AIDA REJZOVIC · FOUNDER OF SASSY ORGANICS
A journey of resilience.
Before Sassy Organics was even an idea, I was on a very different journey. I am a former Bosnian refugee. At 12, I fled Brčko with my mum and older sister; at 16, I arrived in Melbourne to begin again. The years between shaped how I understand resilience, belonging and the courage to start over. This is the story of where I came from, the home I found and the life I built here.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN · 30 APRIL 1992
Brčko, where my story began.
We left believing we would return the next day.
I was born in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and lived there with my mum, dad and older sister until I was 12. In 1992, the Bosnian War changed everything.
On 30 April 1992, as the conflict moved closer, my uncle urged us to leave. My mum had just made lunch and we left it sitting on the table. My mum, my older sister and I packed little more than our pyjamas because we believed we would return the next day. We never returned to the home we left behind.
That was the last time I saw many friends, neighbours and family members. We left everything behind, including my dog and our family photographs. I now have very few images of my sister and me as children.
My dog, Linda, had recently had puppies. Leaving her, the puppies and all those ordinary pieces of home behind is a memory that has never left me.
We were grateful to be alive, knowing that so many people lost far more. Even so, that one day divided my childhood into a before and an after.
We left in our pyjamas, believing we would return the next day. We never did.
THE JOURNEY OUT
Four hours became four days.
The journey from Brčko to Zagreb would normally have taken about four hours. Ours took four days. Around 30 of us travelled in the back of a truck, stopping when shooting made the road too dangerous and moving again when we could.
Leaving Bosnia did not lead directly to one safe place. Sometimes we stayed in homes, apartments or hotel rooms for only one or two nights before having to move again. One night, we walked beside a freeway to get away from a situation that had become unsafe.
I was only 12, yet I quickly learned that finding safety and finding a home were not the same thing. For the next several years, almost everything felt temporary.
THE REFUGEE YEARS · 1992–1995
Several years without a permanent home.
From 1992 to 1995, my family moved through Croatia, the Czech Republic and Germany while the war continued. We went wherever we could be accepted. Refugee camps gave us basic shelter and three meals, but we had very little money, no permanent home and no certainty about what would happen next.
More than 100 residents shared one television, and the main channel was usually the news. We listened to radio reports about atrocities in Bosnia and heard accounts from people who had survived imprisonment and terrible violence. Some of our relatives were captured and taken to camps. Those stories of fear, loss and survival have stayed with me.
I started working when I was 12, cleaning hotel rooms and homes and helping in restaurant kitchens. Sometimes I said I was older because work could mean food or somewhere to stay. Later, I learned to cut boys’ hair and spent long hours sorting tiny numbered rings for racing pigeons for very little money.
In the Czech Republic, I remember seeing Rexona deodorant in magazines and advertised at bus stops. It was such an ordinary thing, but at first I could only dream of buying one. When I eventually earned enough to buy my first Rexona, I was thrilled.
Clothes came from the Red Cross and fit was not important. I wore a jacket four or five sizes too big because it was what I had. Even inside deep uncertainty, daily life continued. These photographs hold some of the ordinary moments I still remember from those years.
DECEMBER 1995
Australia offered a new home.
After living in Germany, our humanitarian visas were expiring while the war in Bosnia was still continuing. My sister’s in-laws had arrived in Australia a year earlier as refugees, and the Australian embassy in Germany approved humanitarian visas for my family and me.
For the first time in years, a new destination held the possibility of being permanent. I felt hopeful about safety, school and a future, but reaching that future required another goodbye to the people who had become part of our lives in Europe.
Leaving Europe meant another painful goodbye to friends and to my grandmother. Years later, seven years after fleeing, she returned to her former apartment and died peacefully seven days later. I remain grateful that she fulfilled her wish to return home.
Australia gave my family and me a safe place to begin again.
A NEW HOME · DECEMBER 1995
Belonging happened slowly.
We arrived at Melbourne Airport in December 1995. I was 16 years old and about to begin again in a country I did not yet know.
My new Australian life began in Dandenong. I attended Dandenong High School without being able to speak English. During my first year, I often sat alone in the library, hiding the fact that I had no friends.
After years of moving, the idea that I could go to school and make friends who might still be there the following term felt extraordinary.
The following year, I began to make friends. By Year 12, Australia truly felt like home. I remain deeply grateful for the way this multicultural country welcomed me and gave me the chance to belong.
I proudly call myself an Aussie, even if my accent will probably never leave me.
By Year 12, Australia truly felt like home.
WHAT THE JOURNEY TAUGHT ME
Perspective, appreciation and resilience.
My refugee experience created many obstacles, but I have never wanted it to define the whole of who I am. It gave me perspective and taught me to value life, notice the small things and appreciate the stability that can otherwise be easy to overlook.
For me, resilience is not pretending that difficult things did not happen. It is finding the courage to take the next step, even when the entire path is not clear. When I have a bad day, I remind myself that tomorrow can be brighter.
Above all, I value the health of my family. Safety, friendship, meaningful work and the freedom to make choices about the future are things I never take for granted.
FINDING MY PLACE IN AUSTRALIA
Resilience means continuing, one step at a time.
That outlook helped me make another enormous change when I left a career in criminology and founded Sassy Organics in 2016. There is seldom a perfect moment to begin. Start somewhere, even if the first step is small.
Sassy Organics began with a $5,000 supplier order placed on a credit card, nine brands and 124 products. It was a modest beginning, but I had learned long before that small beginnings can still carry enormous hope.
Decades after dreaming about a Rexona deodorant in a refugee camp, I can now look at the deodorants in my own store and smile. There is enough there to last me a lifetime.
If work or another part of life is making you deeply unhappy, I believe it is worth exploring what can change. Making a big change can be frightening, but so can staying somewhere that no longer feels right.
Do the things in life that you really love. There will always be challenges and reasons not to do something, but there are also ways to overcome those obstacles.
A SECOND CHANCE
The life I built from that new beginning.
Australia gave me much more than a safe place to live. It gave me time to learn, form lasting friendships, build a career, change direction and create work that reflects the values I care about.
I am genuinely grateful for the simple things in life: a clean and safe home, a roof over my head and the peace of knowing that my family and animals are safe. These are things I never take for granted.
I have big dreams, but they have never been about material things and I do not measure my life by what I own. I am happiest when I can make someone smile or make another person's life a little better.
That means the most to me when I can help someone vulnerable, especially an abandoned animal that needs safety, care and a second chance.
THE LIFE I BUILT HERE
Home is also found in everyday moments.
Outside work, I love spending time outdoors and in nature. I enjoy walking, hiking and taking long walks. It gives me space to breathe, think and appreciate the life I have.
Most of all, I love spending time with my dogs and the other animals at home. They bring joy to the most ordinary days, and caring for them means a great deal to me.
Home is not only the place where a story begins. It is also built slowly through family, animals, meaningful work and the small everyday moments we learn not to take for granted.
THE STORY IS BIGGER THAN ME
A welcome can change a life.
Around the world, people continue to leave home because of war, persecution, violence and human-rights abuses. Practical support and a welcoming community matter.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Learn about practical support, volunteering, advocacy and ways to help people seeking safety in Australia.
Visit the ASRCRefugee Council of Australia
Explore information about refugees, Australia’s response and opportunities to support a fairer system.
Visit the Refugee CouncilA personal thank you
Listening, learning and welcoming people can make an enormous difference. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Meet the founder behind Sassy Organics.
My journey to Australia shaped how I understand resilience, belonging and the courage to begin again. It also shaped the values I bring to Sassy Organics today. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Aida xo
