Muslim Women In Business

“We met at an art school entrance exam. Our paths crossed again and since we were both on the same wave length and had similar big ambitions, we got on really well. One day, while we were walking in Gülhane Park, we found ourselves planning our workshops after İclal said: "Why don't we start workshops together?" Both of us loved painting, so how amazing would it be if we could both share our passion with others? Normally, when taking steps into a road we're not familiar with, people tend to step back to protect themselves from the unknown. But we wanted to move on and we could already see this working. We didn't overthink and announced our first workshop. We got enough submissions for three workshops which was beyond our dreams. Our excitement fueled the motivation and energy to create the Artlesstudio. In the beginning, we hosted our workshops in cafes. We were looking for the next place all the time. After a while, it started to get harder to have them in ...

“My name is Efnan Ghoneam. I graduated from faculty of education and worked as a teacher for 4 years. I was a teacher but my mind was occupied elsewhere: I wanted to start my own jewelry company. I’ve always been into jewelry and since both my sister and my cousin work in the jewelry industry, my entrepreneurship journey began designing with them as a hobby and starting a page on social media (Yıldız Takı Tasarım) in 2013. When I first started, I was a full-time school teacher and working with jewelry on the side as a hobby. I wanted to start my business but quitting my job and making jewelry wasn't an option or a good decision according to the people around me. Having a university degree suddenly become something that was holding me back rather than pushing me to succeed. I couldn't focus on the things I wanted to do, due to social pressure. Things changed after I got married, I quit my job and had my baby. I put my all efforts into my business. I didn't have peop...