Muslim Women In Business

“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 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...

“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...