'My body was shutting down due to stress'

Entrepreneur Bianca Best had what seemed to be the dream career and family life - but it nearly cost the mum-of-four her health

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Bianca Best seemed to have it all - a picture-perfect marriage, four healthy children and a flourishing business. But something terrifying was lurking under the surface. At one of the peaks of her success, the entrepreneur experienced severe burnout, leaving her emotionally depleted and physically worn out.

"One of the lowest points for me was when I was hospitalised with total immune collapse," Bianca, 50, told us. "I was told my whole body was starting to shut down. And at that point, my hair had all fallen out. I had tonsillitis, conjunctivitis, bronchiolitis - every-itis."

She battled with major burnout for around 10 years, between 2004 and 2015. She said: "I was so ashamed and I was embarrassed - I thought I was a failure because I was getting ill." The businesswoman, who now divides her time between Surrey and Amsterdam, where her fiancé Ruud, 53, lives, dedicated decades to building a career and raising a family.

By her late twenties, Bianca was mum to son Ashley, born in 2002, and daughter Scarlett, who arrived in 2004 while Bianca was running the Bespoke Gift Company, which she set up 21 years ago. But it was becoming too much.

"For those first few years of running the business and having children, I didn't have childcare because I thought it would make me a bad mother. I'd try to put the kids to bed and run the business through the night," she said. "I was trying to do that as well and keep house."

Bianca attempted to balance everything while her business was "exploding" online. Before long, she was on TV's This Morning, showcasing her products and selling thousands of items annually.