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Jul
Mariam Elchamaa, the owner of Expressions by ME, an Ottawa-based design company specializing in personalized weddings and event decoration, is an example of a generation of young Muslim entrepreneurs who are “self-taught” experts in fields that neither their education nor their life goals prepared them for.
Mariam, whose family immigrated to Canada in 1989 from Lebanon, enrolled at the University of Ottawa to study psychology. Her plan was to become a nurse, but things turned out very differently.
It was at university that Mariam started designing events. An active member of the Muslim Students' Association, Mariam wanted to create alternative “all girls” events that would “build sisterhood” among Muslim female students.
“I found on campus you would walk by a sister and it would be very cold sometimes,” says Mariam. “She wouldn't say ”˜salam',” says Mariam.
Mariam's “All Girls' Chillers” used food and fun to create a safe space for Muslim women to get to know each other.
“A lot of people left the chillers with a network,” says Mariam. “They now knew the person who was sitting behind them in biology. It helped make university feel like home as opposed to a place of strangers.”
Unexpectedly, Mariam's campus community-building activities led to her present career. Attendees at her chillers were impressed with her creativity and started asking her to plan their weddings. Word of Mariam's skills spread through networks of friends and families and soon she found herself becoming a “go-to” person for wedding décor.
“Honestly, everything I know I taught myself,” Mariam admits. “I bought books at Chapters on floral arrangement. I got a Fabricland membership. Some tricks of the trade I learned from other planners, like that pipe cleaners are your best friend for fastening fabric!”
It was around 2010 that Mariam was challenged to start taking her work seriously. Her first challenge was branding. Mariam worked with her friend Hafsa Khan, a graphic designer and fellow entrepreneur, to develop her name and logo.
“We bartered,” Mariam explains, “I designed her wedding and she designed my logo!”
Mariam knew she wanted to incorporate her initials “me” into the name of her company. “In work like mine,” Mariam explains, “you are really selling yourself, your creativity. You are the product.” Thus Expressions by ME was born.
Branding was creative work, Mariam's forte, but the less creative aspects of starting her own business she found challenging.
“I had to learn about registering a business,” says Mariam, “When I started full-time in 2012, it was a lot about the accounting. How do you keep track of your money! I went to the Ottawa Public Library and discovered they offered workshops on business so I took one about accounting for sole-proprietorships. That helped. But there was a point where focusing on building the business affected my creativity and my enjoyment of the work. But now it's not so much of a struggle because I understand what I'm doing.”
Mariam has gone from designing one wedding every two months to now designing an average of eight weddings a month. She designs weddings for Muslims and non-Muslims; from Egyptian weddings to Pakistani weddings, Somali to Chinese. Mariam has now had to contract the help of her cousin, Alia Gaber, who she discovered shares her creative flare. This has forced Mariam to think of how she can further develop her business to take on employees.
Despite her focus on weddings, Mariam still makes time to create events aimed at building a sense of community amongst Ottawa's Muslims. She organizes an annual All Girls Prom so that Muslim girls get a chance to have the prom experience in a women's only space.
“It's all about the fun factor,” Mariam explains, “The best part about the prom last year was that we had crumpin' battles. Moms are welcome and girls are encouraged to bring their non-Muslim friends.”
Her proms are lavish affairs with masquerade themes. This year's was Alice in Wonderland. “I dressed up as Alice,” Mariam exclaims. But the Prom wasn't all about glamour; the event was dedicated to Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and in her opening speech, Mariam encouraged the girls to take full advantage of the opportunity for education that they have in Canada.
She has also begun organizing smaller scale events such as last winter's “Mommy and Me Splash Pool Party” aimed at providing a space for Muslim mothers to have pool play time with their children in a women's only space. Mariam is now being approached to design larger scale events within Ottawa's Muslim community, such as the upcoming Muslim Summer Festival.
Mariam advises aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on establishing a good reputation. “If you are true to your faith, if you are true to the type of person that Islam teaches you to be, then you are trustworthy, you are friendly. These are important traits for establishing rapport with your clients,” she says. “Your personality has to be infectious so that your clients want to come back” (or) they want to recommend you to a friend.”
All along her journey, Mariam has been grateful for the support of her family and her colleagues, including the folks at Mastermind Events, who recently provided Mariam with her first office. When asked how she feels about ending up as an Event Designer when she had originally planned to be a nurse, Mariam answers, “Everything happens for a reason. You are where Allah wants you to be.”
To learn more about Expressions by ME visit http://expressionsbyme.com/
To learn more about the Ottawa Public Library's programs supporting entrepreneurs visit biblioottawalibrary.ca/business or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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