Qatari woman entrepreneur recounts tale of success

Qatari woman entrepreneur recounts tale of success
Web posted at: 3/11/2008 1:25:51
Source ::: The Peninsula
Al Sulaiti broke traditional barriers to emerge successful.
DOHA • She had dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur when she was a child but having been born into a conservative Qatari family she was married off at 13.

But marriage and children couldn't stop Mona Al Sulaiti from pursuing her dream. Fighting all odds, she continued attending school and eventually graduated with a business administration degree.

She wanted to set up a fashion design business but didn't have the means to start off on her own. Determined, she took up a job at the Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar (VCUQ) as an assistant

to the dean.

Al Sulaiti gradually succeeded in convincing students and staff of VCUQ of the immense scope of the business concept she had in mind ever since she was a child.

Sulaiti soon resigned and plunged into the world of business headlong and success is hers today.

But the ambitious lady doesn't think she is successful. "The moment I think I have achieved what I wanted to, I would cease to grow," she told an audience at a seminar on entrepreneurship held by the British Council here at the Four Seasons Hotel

yesterday.

"You can do whatever you wish to provided you believe in yourself and think positively," said Al Sulaiti.

She said she wrote her business plan on a piece of paper and put it in a drawer in her house while she was a child. Pursuing the plan remained her passion all through. As a grown-up, she got an opportunity to discuss the plan with people who were experts in the field. But they didn't believe it would work.

But she didn't give up and continued to dream of the venture. A group of local investors eventually agreed to put in money and set up a private shareholding company with Al Sulaiti as general manager. The venture is known as 'YD09' and its products are gradually gaining in popularity.

Asked by The Peninsula, how she managed to become an entrepreneur in a society which is known for being traditional, conservative and male-dominated, she said: "Women in Qatar are highly intelligent and educated. They have freedom but are scared of breaking social barriers."

Even while following her religion and social customs and wearing the traditional Qatari dress, she said she didn't ever hesitate to travel alone for business.

Nor did she hesitate to speak to men. "What's wrong in being independent," she said.