again. But eventually, Younique became so much more than just makeup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started my own business within the MLM\/NWM model. I shared the products I used, created posts, went live to showcase products and makeup, helped customers and built my own business along the way. I learned an incredible amount, met people from all over the world and had opportunities I might never have had otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my first year, I even earned an incentive trip to Punta Cana. Something I probably would have said beforehand: \u201cYeah right, Deborah. Dream on.\u201d<\/em> \ud83d\ude02 There were beautiful moments, friendships, personal growth and memories that no one can ever take away from me. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t want to erase that chapter at all. It\u2019s part of my story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of those almost six years, I spent around four and a half years trying to improve the conditions for the Dutch market. Not because I wanted to complain, but because I genuinely believed in what I was doing and wanted the Netherlands to be given a fair chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ran into challenges that made it incredibly difficult to build a business here and properly serve Dutch customers. So I asked questions, shared ideas and explained the challenges we were facing in the Netherlands. Over the years, promises were made too, and that kept my hope alive. Maybe it will happen this time. Maybe now we\u2019ll truly be heard. Maybe something will finally change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so I kept going. Year after year. Because when I believe in something, I don\u2019t give up easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March 2026, the structure around Younique changed. The traditional MLM\/NWM model disappeared and Younique continued within Curated, a platform that brings together multiple brands. As a result, my role changed too. After spending more than five years building my own business within MLM\/NWM, I continued as a content creator from that point onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a completely different way of working, but even then, my first thought wasn\u2019t: well, I\u2019ll just quit. Quite the opposite. Once again, I tried to adapt and make the best of it. Maybe this change would bring new opportunities, and maybe this would finally be the moment when things would improve for the Netherlands too. Either way, I wanted to give it a fair chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the beginning of April 2026, something changed for me. After years of asking questions, sharing my thoughts and trying to suggest solutions, I increasingly felt like I was being ignored. And that affected me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not because I expect a company to do everything I suggest. Of course not. But when you\u2019ve spent years raising the same issues because you want a market to be given a fair chance, you at least want to feel like you\u2019re being heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My gut was telling me more and more often: \u201cDeborah, you can\u2019t keep doing this forever.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, I kept going. Because I still loved the products. I used them myself, had favourites I genuinely believed in, and over the years I had built so much, experienced so much and met so many wonderful people. So I kept trying. Just a little longer, hoping one more time that something would change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then September came. We were told that many of the products I had personally loved and been incredibly enthusiastic about for years would be discontinued. Of course, brands change and products sometimes disappear. Something new can take their place. But for me, several of the products that replaced them simply weren\u2019t true replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were different, and I even knew that I couldn\u2019t use some of them myself because I already had them at home and had tested them. With my sensitive skin, that isn\u2019t a minor detail. It brought me to a point where I had to ask myself an important question: How can I promote something I don\u2019t fully believe in myself?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How could I tell my customers that a product they loved was being discontinued and then enthusiastically recommend a replacement when, to me, it simply wasn\u2019t the same? And how could I promote a product that I couldn\u2019t even use myself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s not who I am. If I\u2019m excited about something, that excitement has to be genuine. I want to be able to say: This is what I use myself, this is what I love, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m telling you about it.<\/em> Not because I have to sell something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was ultimately the point where I reached my breaking point. Not because I suddenly stopped loving Younique, but because after four and a half years of fighting for the Netherlands, months of feeling unheard, and product changes I couldn\u2019t genuinely stand behind, I knew: Enough was enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think this is perhaps the most important thing to make clear. September 20 didn\u2019t suddenly make everything that had happened over the almost six years before it bad. I still love many of the products I have at home, and I still use them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m grateful for the opportunities I was given, for everything I learned, for Punta Cana, for my personal growth and, above all, for the people I met along the way. Friendships have grown out of that experience that mean far more to me than any company ever could. Those friendships don\u2019t disappear just because I\u2019ve stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t need to paint my past in a negative light to be allowed to decide that my future lies somewhere else. But I did have to accept that I couldn\u2019t keep flogging a dead horse. And believe me, by the time I admit that, I\u2019ve usually spent quite a long time trying to get that horse moving again. \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n\n\n\n On September 20, 2026, I decided to close my active chapter with Younique and Curated. Not out of anger, and not because everything had been bad, but because my gut had been telling me for months that I couldn\u2019t keep going like this. Eventually, I decided to listen to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened next was actually quite remarkable. Once I stopped trying to make something fit that no longer felt right for me, space opened up in my mind. And if you know me even a little, you know what happens when my mind has some room to breathe: ideas. So. Many. Ideas. \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had my ebook Return to Yourself,<\/em>, I wanted to keep writing and sharing beauty content, because my love for beauty hadn\u2019t disappeared at all. I wanted to keep sharing my experiences with Invisible Battles and make room for my family, personal stories, entrepreneurship, creativity and new things that might still come my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then came what was perhaps the most important thought of all: Why do I keep trying to put myself into a single box?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My life doesn\u2019t fit into a single box. I\u2019m someone who loves beauty, a content creator, a writer, a mother and an entrepreneur. I\u2019m also someone who lives with invisible challenges. All these different sides are part of who I am, so why shouldn\u2019t my own little corner of the internet reflect that too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I already had my own domain name, but for a long time, DeborahScheepers.com redirected visitors straight to the website of the company I was working with. Until October 10, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That evening, I changed something that, technically speaking, might not have been much more than adjusting a few settings, removing a redirect and hoping I wouldn\u2019t completely break WordPress in the process. \ud83d\ude02 But to me, it felt so much bigger than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I removed the redirect and connected my domain to my own website. Suddenly, when you typed in DeborahScheepers.com<\/strong> You were no longer landing on a company\u2019s website. You were landing on my website. My stories, my ebook, my love for beauty, my experiences, my projects and my choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My own little corner of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yes\u2026 I definitely had a little proud moment<\/strong> there. \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\udc97<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is my website finished? No. And honestly, I doubt it ever will be. There will be new blog posts, the English version still needs to be added, my ebooks will find their place here, and Beauty & Lifestyle will continue to grow. I\u2019m curious to see where my journey with MeAmora will eventually lead, and knowing myself, I\u2019ll probably come up with at least twenty more ideas along the way. \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s exactly what makes it so beautiful. This website doesn\u2019t have to be a finished product. It\u2019s allowed to grow with me. I no longer have to build my online space around one company, one brand or one topic. If something becomes part of my life tomorrow, it can find its place here. And if something no longer feels right for me one day, it\u2019s allowed to make its way out again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can simply be Deborah here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe that\u2019s ultimately the most important lesson I\u2019ve taken away from the past few weeks. Sometimes we think that carrying on is the same as being strong, that stopping means giving up, and that we have to keep trying simply because we\u2019ve already invested so much time, energy and love into something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I still strongly believe in perseverance. It\u2019s simply part of who I am. If I can\u2019t manage it today, there\u2019s always tomorrow.<\/strong> But there\u2019s a difference between persevering because something is difficult and exhausting yourself trying to hold on to something that no longer feels right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For four and a half years, I tried to make things better for the Dutch market. I asked questions, shared ideas, kept hoping, persevered and tried again and again. At some point, I had to allow myself to say: You\u2019ve done enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Letting go doesn\u2019t mean those almost six years were a failure. Quite the opposite. I\u2019m taking the lessons with me, the memories, my personal growth, the beautiful moments, the products I still love and, above all, the people who have become part of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s all part of my story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the next chapter gets to be mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On September 20, I let go. On October 10, something new began. \ud83d\udc97<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And for me, that new chapter begins here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to DeborahScheepers.com. \ud83d\udc97<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Soms weet je diep vanbinnen al een tijdje dat iets niet meer vol te houden is, maar blijf je toch proberen. Omdat je er zoveel tijd in hebt gestoken, omdat je er nog steeds van houdt, omdat er mooie herinneringen aan vastzitten en omdat je mensen hebt leren kennen die belangrijk voor je zijn geworden\u2026.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-persoonlijk"],"yoast_head":"\nFour and a Half Years of Fighting for the Netherlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
From MLM\/NWM to Content Creator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
But how long do you keep fighting when you no longer feel heard?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
September Became My Breaking Point<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Walking away doesn\u2019t mean that everything was suddenly bad.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
And Then, Space Opened Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
DeborahScheepers.com<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not Perfect, But Mine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Letting Go Doesn\u2019t Mean You\u2019ve Failed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n