In late October 2024, the same disregard for truth was demonstrated by a disgruntled customer back in Australia. Despite being fully refunded, a senior teacher from a well-to-do Melbourne Public Secondary College orchestrated a well-documented Facebook group accusing me of fraudulent behaviour. She misused my own VIP page to invite people to her public group which she cited, was to keep me accountable. She aroused a number of anonymous trolls to support her quest to raise anxiety amongst my customers, and proceeded to use a Facebook group as judge and jury.

The deliberate use of the term "ImMOBilising" in her very public campaign against me exemplified the reckless amplification of a situation I was already working hard to manage.

Before I could even understand the gravity of what was happening, these actions on social media made a difficult but recoverable business issue into an orchestrated public crisis.

The pride taken by the Facebook admin for promoting such a slogan as an "ImMOBilisation" not only demonstrates a lack of empathy, but also a reckless disregard for the serious personal, professional, and financial harm her actions caused. 

In the first week of this campaign I asked her politely to take it down, explaining the foreseeable and avoidable harm. But she cruelly and maliciously declined. 

In legal terms, her behaviour reflected a conscious effort to inflict damage to my reputation, my financial and operational capacity and emotional distress. 

The relentless insistence that customers would be "ripped off" was devoid of fact or fairness — and ultimately, it was every single one of my customers who paid the price.

My advice from Lawyers was that she was clearly violating Australian Law.

Her employers were also suitably disgusted by her actions.

The support I received initially provided a promising pathway to quickly quell the concerns and mitigate the damage that had already been done. But after weeks of engaging a lawyer, I found myself having to pause the proceedings because the cost was painfully high.

Out of desperation I was hoping her employers, The Victorian Education Department could assist me in placating her. But after months of back and forth I received the final word - it was out of their jurisdiction to prevent teachers from online bullying in their personal time.

After 3 applications to the eSafety Commissioners I had to come to terms with the fact that there is no mandate across any organisations in Australia to protect small business or Adults from Defamation and Harassment online.

And 5 attempts to Facebook revealed that the behaviour I experienced falls within Meta's Community Guidelines.

For many months, I have been deeply shaken, so along the way my own emotional state and heightened reactions inevitably exacerbated the situation, further undermining the trust I had worked so hard to build in my professional relationships.

Despite a clinical diagnosis of adjustment disorder, followed by a later diagnosis of depression, anxiety and trauma I also had to withdraw from the last case in the Magistrates Court. It was more likely, they said, that my case belonged in a Civil Law court. By that stage my emotional bandwidth was spent in those courts too. 

My mental health deteriorated under the weight of all these experiences. After a two week break in March, I tried to compose myself again. I tried socialising, and made an attempt to try to be a normal mum. But out and about one evening I was overcome by the world around me and was overtaken in a way I had never experienced, resulting in a panic attack.

My psychologist explained that I had experienced depersonalisation — a term I had never even heard of before. Depersonalisation is a trauma response in which the mind disconnects from the body, creating a sense of detachment from one’s own physical presence and emotions. It is the brain’s way of shielding itself from overwhelming distress, but experiencing it firsthand was profoundly disorienting and deeply frightening.

When the digital daily monitoring by the Facebook Group had turned into physical monitoring of me in my shop, I had felt an overwhelming sense of fear and I knew my confidence was shattered. The financial and emotional toll of seeking justice through eSafety, Facebook, The Geelong Magistrates Court, Defamation proceedings and the Victorian Education Department was well beyond what I could cope with.

In the face of such a manufactured storm, where facts were abandoned in favour of outrage, it was impossible for my business to survive intact.

No small company — built to trade in good faith, with retail and online operations — can simply absorb months of operational paralysis, reputational assault, and personal trauma without consequence.

It was only when I fully disconnected from all customer contact that I began to reclaim my perspective. I can now see with far greater clarity that the world they created is not one I have to belong to — it is a harmful, narrow space driven by negativity, and it does not define the broader, vibrant world I choose to live and build within.

Unlike my previous attempts to reignite my journey, I know that deliveries and refunds are going to take longer than my customers may expect. Recovery from this experience cannot happen overnight . It will be a slow and difficult process, starting from a place that is almost unrecognisable from where I once stood.

I have to re-build myself financially, operationally and emotionally.

Financially it means the delivery of goods and refunds will take time.

In terms of product deliveries, and refunds,  fulfilling orders depends on me focussing on new work, new sales and other opportunities. The systems that my factory and I put in place will let me have time and space to focus on new opportunity that I am so lucky to have.

Whilst the majority of refunds have been paid, there are still people waiting, who are understandably frustrated. I continue to grapple with the tangle of chargebacks and refund information that goes back and forth between Paypal, my website and financial institutions.  I will continue to work with those organisations, but providing clear timelines to customers is virtually impossible at the moment.

I am very aware that withholding customers orders contravenes Australian Consumer Law, but I need more time. I will continue to offer creditors/ customers payments incrementally when I have funds available to do so.

Operationally I continue to have limited capacity to undertake tasks

It is still currently impossible for me to undertake all the daily business tasks that are expected of a business operating under "normal" circumstances.

During my recuperation, I have obviously fallen behind quite critically with emails and messages. I will be asking Customers to update me and connect through an online form which will automatically update a google sheet so I cannot lose your communication. Instructions are on the Customer Information Page HERE

Emotionally I am not out of the woods

Whilst I am optimistic now, I will continue to focus on preservation of my wellbeing, hence some workarounds such as the online forms.

The Next Print Run

I can only assure you that every effort is being made to finalise orders as quickly as circumstances allow.

I will update the customer information page with order numbers that are part of next weeks batch.

Customers in USA

Because of the uncertainty around Tariffs, for customers in the USA, I am working to secure a solution with a production partner in the Dominican Republic, and will share news as soon as this is firmly in place.

Fabric Sales

There will be remnants and in-stock fabrics on offer throughout the closing months. I will also be offering purchase and licensing of my designs, including B2B fabric sales.

I will soon start helping the company who now have ownership of my sewing patterns to invite past customers to their platform. This will include transferring all past purchases for customers who opt-in.

Customer Advocacy

I recognise the immense frustration and disruption this situation has caused. At the same time, I hope you can understand that I am no longer in a position to apologise for circumstances that were caused by the extraordinary illegal, immoral and irresponsible behaviour of others.

I completely understand if customers believe I could be doing more and wish to pursue avenues of consumer advocacy in any way. I will work with integrity and openness with any Consumer or Financial Authority who contacts me. 

I will no longer acknowledge or justify any criticism of what I am doing, what I am advertising, or what I "should" be capable of.

My focus now is firmly on solutions for my customers in a way that is realistic and achievable for me.

Nerida xx