A qualified industrial engineer, Macarena Erbs left her native Chile in 2015 for a year of travel and adventure throughout Europe before migrating to Australia in 2016, when she commenced working with a social enterprise supporting women migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
Macarena was tasked with establishing its eco-friendly, sustainable product line, to which she herself contributed more than 35 items. Confronted with the onset of Covid-19, Macarena rose to the challenge by designing and strategising the production of reusable masks, a project which enabled 80 vulnerable women to generate income from home.
In 2021, Macarena’s life took a very dramatic turn – she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She endured an extremely challenging year of treatment during which she lost her hair, including her eyebrows and eyelashes. As a breast cancer survivor, Macarena has a profoundly personal appreciation of the impact hair loss has on self-esteem, and from this, her company Bonita Shop emerged.
Read Macarena’s interview by SBS World News HERE