Muslim Women In Business

"My name is Mediha. When I was studying Computer Science at university, I developed a passion to teach children coding. During my intership at Imperial College London I met many computer engineers, and they were way better than me. These people had families who had probably paved the way to coding at a very young age. Before starting university I leant JavaScript online thanks to my English. There were afew courses in Turkish too, but they weren't very good quality. All these things had lit up a bulb in my mind. I became a voluntery instructor in an education center. When I realized that I had a good connection with the kids there, I decided to teach them coding. I didn't know how or where to begin. The computers in our center weren’t really good. I applied to a business incubator and they told me that I had to find a partner. So, thats how me and my friend Ecenur started this. I did all the coding and launched KodlamaAtolyesi.com. We started teaching curious kids Sc...

"My name is Rümeysa. I majored in Industrial Design and I’m now doing my Masters in History of Art. I was an exchange student in South Korea and this opportunity, strangely enough, got me interested in Turkish arts and crafts. I started to think about designs based around the Turkish culture. I felt as though there was an absence of cultural topics in my design education, this was what led me to design stuff at home. I fell in love with Turkish embroidery and saw the richness of our culture. That’s how I created Rehrev. I took an embroidery course over a year. I did as much research as I could to come up with different designs. I then applied to an institution for entrepreneurs, and presented my business idea, fortunately I got accepted. After that I started to produce my hand bands. My studio is still new and I've a lot more to learn. Since I work alone, I'm having a hard time taking care of every aspect of my business. I believe in my initiative and know that every...

“I am a British contemporary Islamic artist from Watford, on the outskirts of London. I am a mother of 4, grandmother of 2 and have painted for pleasure since I was a child, and professionally for work since around 2010. I simply cannot imagine my life without art. I have painted for as long as I can remember. Born in Zanzibar and growing up in Tanzania, I remember having one of my paintings featured in the local newspaper when I was 8 years old. I can't really explain why I paint. It comes completely as second nature to me. I painted as gifts for my family members, I did portraits of my children when they were younger and Islam, my faith - has always been the greatest inspiration in my art. I cannot imagine my life without art and without painting. It is as important to me as the air that I breathe, not just as a form of meditation, but as a means of transferring all of my thoughts and creative energy into creating something beautiful, with a message that I hope will travel as ...

“I am a 28 years old social entrepreneur. I have a passion for helping people become the best versions of themselves by creating products that make you feel good and do better. I want to encourage people to eat real food and support mission based companies that give back to society. I was a school teacher prior to launching CURE and I recall witnessing my students slumming their way through class eating refined sugars and bad carbs. Anytime I asked them why they ate so poorly, a very common response was, “healthy food just doesn’t taste good. At this time, I remembered this secret recipe my grandmother used to make me eat growing up made with black seeds, honey and other spices. She called it her secret “cure” for everything. I vowed to  turn my grandmothers secret recipe into a modern, durable treat that everyone could enjoy. That’s why I created the CURE bar, the first nutritional snack bar to implement the black seed. The main struggle I’ve faced being a solo founder is ha...

“My name is Omaima El Haouass. I’m a 23 year old self-made entrepreneur. I am the owner and founder of offduty.cut. I was born and raised in a small village called Palafrugell in the Costa Brava, Spain. I grew up in a very quiet environment up until I was 12 when I then moved to London. I went from a small Mediterranean village of about 20 thousand people, to the biggest city in Europe. Unlike the majority, I did not go to University and get a degree. Nowadays there are many other ways to achieve your goals. I went to a Business academy up until I was 17 years old and then decided to get hands on by going straight to work. I took on an apprenticeship in business administration, management and operations whilst working as an office manager at a structural engineering consultancy practice. Once qualified, I started pursuing other career interests like law enforcement and policing and this is the field I currently work in. I also love fashion and I'm a strong believer that dres...

"My name is Sena. I'm a 20 year old with dreams. Seyyar Dukkan is a second-hand clothing brand. I built my studio with wooden sticks and a ladder on my terrace. My family and friends didn't take it seriously till I started to get attention. As always, some people weren’t into it, to them second hand clothing is second hand and just low. Something to be ashamed of. Talking to those kind of people weren't easy, especially with social media. But social media also worked to my benefit. Seyyar Dukkan was a small step, taken by a small girl (me!) When she noticed she had more clothes than she needs, she understood that things needed to change. This mindset led her into minimalism and Seyyar Dukkan was born. I realized that less was actually more, I started to ask friends around me how important clothes were to them. Is it a shirt you need or is it 'that shirt' you need? "A gorgeous skirt which I really like, but don't need, can't take me to a ci...

“My name is Meryem Demirbaş. When I couldn't complete my Quran memorization, I wanted to find a new hobby, something to get busy with. I was always interested in design and sewing. I was sketching bags and dresses all the time so I decided to register for a sewing course to go further. The course was awesome and I haven’t stopped sewing since. At the start, I tailored clothing pieces for people around me, mostly for family members. They loved the clothes I made, and they always encouraged me to purse this full time. Back then, I didn't want to take it full time as I was already sewing for my daughters and relatives and that was enough. But then I got into bags and never looked back since. I knew, that this was something I could do full time. Each bag I create is very special to me. It’s a magical feeling when I see customers carrying my bags that I spent hours making. Money isn't the reward for me. Because no money could buy my time and effort, but customer satisfacti...

“My name is Zeynep Tunç. I'm a mother of a 4 year old daughter and she really is a big part of my success. I’ve been making hair accessories for babies, children and grown-ups since 2017. I actually started in 2011 with my interest in ribbon embroidery. I made my first hair accessory that year. I made some pieces for my niece while I was still working in my sales and marketing job at that time. When I got pregnant, I decided to take a break from work and I made hair accessories for orpan children. After I had my daughter I started to make hair accessories for each outfit. I watched tutorials in a language I didn't know and learned it by trial and error. After a while, my accessories started to get attention, people were interested. In 2017 I opened my "Minminik Dükkan" Instagram page. All those photography classes finally came in use. The toughest part of this job was the fact that I didn't have a budget to start with. I was purchasing materials, turning th...

“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...

"My name is Salsabil El-Awaisi, I'm an interior designer and the founder of Salsabil El-Awaisi Interiors. I'm also a wife and a mummy to my little boy Adam. I was born in a town called Hebron not far from Jerusalem but I grew up in Scotland. I grew up with two different identities which I struggled with growing up, but I have learned to accept them both and I believe this is what makes me unique and different today, both in my personal and professional life. Since a young age, I always knew that I wanted to have my own business and be my own boss. But I understood that I needed work experience in order for me to be successful. After graduation, I took on a few roles in my design field to gain that experience. However, I had my little boy Adam and went on maternity leave thinking I would return back to work after he's one. Little did I know that my maternal instincts would be strong and I couldn't even think of leaving Adam in a nursery or with a childminder...

"I'm originally from a small city called Manisa in western Turkey. We had no Internet growing up and I was nine years old when I first watched TV. We had alot of time to think. From a young age I had already decided what I wanted to do with my future. I wanted to become an academician. You might find that strange but it was my dream. Hijab in Turkey was banned in schools and universities in the 90s & 2000s. I was home tutored during the high school period. When the time for university enrollment came along I was faced with a difficult decision. I rang countless universities, asking if they'd allow me to wear my hijab. No Universities agreed. None. It was an overwhelming and exhausting process. Sometimes in life you have to compromise, but I was adamant on wearing my hijab. "To my relief, Bahçeşehir University allowed the girls to wear hats, or some kind of head covering and so 4 years later I graduated with a Business Administration-Economics degree. Hijab was...