Born and raised in Mbombela, Ansje Craven left her picturesque Lowveld home-town to study consumer science at North-West University.
But after two years, Ansje decided it was time to follow her true passion. She moved to Pretoria to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design, a path that allowed her to do what she loves, blend technical problem-solving with creativity. “I get bored doing the same thing over and over,” she says. “Design keeps both sides of my brain busy, and that’s the joy I’ve always sought.”
Childhood memories for Ansje are rich and textured, shaped by family and tradition. Each December, her extended family gathered at her grandparents’ holiday home in Uvongo. Together they staged a Christmas play every year, a ritual of laughter, rehearsals, and shared excitement that would leave its mark long into adulthood. “Those holidays,” she recalls, “taught me about collaboration, creativity, and the joy of simple family rituals and togetherness.”
Although she always leaned toward the technical, Ansje was no stranger to the arts. She danced, performed in school plays, and thrived on stage. “Dance was my first love,” she says. “The freedom of movement, the expression, it’s exhilarating. To me, design feels similar; it’s just another way to tell a story.”Family, for Ansje, has been both a source of joy and profound heartache. She married her high school love, André, in 2012, and together they had two children: Liam, who looked just like his mum, and Zoe, who took after her dad.
But life’s harshest lessons arrived unexpectedly. “Liam was a gentle, radiant presence,” Ansje smiles sadly, “he laughed from deep in his tummy and brought joy wherever he went. His first grand mal seizure at 15 months was terrifying, and over the next two years, his condition worsened despite medications and treatments. A ketogenic diet brought some relief, reducing his seizures from fifty a day to five. Yet the toll was already immense: Liam lost many abilities, including speaking, crawling, and laughing. He spent weeks in hospital, including a four-week induced coma, and though doctors fought to save him, the underlying cause remained a mystery.”
One night, while admitted in Cape Town, Liam went into severe respiratory distress. Ansje held him, whispering that it was okay to let go. He passed away peacefully in his mother’s arms, a few weeks shy of his fourth birthday. “Watching him go was the hardest moment of my life,” she says. Three years later, André died. “Even though we were divorced, losing both André and Liam in such a short time made it feel as though my entire family had been ripped away from me,” Ansje reflects.
The grief reshaped her perspective entirely. “I realised how incredibly precious life is,” she explains. “Everything we go through, whether good or painful, can shape us if we allow it. As hard as it was, I had to be strong for Zoe. Living in the shadow of my pain would not have been fair to her. Instead, I chose to embrace life, to let beauty grow from ashes.” Ansje honours Liam and André in her daily life through photos, shared stories, and birthday rituals. Zoe, even as a young child, participates in celebrating Liam’s birthday, a small but meaningful act that keeps his memory alive.
Then, as if life were testing her resilience again, Ansje received another devastating diagnosis: breast cancer. Just a year after André’s passing and four years after losing Liam, she discovered Stage 3 Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma, HER2 Positive, in her right breast. “It felt surreal, like being trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from,” she recalls.
She underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy, a unilateral mastectomy, radiation, Herceptin therapy, and hormonal treatment. The physical side effects were brutal, from sickness and hair loss to dramatic changes in her body. “I felt incomplete, like half a woman,” she admits. Yet even in this darkest chapter, she found support in her partner Marco, who became her husband in 2024. “He loved me as I was,” she says. “My short fuzzy hair, scars, and all. His love showed me that true beauty goes far beyond appearances.”
Today, Ansje has been in remission for over two years. The journey changed her profoundly. She learned to embrace life’s changes rather than resist them, to measure her growth against her own past rather than others’ standards, and to cherish the moments that truly matter. “The immense influence of my parents, my faith in God, and Marco’s unyielding positivity carried me through,” she says. “Together, they taught me that even in storms, joy and strength can exist.”
Life is now about balance and building a future that honours the past without being consumed by it. Ansje opened a new interior design studio in September, aiming to establish her brand not just locally in the Lowveld, but across South Africa. “Even though follow-ups and scans are part of life,” she says, “they don’t stop me from planning, building, and pushing forward. Life doesn’t wait, and neither do I.”
When she takes a day off, it’s often not about doing nothing. “I’m a busybody, I can’t sit still,” she laughs. Relaxation can mean a nap (Ansje loves to nap), but more often its family time, laughter and connection. Favourite escapes include Klaserie Dam, where lions roar and the moon rises over still water; and quiet moments at home with Zoe and their two Border Collies. These spaces are where joy, peace, and reflection intersect.
Looking back, Ansje sees growth forged through adversity. She’s stronger, more resilient, and deeply attuned to what matters: family, faith, and living with purpose. “I want Zoe to know that no matter what, she can rise above her circumstances,” she says. “There is always a rainbow after the storm, but first, you have to weather it.”
With a confidence that she laughingly says borders on arrogance, this petite, blue-eyed go-getter isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Her journey is a testament to the human spirit: to endure loss, illness and heartache, yet continue to laugh, create, love and inspire. It is a reminder that while life can break us, it can also rebuild us, stronger, wiser, and more fully alive.
