00:00:00.077,00:00:05.010
Brooke Samad: I used to wear my
own, home-grown
creations to high school.
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I always liked the feeling of
making something
from my own hands.
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Samad: I started my business
about two-and-a-half years ago.
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I took my own experience as
being a Muslim woman who was
kind of a
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frustrated shopper finding
suitable modest clothing that
was cool and young and hip.
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So I decided to go back to
school for fashion design.
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I did a one-year program in New
York City.
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James Hunt: Entrepreneurship is
the art of an individual, a
business person
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or someone who isn’t a business
person, coming up or innovating
a concept
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and building a business plan and
a business around that concept.
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Samad: We went to a community
bazaar, and it actually did
really well.
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We just sold long skirts with no
slits. I turned it into a full
line.
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We have shirts, skirts, pants,
jackets.
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I like being different from
everyday design and
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everyday clothing and kind of
offering something unique.
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It was really hard, and it’s
still hard, actually; I feel
like I’m still
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in the initial stages and still
making a lot of
mistakes.
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But my father told me,
“something in motion stays in
motion, so just go for it.”
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Hunt: It’s not hard to start a
business in the United States.
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What’s hard is to be successful
with the business.
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Samad: My husband was a huge
supporter. You know my husband
has to
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support me to put with all my
clothing
everywhere.
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The fashion industry is a tough
place. It’s just such a
fast-paced industry,
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and there so much money on the
line. You fail, you try again.
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Samad: Doing my own business
from the perspective of being a
Muslim woman,
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it definitely connected those
two worlds, my passion for
fashion and then
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my passion for my religion. My
clothes are pretty mainstream.
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Maybe I have a certain style or
a certain cut that they like,
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and it’s not about religion at
all — it’s just
about their choice.
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As a designer you have to know
who your customer is.
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You have to tweak what you’re
doing creatively to fit into the
business side.
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Hunt: Today women are finding a
great place in the
entrepreneurship culture.
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There are a lot of support
systems in the communities
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around the United States that
help women get their start.
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Samad: If you have the will,
there’s nothing standing in your
way.
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Like the day I went to register
my business —
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I felt like it was such an
amazing accomplishment.
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And there’s no impediments. The
door is open for anything.
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America is a place where there’s
all different
types of people
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and there’s something for
everybody here.