Isabel Deboel

On starting over, choosing herself and building a life of her own.

I didn't become this woman by chance.

I became her by choice.

I didn't choose this life right away.

There were three young children.

A family.

A business we were building together.

And plans that gradually became bigger than my sense of security.

Then life changed.

What had begun as building something together became survival.

For a long time, I tried to carry it.

To understand.

To save what was left.

Until I knew:

This is breaking me.

So I left.

With three children.

With a business.

And with myself.

Starting again.

I've worked since I was sixteen.

Giving up was never really an option.

I loved again.

I let go again.

I faced illness.

And through it all, I kept choosing life.

Fully.

Building again.

Today, I stand on my own.

I built my business much as I rebuilt my life:

with strength, care and deep respect for the people around me.

At Au Bain Marie, those values are part of how I work.

My team matters deeply to me.

I listen.

I take care of them.

I lead.

Because I know what it feels like to lose yourself —

and what it takes to find your way back.

My work is more than work.

It is something I built.

Something I protected.

My freedom.

Today, I live differently.

More present.

Closer to nature.

Closer to myself.

“You can always begin again.”

I've learned that happiness isn't something that simply happens.

It isn't luck.

It is something I choose.

Every day.

Isabel Deboel
Founder, Au Bain Marie
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