Gentle guidance

Adele Basheer is a woman with a lot to contribute. Her experience and passion led her to build a thriving business, and her generosity drove her to find a way to 'give something back', and adopt Emma Codrington as a protégé along the way.

"We started Intrinsic just over 10 years ago," says Adèle of the card and stationery business she and her husband, Jamie, run together. "Our kids, Sam and Olivia, were three and five years old at the time, and Jamie was working in his family’s hospitality and hotel business," remembers Adèle. "In many ways it was a good life, but we were like ships in the night."Despite the demands of small children and a busy husband, Adèle had also returned to work. The crunch of competing demands, during a time that can put pressure on many marriages, led to a turning point in their lives.

"I had to spend eight weeks in London for work," recalls Adèle. On her return home, she discovered during their time apart, she and her husband had shared an epiphany – things needed to change, and whatever the way forward, it had to involve spending more time together.

With nothing more than hope and conviction on their side, the couple started Instrinsic at their kitchen table. "We knew we wanted to do something that would make a difference, and do it together. It was a crazy risk," acknowledges Adèle.

"One of the key things we did very early on, was to go into each shop every few months and tidy up our cards," says Adèle. "We'd count them, chat to stockists and gather as much information as we could. We knew exactly what was selling best and they were the cards with my messages on them."

Adèle had initially sourced well-known quotes by famous and historical figures to grace the majority of cards, and used her own inspirational messages for the remainder. It was the expansion of Adèle's personal range, and the growth of Intrinsic, that brought Emma into Adèle's orbit.

The Basheers expanded their range and moved into an office located in the centre of Adelaide, where they now enjoy the buzz of nearby Central Markets. More staff were hired to help keep up with demand, and a website established; not just to grow the brand, but because Adèle had come to understand that many of their customers felt a real bond with the company and the internet was a new way to connect with them.

The recent rise of social networking sites such as Facebook and RSVP has made the idea of meeting strangers online unremarkable. Without the internet, Adèle and Emma may never have met in late 2005. "I'd always bought Adèle’s products and was inspired by her messages," says Emma. "One day I decided to check out the website and see what else I could find. There was a competition called 'I love my Intrinsic…' and I chose to write about their scrapbooking papers."

Most of us wouldn't think twice about entering a competition, but few of us find ourselves in as fragile a state as Emma was the day she stumbled across it. "It took me a few days to work up the courage to enter [the competition]," says Emma, then adds, "it’s almost as if I knew something would happen if I did."

Over at Intrinsic, things were even busier than usual with Christmas fast approaching and the office short on staff. "I don’t usually check the website; there are other staff who do it," recalls Adèle, "but with nobody else able to take it on, I had to add it to my list of things to do. I was frazzled and thinking, 'What are we doing? Are we making a difference?'" Then she came across Emma's entry in the competition. "It said: 'I love Intrinsic because it helped me get through my illness.' I just burst into tears."

Adèle was at first unaware that Emma had battled the eating disorder, anorexia, or that her condition had been so severe. "Because Emma was from Adelaide, we thought we’d ask her to come in to the office to collect the prize," says Adèle. "When she came in, she'd just returned from the clinic and come off her feeding tube. I soon learned this was one of the darkest periods of her life. To know that our cards had made a difference to Emma was quite overwhelming."

Meeting Emma today, several years down the track, it's hard to imagine how desperate things were for her that day. "Intrinsic tried to contact me, but I was at a clinic in Sydney as an inpatient, and unable to access my email," explains Emma. "Our number in Adelaide was unlisted, but Adèle didn't give up. Eventually she tracked down my grandpa's number and called him. When Papa rang us, we'd literally just walked out of the clinic, ready to go to the airport."

Words: Francesca Newby. Photography: Sam McAdam

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