When mum-of-three Lara Besbrode arrived in the UK in 2014, she had no home, no money and no plan.
The 53-year-old decided to leave behind her marriage in Germany following years of unhappiness. With nothing but one suitcase, Lara moved to Manchester with her children and with the help of family and friends she began to rebuild her life.
“I appealed on Facebook and went to charity shops and people made me furniture,” she told the Manchester Evening News. “I gave up my life, my finances and my business to come to the UK. I lost my mental health, my marriage, my business, my everything.
Not deterred by the challenges she had faced, Lara decided to train as a professional match maker. Lara was stood in her kitchen during when she conjured up the idea for her business, The Matchmaker UK . She launched the company during the pandemic and has since become a huge success – even appearing on the Real Housewives of Cheshire as a celebrity matchmaker in two episodes last summer.
“In 2019, not deterred, I decided that I was going to rebuild my life after it was smashed into smithereens,” she continued. “My mental health basically collapsed. I literally lost everything and went back to square one, I thought, 'What can I do to make money for my three kids?'
“There was so much unhappiness in my life. In the midst of menopause and all the horrors in my life, I would train and become a match maker."
“We’ve grown and grown and grown from having a Manchester office to a London office,” Lara, who lives in Sale, continued. “I’m a Manchester single mum success story.”
Not only did Lara manage to launch a successful career, she also had a health transformation and lost six stone after she ballooned from a size 12 to a size 18.
But she’s faced numerous challenges since settling back into life in the UK – with her daughter coming minutes from being killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
“My daughter suffers PTSD, I nearly lost her. She stopped to take a selfie by the toilet block and missed the bomb by two minutes. Had she not taken that selfie, she would be dead. I’m very blessed to have her.
“I rebuilt my life and rebuilt my career. I’ve gone through an international divorce and got my three children through school, raised them alone for eight years and have two kids in university. I’m proud to say I’ve done this all.”
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