MWP Spotlight - Sahar Mahmoud
sahar mahmoud, co-founder and co-owner of crown your occasions
The current political climate today, with all its negativity and skepticism, can really drain the joy out of … well, everything. However, as we squandered away the quarantined hours, we realized it was the little things that’s been getting us through an otherwise dark year. Women like Sahar Mahmoud and her team wanted to be the source of little joys for the Muslim community. In 2016, they founded Crown Your Occasions, a gift, decor, and favor company that specializes in Islamic holidays like Eid and Ramadan. In the unique times we’re in now, where many feel disoriented in their sense of identity and belonging, Sahar wanted to carve a place for Muslims to feel celebrated. I talked with Sahar about her life as an MWP in this interesting period and how her business has flourished amidst the chaos.
To learn more about Crown Your Occasions, click here to view their designs and products.
August 25, 2020
Tell me about yourself and your journey to creating Crown Your Occasions
We’re 4 partners in this company. I have two other sisters, Mariam Mahmoud and Sarah Mahmoud and we have another partner, Dua Mohammed. Mariam and I are on the management team, and Sarah and Dua are part of advertising and sales. When we got started, it was more for personal needs. We created products for our own children because they felt our Islamic holidays were not recognized. Our occasions always seemed dampened with respect to everything that’s going on in the U.S., so we just wanted our kids to feel recognized. We wanted them to feel proud in their Muslim American identity.
Also, the news around us was awful. There was just so much negativity going on in the world, so we wanted to shed a positive light and introduce products that would bring happiness to individuals. So we started creating products for us and our own kids to take to iftars or other gatherings. (This was pre-COVID-19, of course.) A lot of people started recognizing our items. They started calling in asking us, “Hey can you make us one of those [décor pieces]?” Eventually, in about a year, we decided to establish Crown Your Occasions. We felt like the response we got was positive, so many people were interested in our products. They’re unique items you can’t pull off the shelf, and they filled a void in the community.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
So I have Egyptian roots and Egypt is a country with a huge history, dating back to the pharaohs and such. They embedded so much history into their designs, like in the jewelry they made for the pharaohs, kings, and queens. Also, moving onto the Islamic century, there was Islamic art and motifs that were very beautiful. So we try to encompass designs from our Arab and Mediterranean roots and culture because we feel it connects people to their roots as well.
When you live in the U.S. and you get something with a truly authentic design or something that spurs something from your own culture or country, that’s a special feeling. A lot of our collection from last year, for example, centered a lot of our designs with Arabic calligraphy. Our 2020 collection incorporated Arabic calligraphy as well, but we inserted some florals to give the pieces a more modern vibe that could appeal to modern families now. We also go off a certain color palette. For this year, it had white, golds, ivories and greens. Green is mentioned in the Quran, white is a symbol of peace, so we try to use colors that symbolize something meaningful to Muslims and American Muslims in general. The use of products from their culture just revives memories for many of our clients.
We also create custom products, which are not only unique in their design, but can be so personalized as to include special phrases or quotes that mean something important to the client.
With the rise in festivity in Eid through décor, how do you design décor that’s unique and Islamic/Eid/Ramadan-centered?
Our designs are quite different from other companies. I’ve seen lots of other Muslim companies also use Arabic calligraphy but our use of florals distinguishes products as more modern. Our line of custom products is definitely unique because it becomes a story the client wants to tell. Whether it’s shirts, favors, bags, cake toppers, the items are made very intimately. What was truly touching is when we made pouches with our client’s name in English and Arabic and she took the pouch on a trip and she said every time someone saw her pouch, they would start a conversation with her, asking if she spoke Arabic. She’s never had any product written with her name in Arabic before. So we gave her something unique and really relevant to her. And I think that really sets us apart from the others.
Have you faced any personal obstacles as a Muslim woman when starting your business?
I have to say when we started, we received a really positive response. When you put things out on the market though, you always wonder, “Is this something people are going to love as much as we do?” There’s been trial and error and we alter products, designs, and colors for that. The only obstacles we’ve met are having our designs replicated in other parts of the world. Because it’s a small business, people don’t see the effort I put in – the endless nights of working, the time away from our families. To have that work replicated without your consent and stolen, it’s really disappointing to see.
Other businesses like ours have gone through the same struggle so we’re trying to focus on educating the consumer. Mainstream companies are now hopping on the wagon and making Eid/Ramadan items at a lower price but the time and effort that goes into our products is so much more. We ask consumers to research when they see something familiar, make sure it is an authentic design.
Have you faced any prejudice as an MWP or woman of color? Was it solely from non-Muslims or also those within your family/community?
So far most of my interactions, even outside my business, have been positive. As a business, fortunately, it’s been mostly positive, we haven’t received negative comments on me and my team as Muslim women in the professional space.
Of course, personally, I have received comments on my hijab from non-Muslims in a few of my day-to-day interactions. They’d say things like, “Why are you wearing that thing on your head, why are they making you wear it?” Once, I was shipping out packages at the post office, and a man was so angry at me for wearing my hijab, he even asked how I would go to the beach in it. And honestly, it was just funny to me that he would be so concerned about that. I just laughed it off and told him he didn’t need to worry about me, that no one was making me wear this and I could go to the beach, swim and have a fantastic time. It doesn’t bother me much because I feel that once people are educated, willing to understand, and have an open conversation, they can change.
I am also the only hijabi teacher at my school. I work with kindergarten students, but it’s different because when they first met me, they ask, “What are you wearing on your head?” It’s nice to hear that curiosity from younger children because they genuinely want to understand. After I answer their questions, they’re fine and they don’t see anything wrong with it. A lot of it is just in-grown prejudice and racism that’s been passed over the generations.I am able to show them we’re professional, we can get the job done, and we’re really no different than anybody else. Our actions speak louder than words.
Mashallah, you are part of a team of Muslim entrepreneurs running this business together. How do you all collaborate together? How do you balance your different perspectives?
Well, we’re all over the U.S.! I’m in California and someone else is in Texas, so we’ve got both coasts covered. We work with the different time zones to have collaborative meetings, but it’s worked to our advantage to be in different areas of the U.S. Essentially, Mariam and I meet every other day on the phone talking about future products, customer service and shipping. We spend the most time on designing. We share ideas and after we finalize products, we test them out on our families first. We all have children of different ages, so we have a whole span to test what we create before putting things on the market.
We made a D.I.Y Paint Your Own Cookie kit for Ramadan this year and it was a huge hit. Since everyone started quarantining inside their homes, they wanted hands-on activities for their kids. They could paint the cookies with edible paint then eat them. We sourced cookies from a great baker, got the edible paint and then had all of our own kids try the kits out. They gave us feedback on things like taste and enjoyment. It’s been great to have this team to bounce off ideas, share creativity, and to hear feedback. Even with our differing schedules, we’ve been able to make it work, Alhamdulilah.
How has your business grown since its inception? How has COVID-19 affected your business?
We’ve seen a consistent growth in sales since inception. We came at a time when the Muslim market was starting to get very saturated, but we’ve still kept up a 20-30% growth consistently. We’ve also seen growth in our social media followers. I know there’s a trend of “buying” followers, but we decided from the beginning we wanted authentic followers. We recently hit 10,500 followers, and it makes us so proud to see that so many people love what we do. And there are so many people from so many different parts of the world who are interested in our products, too.
The pandemic definitely affected some of our shipments that we were expecting to arrive in time for Eid and Ramadan. But we’re thankful for our team because when COVID-19 hit, we brainstormed on how we could make Ramadan and Eid more fun for families since the joy of visiting family was now dampened. We thought about activities and products that would keep the family engaged. Also, since two of us [on our team] are elementary school teachers, it helps a lot with in getting the right feedback since we can accurately weigh which products are going to appeal to children the most. We also tried to insert a little humor into the pandemic through our products. Everyone is stressed with the unknown, of not knowing how to proceed after COVID-19 so we made shirts that said things like “Quarant-Eid” or “You’re Not Invited for Eid” since it’s quarantine. The response was amazing, Mashallah. Since families couldn’t be with each other physically, a lot of our orders were for gifting. The gift messages clients wanted us to send were so heartwarming to read because they really showed they wanted to make the most of the pandemic for the kids.
Where do you hope your business will be in 5 years?
We hope one day our products could land in retail stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom. I still remember when Muslim-centered products were offered in Macy’s a few years back and that was a big moment for the Muslim community. It showed that people are recognizing our American Muslim identity and making an effort to make everything more inclusive, where all religions, nationalities and backgrounds are being included in mainstream America. If any Muslim business can reach these big retailers, even if it’s not us, it would be a huge win for everybody.
What advice do you have for your younger self/any budding Muslim women entrepreneurs?
There can be a lot of people in your own community that will try to stifle your passion. Your own parents even have certain expectations for you. I’ve heard plenty of stories of passionate people who were held back or just not supported. But we’re in the 21st century, so the more we allow people to branch out to their goals and passions, the more they’re going to show interest and the more willing they’ll be to just do what they want. Just go for it, even if you don’t know all you need to know when you get started. You will learn so much along the way. We’ve kicked ourselves and made mistakes but we’ve grown and learned so much. And it’s never bad to ask for help. There are people out there who will help and guide you. When you follow your passion, so much can come out of it, more than you can even imagine.
