Meet the self-made P.E.I. entrepreneur who redesigned her life
Toshia Noye didn't take the typical path to success.
On Prince Edward Island she's a well-known interior designer and is about to open her own store, but it didn't come easily.
"At the age of 17, I decide to pack up all my stuff and to move an hour away from my home and it was a really, really dark season in my life, probably the darkest season I've ever been through," Noye said.
But out of that dark season, came a rising sun for Noye to follow her passion.
She met her husband, had three kids, and finished her high school education.
"When I got pregnant and I stopped doing the upgrading for nursing, one of my friends said 'just help me with my house, you've got nothing to lose, maybe start a Facebook page.' She was just kind of pushing me to go in that direction," she said.
Noye says, it just snowballed from there. Her decorating talents and social media presence caught people's eye and her business in decorating took off.
That was five years ago.
"Here on the island, word just spreads really quickly if you do a good job, and so friends would recommend me to friends, just doing a lot of in-home consultations. Then, I got into designing people's homes from the ground up, which is really fun, picking all the finishes and paint and everything like that,” Noye said.
The next step for Noye is to open her own decor store Tosh Co. Home Store.
"This dream was birthed for me in a really dark season and years later, seeing that become a reality for me, is a constant reminder that dreams really can come true," she said.
For Noye, she feels like she beat the odds and made it beautiful.
"If you had looked at my life and the path I was going, this isn't where I probably should be statistics and all that kind of stuff. This isn't supposed to be my life, I was really messing it up, you know it's a miracle and it's incredible to see how far I've come," Noye said.
Tosh Co. Home Store hopes to open its doors in Cornwall by Christmas.
"If I could go back to her I think I would just tell her, I think it's going to be OK, just keep doing what you're doing, putting one foot in front of the other, and life's going to work out for you.”
Proof that Noye has a talent for re-vamping homes, and lives.
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