Despite not having the support of her family and friends, Nafisa established her carpet business in 2012. She was told by her family that she couldn’t be a businesswoman because it was a man’s world and she didn’t have the support of her husband—but that didn’t stop her.
First, Nafisa graduated from a teacher training institute in Kabul, Afghanistan and then immediately began studying Business Administration at Kardan Educational Private Institute in Kabul. With this background, Nafisa opened her business in 2012 and proved to her friends and family that she had beaten the odd of becoming a woman business owner.
Soon after opening her carpet business, she began travelling to trade exhibitions in Dubai, India, and Turkey for market research and to scope out her competition. Her mission has always been to share Afghanistan’s deep-rooted culture and heritage with the world by introducing traditional Afghan carpets. Weaving has always been a traditional art form in Afghanistan using local raw materials to create beautiful works of art. Nafisa would not only like to sell existing Afghan carpets, but train women to weave new designs and patterns using traditional methods and materials. By achieving this, she could impact her local community and economy by creating jobs.
Nafisa Hashemi Ltd. currently employs 3 management positions and a number of designers and weavers throughout several Provinces. Her store is located in Kabul, but in the near future she hopes to expand to Herat, Kandahar, Jalabad, and Mazar—and eventually worldwide.
Nafisa and 19 other PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® students from Afghanistan and Rwanda will arrive in Dallas, Texas to take part in Leadership Development this July 7 – 18th . The program consists of 3 segments: first Business Boot Camp is an in-depth study of accounting, marketing, and managerial skills taught by three Northwood University professors. The second phase is the Mentorship Experience, where each lady is paired with a U.S. businesswoman in a like industry for three days. During this time, each lady will learn the valuable skill of successfully juggling business and family life. On July 17th, all PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® students return to Dallas for an International Women’s Economic Summit and Graduation. The theme for this year’s Summit is Power ● Pride ● Purpose featuring speakers who will address finding the power within you to create change, the pride found in seeing others succeed and living a life of purpose by paying it forward in a meaningful way.
For more information regarding the Summit and Graduation including registration, click here. We invite you to meet Nafisa and our inspirational women entrepreneurs.
Nafisa Hashemi, Founder and CEO of Nafisa Hashemi Ltd. will be participating in the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS(r) program this July.
One of the many beautiful Afghan carpets offered in Nafisa’s store.
