The multi-label fashion boutique, Collage Fashions, is the passion project of business entrepreneur Nasrah Hussain Mukhtar. Located in Dubai, Collage Fashions showcases the intricate and premium work of Globally known labels. For more information on their array of brands then click here.
So without further ado, let’s meet Nasrah and get to know more about her road to being an entrepreneur in the grueling business world:
Cosmo ME: Could you tell us a bit about your job as an entrepreneur?
Nasrah: My job is to help run various companies which my husband and I have partnered over the years, mostly on a macro level, but, a couple of entities are close to my heart like currently our fashion business which I have more input into than others.
C: What did you study at university?
N: With a vivid imagination and a creative sense from a very young age, I got myself enrolled in American College in London as a fashion and design student along with Business Studies, but destiny had other plans and I entered the Business and Finance World which I do not regret at all, because it led to working alongside my father, a dynamic person who was an institute by himself, and highly respected in the business community.
C: Tell us about your first-ever job…
N: My first official job as a young teenager in the late 1980s was at my father’s family business. I started as a bookkeeping assistant, my father trusted me and let me modernize the accounts department to bring it to the international accounting level.
My on-the-job training, part-time education, and keenness to learn more helped me achieve many milestones goals that my father kept setting for me.
Therefore, I can say working in my father’s business in Finance and growing from one position to another for eleven years, all these experiences molded me into who I am today.
C: Top skills you need to be an entrepreneur?
N: The ability to strategize short and long-term financial and other goals in all aspects.
To be able to communicate, focus, learn and delegate effectively.
Build teams and motivate them to excel.
C: What is the best professional advice you’ve ever been given?
N: Build your reputation first, as it lasts even if the company does not. This means work should be based on principles and ethics.
Hire the right people for the right jobs, help them grow, as they grow the company.
That there is no place for arrogance at work and one should leave their ego at home.
C: How do you deal with rejection?
N: Depending on how or who the rejection comes from, I would normally take time to analyze to address the rejection whether at work or on a personal level. To make things better not to face a similar situation in the near future.
Rejection should never be an obstacle but an enhancement tool to strive for higher success.
C: How do you make a good impression?
One does not need to work hard at making a good impression. Conducting yourself with good manners, having a kind, considerate nature, and being approachable speaks volumes about anyone to make a good impression.
C: What is Collage Fashions and how did you start it?
N: Collage is a fashion concept multi-label store.
In January 2015, my husband acquired 50% in a running fashion boutique with a tiny tailoring corner.
He took a gamble by doing this so that I could step back again in the business world as I had no interest in working after I lost my Mentor- my beloved father. He knew my creative bug was still very much alive in me.
Back then this business catered to Pakistani fashion designer labels. By April of that year, I formally bought the remaining 50% of the business and took up the challenge to revamp, revive and bring it up to an elite level. Within the next three years, we changed to a bigger better location, with a new branding and a new concept store.
Today, at the store we have various fashion labels from across the globe, a bespoke tailoring unit, and a flourishing E-Store.
C: Top 3 tips on balancing your work life
N: Have the ability to prioritize what should be done immediately and what comes next.
The ability to delegate the right job to the right person having the right skills to perform in the best manner.
To be realistic and authentic in every manner of conduct helps to turn to Plan B whenever things do not go as planned.