A lot has been said on passion and purpose, and how those who go on to blaze the trail in their fields are the ones who are not satisfied with what life throws at them. In this issue of Deen Queens, we beam the spotlight on Ajarat Raheem, who has evolved to become a producer of trendy women couture, from earlier stints in Agriculture and Journalism.
Can you introduce yourself, please?
I am Ajarat Raheem, and I am married with a kid. Those who have known me for a while may be wondering. Well, I didn’t change my surname after marriage, and I don’t think I will. I am a fashion designer and the founder of Bmyguest couture.
Although I studied Agricultural Economics and Farm Management at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), now I am a fashion designer. Currently, I work from home.
I am from Epe, Lagos and I live in Lagos state as well.
Interesting. Did you grow up in Lagos too?
Yes, partly in Abule Egba and in 2007, my family and I moved to Sango. It is still Lagos, but people argue that it is Ogun State, but that is my father’s permanent residence.
I am from a family of seven, my father is late and I am the second child. About friends, I have plenty of friends o, although it is limited to a very small circle. I am actually an extrovert. But friends – real friends – are not that much.
You said you studied in FUNAAB. Was there a career you had in mind while growing up?
Actually, I always wanted to be in the medical field. You know na, in science class, everyone wanted to be doctors. After finishing secondary school, I checked the JAMB brochure and around that time, I don’t know what happened, but I told my father I was no longer studying medicine and I couldn’t handle blood. I have a phobia for it till date.
I wish I had known what I now know about the medical field; if I had known there were other courses like nursing, dentistry, pharmacology, and a lot of others that didn’t ‘involve blood’, I would have taken it. I only knew of Medicine and Surgery.
My father is a lover of Economics, and since I wasn’t interested in anything other than Medicine, he was the one who chose Agricultural Economics for me in FUNAAB. He had always wanted me to go there because my sister was schooling there also. It is not like Agricultural Economics was originally my passion.
And did you like the course?
Ah, I did not like it. I didn’t grow to like it, I grew to tolerate it. I was just there, with no passion.
So it was more like an insurance thing abi?
Yes, to just have the ‘Pali’. Along the line, I knew I couldn’t go through life without any bearing. I didn’t see myself working in the banking sector. Around that time, I learnt catering and hairdressing. I was just looking for something I love. And Alhamdulilah, around 2015, when I went for FPY – Farm Practical Year – I discovered fashion design. I really just wanted to pass the time but when I started, I was like, “I finally found it. I hit the ‘jackpot’”. It took four months for me to learn it.
Four months?
Yes. During the FPY in 400 level, we were assigned a piece of land to farm and we spent only about 2 hours on the farm in a day, so I had plenty of time in my hands. That was what pushed me. Maybe because I finally found something I love, it was so easy for me to learn. My boss then wondered if I had learnt it before.
After service, I furthered my fashion designing education part-time; I went for pattern drafting in 2018 at Ikeja Fashion House. I learnt it for 8 months in 2018/2019. So far so good, Alhamdulilah, here I am today, still in the career.
Alhamdulillah. What would you say is your biggest achievement in Fashion Designing and the impact it had on your career?
A huge impact. I have been able to make modest wear affordable, and I can make expensive styles cheaper. It is not about the money, it is about making quality outfits affordable for people.
More like from a place of goodness?
Exactly.
Can you tell us about the challenges you have faced in your career?
Hmm. That has to be the ubiquitous bias against people wearing the Hijab. I wear a full Jilbab, by the way.
Let me share some experiences. After I learned pattern drafting, I wanted to work as a stylist for a while so that I could learn how to build my business by learning from others already in the field. Someone introduced me to a stylist working around Ijesha. On getting there, the minute she saw me, she said, “Rara oo! Are you sure you can sew?”
In fact, she was surprised when I was conversing with her in English. She kept asking me all manner of questions about my formal education. It’s sad that in 2022, some people still have the belief that once your hair is covered or your face is veiled, your brain is as well. I don’t know why people have this archaic belief that people with Hijab are not educated, can’t speak English or cannot be as skilled as everyone else.
Well, with this stylist, I underwent an interview and did everything to the best of my knowledge but it was not to be.
I was later informed by the person that introduced me to her that she said she wouldn’t give me a call-back, and that’s because she thinks that if walk-in clients see me, they won’t be comfortable. She reportedly said that wearing the Hijab is bad for her business.
I said no worries, it wasn’t like I can’t start my business on my own, I only needed knowledge on how to build the business.
I am sorry about that. Did you find another stylist you could work with?
I searched for other stylist jobs but I couldn’t land any, as a result of the Hijab.
It is not like everyone dismisses me because of my Hijab, but the ones I found did. Maybe if I had found better options, I would have gotten it, but this constraint pushed me to start my business.
Money wasn’t an issue, so I started with no headache. Along the line, I got married, so I had to leave Sango where I established my business. I started building my client base through referrals and also online because I knew getting them physically is going to be tough.
In my new area, there are about seven tailors. I am a fashion designer, and that is how I stand out. Where I now stay, people wearing the Hijab aren’t much, so building a client base wasn’t all that feasible. I also found a stylist job at last. Most of my work is online, so most of my clients don’t see me. I take measurements, money and styles online.
So most of your clients do not know the face behind your brand?
Yes, I remember the first time a client saw me. She said she was broke. And since I was on my way to get fabrics soon, I told her I would stop and drop her clothes for her. She was so shocked when she saw me. She was like, “Wait oo, are you the one sewing these clothes for me or Bmyguest couture sent you?” I confirmed I was the one. She looked at me from head to toe and asked me how I knew how to sew, and this was because of the Hijab I was wearing. I asked her if she hasn’t seen professionals like doctors, lawyers, and pilots on Hijab.
It’s already 2022. I believe people should be more aware of this.
I was also surprised. When I was sent the link to read the post on Kloutbox about trolls, I was like, “Ahh, na them”. She also asked me if I was Hausa. With her reaction, I was sure I was going to lose a client, but she called me two weeks later to apologize and explain how shocked she was because my clothes are always so neat. And she had a mental image of me already and because she met me, she now had a different mindset about Hijabis. And I explained that Hijab doesn’t mean I must be uneducated, it only means I am wearing a compulsory part of my faith. And now she is a good customer and has been referring people to me.
That’s a really interesting story. These comments do not seem to weigh you down.
Eh? Are you kidding me? They don’t weigh me down at all. I am going to change the narrative one person at a time. Weigh me down ‘kwa’? In fact, I am always happy. It didn’t even weigh me down when lecturers were complaining back in school.
In school?
Yes, during my final year was when I started wearing the full Jilbab. But before then, I was wearing the half one. My supervisor, also a Muslim, was shocked when I came in full Hijab during my defence. He was shocked and told me I should have had patience until after my defence since I was supposed to wear a suit.
I said that was how I was going to dress. On seeing me, the panel was like, “where is your suit?” I was like, “this is my suit”.
“In fact with this, your dressing is 0!”, they said.
I defended everything and answered all the questions they threw my way. And Alhamdulilah, I got an A.
Alhamdulillah. Who is your biggest source of inspiration in your career?
Ah, I don’t think I have. Maybe just me. It was not like I saw a particular designer and wanted to be one. Also, I was frustrated with the kind of clothes some tailors sewed for me; mismatched threads, loose threads and errors like that irked me.
You are your own cheerleader! That is inspiring. Also, I saw on your social media bio that you are into rearing bees?
I used to, yes. It is called apiculture. Azeez Okeyale, Joshua Bolarinwa and I, three of us, used to go to ‘a bush’ – our apiary. It was a really fun time. It was after service. Joshua was the farmer, he already had a farm even before we graduated from Uni. Azeez and I were focused on Journalism when we were in school, but I also realised it was not my passion.
This journalism was during school?
Yes, we worked in Ibadan at Naija Campus Vibes.
Ibadan?
Yes, I used to be a member of the editorial crew in FUNAAB. I freelanced with Naija Campus Vibes and introduced the idea to Azeez when we were gisting and he became interested. I wanted to gear my talkativeness into something.
After service, I tried going into apiculture even though I was a budding fashion designer. I got a piece of land beside Joshua’s and Azeez joined along the line. There were so many challenges; like when we tried to harvest the honey and the bees started swarming (lol), the road to the farm was dangerous, and I was the only female.
That was a very funny part of my life; I can’t remember it without laughing about it. I didn’t stay long in apiculture, just 1-2 years. I got married and stopped and Joshua started walking around the globe; I call him ‘Ajala, the traveller’. I could not go there alone, and that was why I had to stop, but everything is still there. I might go there one day, but for now, I am focused on my family and business.
You had quite the journey. What will you say is the best advice someone gave you?
That has to be the one from my Dad. He said never to let anyone put me down, to always speak out. Since I talk a lot, I should be bold enough to face anyone, and to always be truthful even if it is difficult; to not let anyone talk me down because I wear the Hijab or because I am a female or because I look small. He said I should always stand for my rights no matter what the status or age of the person trying to trample on it is.
Your Dad sounds very supportive of most of your decisions in life.
Yes, my Dad and my Mum. My Mum is more of the gentle type, a peace lover. But my Dad will tell you to call “a spade a spade”. However, my Mum will say “if you are the only one calling a spade a spade and you know it is going to be dangerous, don’t talk. Don’t lie too, but don’t talk”.
My Dad would say even if you are the only one with a different opinion, talk! He was a talker too, and was always standing for the truth. Maybe that is why Hijab trolls do not irk me. If they bring it on, I will deliver it back. I give them as e dey hot. No one puts me down and gets away with it.
Ah, revenge is sweet oo (lol). I will say my own back, no matter who the person is. I noticed that if I don’t give trolls a response, they will attempt to troll again. I draw the lines so they know. In my service year, for example, I faced a lot of challenges in the camp due to my full Jilbab. The soldiers will talk and talk, but they could not ‘kuku’ beat me.
Speaking about NYSC, can you briefly tell us about the career you pursued during your service year and if it had any impact on your choices today?
I served in Ondo in 2017. I was posted to the Federal University of Technology, Akure. My mother was afraid and told me not to go and fight there. I was tagged rude several times, but I didn’t care. I stood for myself.
I got a lot of complaints about my Hijab length, and I made sure not to accept any errands that did not align with my job description. I finished my service year there and even got reported to the HOD. But I have “Apoti Irin” (which in literal terms means I was there to stay and no one could make me leave) and as I said, I stayed till the end. I was going to stay.
I have a lot of stories, and I am sure that the secretary who I had a lot of “fights” with would not forget me in a hurry. She even referred to me as Boko Haram at some point, it was that bad, but that was only because I never, ever, allowed myself to be downtrodden upon. When I finished service and was ready to leave, the same person was crying.
She said, “Alhaja, gbogbo nkan lo gba, sha maa fowo kan esin re”, which means that Alhaja (she was referring to me) can take anything but just don’t mess with her faith.
She still greets me. Even when I gave birth, she reached out. She said she always talks about me to other corp members posted to serve in her office till date.
My mother was grateful I came back safe. She blamed my father for raising me the way he did. My father said we are girls, so we need to always stand up for ourselves, and that if we keep quiet all the time, what does she expect life to do to us?
Even if beaten unjustly at school, a government school for that matter, my father will come. He will state that I am not rude, just someone who always speaks the plain truth.
He always hated lies and we had feared lying as a result. Right from kids, he gave us that courage. I miss him. After he died, the boys took after my mother and the girls after our father, because she raised the boys for the “gentle life.”
Alhamdulillah.
What advice will you give to a Muslim woman in your career path?
- No matter what path you take, strive to be good at it.
- Know your onions well.
- Give quality output and don’t do substandard. My clients know me, they say Hajia never does substandard. No matter how expensive the quality is, I always make sure to get it.
- And when you are in the right, fight till the finish. Don’t believe a woman should keep quiet. My husband knows me; whatever is my right no one can take away from me.
- Be truthful and hold on to the rope of Allah. Be prayerful.
- Work hard. Work smart too. Even if it is five clients you can hold on to, hold on to them.
- Don’t disappoint. If you promised a delivery date to your clients, ensure you fulfil that promise. If I say Wednesday, it must be Wednesday. There will be less embarrassment and fewer worries that way.
Thank you for that. What other hobbies do you have?
Ahh, I love sleeping oo. I love novels, I read them a lot. I love movies, mostly Nigerian movies. I can’t hear what they are saying in ‘oyinbo’ ones.
I love cooking too. If my husband allows it, I would put my bed inside the kitchen. Maybe it is also because I love eating. I love travelling as well, I would love to go all around the world. I don’t like stress at all, but I love discovering new places.
‘Deen Queens’ explores stories of Muslim women breaking barriers in different fields of life. It tells the inside story of their successes, challenges, growth and inspiration to be the person they are today. It is published exclusively on KloutBox every Wednesday.
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