SHE FACTOR: The beauty of perseverance

dubai - Nadia Al Mahdi's makeup brand is a testimony to her triumphs

Every trial is worth a testimony of triumph; Nadia Al Mahdi, founder of Ombrè Cosmetics, endured all the hardships to only reflect on the next challenge and how she'd be able to overcome it. Ombrè cosmetics is an online marketplace and Nadia is striving to turn her venture into a success story to inspire every Emirati and expat woman to harness their entrepreneurial skills.

Nadia recalls how, on one Friday in March 2017 while she was with her sisters Fauzia and Maleeha watching Netflix, she blurted out, "I am going to start my own makeup business".

The words had power and they manifested into reality in December of the same year. Once the decision was made, Nadia's journey of sacrifices began to unfold.

"I gave up any social event that included spending money, staying at home on most weekends, suspended my cable TV connection, went to changing my phone line from postpaid to prepaid, ate home-cooked meals all day, every day, saving every penny I had. All I knew is to gain something you need to lose some, and by December 2, 2017, on UAE National Day, I officially launched my beauty line Ombrè," said Nadia.

The objective of Ombrè is to empower women from all walks of life and embrace womanhood, and with the right makeup products - which include an extremely high volume of pigmentations and formulas that include anti-ageing, vitamin E and moisturiser, to name a few - that will be a one-stop shop that saves women time and money whilst enhancing their natural beauty.

"Among the major struggles we often face as women is, first of all, we are always on the run, so skin issues like sensitivity, breakouts and acne [are possible]. So I made sure I created the right beauty line for daily use - it should be easy to use and fun to wear - and with highly-effective formulas that suited all skin types," added Nadia.

"The first year has been super rough, but then again this is no child's play. As we come to the end of the year we have launched yet another special line, Ombrè Holiday Luxury Limited Collection, which has been selling super-fast so by 2019 I hope to become a distributor to a few salons and hopefully like to see a local brand like Ombrè turn into an international success; we will be looking into introducing our brand to international distributors such as Wojooh, Sephora and Paris Gallery, to name few."

Nadia shares she comes from a very simple family, and her father always expected her to work hard and invest in her pay check towards her dreams. She does have a full-time job, working for an organisation that promotes flexible working, giving her the space and time to manage her business conveniently.

"There is a lot of talk on work-life balance. However, I like to refer it as work-life boundaries; when work calls I am committed to being at work, when business calls I sort out my business and when family calls I most definitely ensure that becomes my priority."

Ombrè continues to share profits to various charity organisations, one being supporting women who are HIV-positive, by helping them with education in agriculture to enable them to grow wheat and crops. They now earn over £300 and are able to confidently support themselves and their families.

Nadia opined that women are such an essential part of society and the UAE has always been a phenomenal example of a nation that empowers women since 1973, when the first all-women meeting took place here. "During the initial stages of becoming an entrepreneur, I had approached the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, which became my pillar of strength, guiding me through every detail and simplifying the process of becoming a businesswoman through entrepreneurship and leadership courses."

"Hence, as a token of my appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Ombrè was launched on UAE National Day, a day special to me and all of us in the UAE."

"I still recall page 26 on the book Reflections of Happiness and Positivity by Sheikh Mohammed, where it spoke of our founding fathers Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid, which quotes that 'who could believe that in a tent in the desert in 1968, two men would set their sights on building a world class, developed country? Who could imagine that these two men would have enough confidence and optimism to transform the seven amicable emirates, governed by a tribal system and plagued by a lack of education, into a unified nation of institutions and systems, authorities and powers, with an established education and university system?'"

"Everyone of us is a representation of where we come from and hence it is my duty to represent myself based on the values, culture and traditions of where I come from, the UAE and do proud my parents who raised us," Nadia concludes.

- sandhya@khaleejtimes.com