The day was just like any other on a cold October’s evening. Tamania and her sisters were sitting in their living room hashing out “potential” logos for “potential” businesses and throwing ideas around for fun. Tamania knew that she wanted to start something of her own, but she had absolutely no idea what that was going to look like. Jokingly, she said out loud, that she would call her business Eight, which stemmed from the misconception that many individuals had about her name. Tamania, although a Persian name meaning foundation of peace, was often mistaken as the number eight in the Arabic language, due to the way it sounded. However, her sisters quickly rejected the idea because that name would not tell the customers anything about the business itself. This went on and on, until an idea struck her. Why not create a hijab brand and feature stories of Muslim women in her community alongside it? Almost like combining fashion and storytelling; and she knew exactly what she was going to call it, Eight Stories of Modesty.
Once the initial idea, name, logo, mission, and vision were decided, things started falling into place quickly. She began scouting for suppliers, storytellers, photographers, etc., and little by little, Tamania could see her idea coming to life. Fast forward a year, Eight Stories of Modesty has become a well-known business in the community. Not only has the company launched three separate hijab collections, with a total of 24 stories, but they also managed to win $5000 dollars in a business pitch competition hosted by the University of Waterloo, and were featured on CBC and CTV News. More importantly, the majority of women who purchased the hijabs said that the stories really hit home for them, and others were even inspired to wear the hijab afterwards. Through this entire experience Tamania had to push through several of her own comfort zones, but in doing so, she was not only able to gain confidence in herself, her business, vision, ideas, and execution, but she also discovered the immense support available to her.
Although this is just the beginning for Eight Stories of Modesty, there’s a lot that can be learnt from the journey thus far, especially for those who are hesitating in taking the first step. There’s no doubt that starting something of your own can be overwhelming, but the trick is to begin with the aspect that you enjoy most, like Tamania did with designing logos. In this process, you will be unable to realize the effort/work you’re putting in, simply because there’s a lot of enjoyment in it for you. As a result, when you hit that first or second challenge, persevering through it will make more sense, because there’s all this foundation that you’ve created without even knowing. Therefore, the most important thing is to simply go out there and start something that matters to you, and of course, have faith in Allah’s plans, because only then will you be opening up the door for opportunities to come flooding in.
~ Eight Stories of Modesty
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