Lifestyle designer Cheryl Antier discusses the inspiration behind her brand and life in the French Riviera

Lifestyle designer Cheryl Antier discusses the inspiration behind her brand and life in the French Riviera

While many of us wish we could just go out and create the life we’ve always wanted, the reality is that most of us have no idea where to even begin. What you just seen is the essence of lifestyle design, my dear friends. Probably not many people have encountered this idea before.

My interviewee is a woman I would describe as a self-made success story; she is a mother and an established internet business entrepreneur, and she has helped me to better grasp the concept of “lifestyle design” and how it operates. Her name is Cheryl Antier, and I have gained a lot of knowledge from our conversations. She’s been honest with us and revealed a wealth of knowledge about the lifestyle-design industry.

She has realised her lifelong goals of earning a passive income, settling in France, seeing the world, and avoiding the stress of a 9-to-5 job by planning and constructing her ideal lifestyle.

Six years ago, she genuinely did live like this. She was responsible for her family and had to work a regular job to make ends meet. She had longed to see the world and settle in France ever since she was a little girl. It’s unfortunate that her husband’s passing was the catalyst for her to follow her passion. Since her husband had been ill for some time, she was responsible for their two sons, the house payment, mortgage, and medical bills. She felt overwhelmed by the difficulties that had suddenly arisen and decided she could take no more.

Cheryl’s journey has been rocky so far, but she knows that even the most difficult starts can lead to great success in the end. She first sought to establish an online business after spending a year on the internet to study as much as she could. The thousands of dollars she spent on it were wasted. She got lucky and found work as a freelance writer and internet marketer on the web. After being assigned the responsibility of drafting 12 special reports, she claimed to have gained two valuable insights.

Since relying on a single source of revenue is unrealistic, her initial realisation was that she could make money online by learning to diversify her sources of revenue. She joked that the second thing she learnt was that she would never again write about golf for anyone, no matter how much money they offered.

Among the many new things she took on, grant writing was one. She also began mentoring clients from the local vocational rehab centre who were running small businesses and were seeking assistance in the form of grant funding. She learnt so much from this experience that by the time she wrote her third grant, she was determined to put it to good use for herself financially. She started saving right away, and not long after that, she was able to afford relocating to France with her family.

Like anyone making such a significant life change, she had a lot of concerns about how this might effect her young sons, ages 12 and 14. It was incredibly difficult for them to leave their dog, who had just given birth to a litter of nine. That was perhaps the most challenging aspect for them. It was more difficult than having to say goodbye to loved ones. Not knowing French was a further complication.

They first found a home in St. Tropez, which, based on my own prior experiences, is the best place to be if you enjoy nonstop partying. An astonishing amount of money is on show, making this a site of extreme hedonism. The area around St. Tropez was not conducive to raising a family, so Cheryl and her kids relocated to Toulon, which is only two hours away.

Around 25 spectacular fountains dating from the 15th to the 18th century may be found in Toulon, a lovely city known for its location on the Mediterranean. Marble plazas host sidewalk cafes, live performances, the city’s Opera House (constructed by the same architect as the Paris Opera House), yearly music festivals, a theatre, an open-air market, and the harbour. She found a rental within 15 minutes of the beach. They rarely use their automobile because they can get everything they need on foot.

If you have a passion for the outdoors, you will never be bored. You may do mountain climbing, trekking, and sightseeing with a Toulon bike pass. This city is incredible. The fact that they are in the French Riviera and yet in a relatively unknown city is awesome. Rental costs are reasonable, with apartments going for roughly 150 Euros per month. You’ll be pleasantly pleased by the low prices of the many stunning houses that line the crest of Mount Faron.

There are benefits to living in France. With the kind of passive income she has, she admits to working a little less than that, even though I’ve been informed that people there work for roughly 35 hours a week. Regular employees are entitled to six weeks of paid leave per year. Mothers are entitled to four months of paid leave after the birth of a child, and their jobs are promised to be kept for them during that time. Cheryl still writes occasionally and takes about four and a half months off every year to relax and travel. She plans to be able to do it for six months annually by 2012, which is doable in my opinion.

These privileges are not reserved for native French speakers and are available to any American citizen residing in France. One can obtain insurance in the United States. Social Security protects everyone, but it does not provide for everyone’s needs. The percentage of the cost they cover varies, but you may always pay for more insurance to make up the difference. Her payment of 60 Euros for the three of them covers all of their medical, dental, and vision care needs. If you want to see the doctor that performs house calls, you’ll have to pay 20 Euros. The French healthcare system is that good.

Cheryl says that you may have a lavish lifestyle even if you don’t have a million dollars. The first step in attaining the jet set lifestyle is to develop a clear picture of your desired outcome, which is a departure from the ordinary for most of us. So, what is it that you hope to accomplish? After that, believe in yourself and what you’re doing to the point that you’re willing to take some risks.