Community Highlights: Meet Bernade Leonidas Bergström of BL Properties

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernade Leonidas Bergström.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
BL Properties will be 2 years old in a few months. This is my second baby.

I started my company at a very difficult time, COVID just hit and time was hard, I did not know where my next paycheck would come from. I decided to take action, I have always been a go-getter something I have learned from my grandmother growing up in Haiti.

Moving to a new country and learning a new language can be challenging, but somehow I made it seem easy. I love to challenge myself and try new things, so learning a new language for me is both challenging and fun.

My customers are from all over the world, to be able to communicate with them in their mother tongue, for the most part, they are very happy, so speaking five languages is not so bad.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a new business is always challenging, it is the same for everyone, no doubt about it, but it’s even harder for me.

As a black woman entrepreneur in a dominant white country, customers must feel both safe and comfortable ordering from you or becoming a partner. Most of my clients and partners are from West Africa, Paris, and the Dominican Republic.

I sometimes struggle with self-doubt when I cannot find partners or customers, then I can turn that self-doubt into gratitude when I realised how lucky I am to work with a such good manufacturing company and amazing people.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about BL Properties?
BL Properties always has partners and customers in mind, I have not only started a company that sells the most exclusive bathroom equipment online but I have also started an idea, That others can follow, a movement that others can join.

I always have my customers’ and partners’ best interests, which is why I choose the best manufacturing company in Europe to work with.

My partner is the largest manufacturer of bathroom equipment in the Czech Republic. Their bathroom equipment has won many awards. Their Solo Bath has won two awards in 2019, the Elle Decoration magazine award and the Red Dot design award.

These are two of the many awards the company has won over the years for its bathroom equipment. I have partners from West Africa who work with me, I give them a big discount on the products so that they can resell and make some profit.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I have a bachelor’s degree in media and communication, I studied makeup, I used to be a model, and I am also a writer and philanthropist.

Last year I wrote my first book about school gardens, which I am very proud of.

I have worked in many Non-Profit Organizations where I have helped with many projects, one of the projects I have helped was in Haiti, myself with a team we started with school gardens in three different schools. This was a very successful project.

I have also started the Bernade Leonidas Foundation, the foundation’s main goal is to find new strategies by using my own theories and practices to show people how to support themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blproperties.se
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blproperties15434/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blpropertiesbathroomfurnitures
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BLproperties202
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRN8tGSNNfsl5vSxgZKfA1A
• Other: https://bernadeleonidasfound.wixsite.com/website?fbclid=IwAR1kMlhDwFXvclfXo8JfTufVmXi5ibdhLqboZ6PVhRvbo4sGOOeq5AsT0pw&lang=en