The story behind Hiya Tees

It all started few months ago when these two optimists, Izza and Hafidz shared their ideas to me about starting a clothing line. They notice that most of their secular female friends from JC and university are having a hard time looking for a hijabi-friendly sports wear which is of dri-fit material and is knee-length. Even if there is, those dri-fit tees are usually from mosques’ youths or full-time madrasahs AND THEY HAVE THEIR LOGOS ON IT. So, selling something that we can hardly get off the rack (and is of a demand within the minority) would be good. And I couldn’t agree more.

Hence it all started. A group of 3 souls, working towards selling dri-fit tees for the hijabis. I am mainly in charge of designing the tees and posters for marketing purposes. Izza is the administrator slash accountant and Hafidz is the IT guy.

What about the name Hiya Tees, you ask? Here’s the story: 

“Hmm, what should we name our small company eh?” 

“Let’s make it simple but relatable.” 

“Nak name in Malay or English or… Arabic? Hmm.” 

“Ahh what about Hiya? It means ‘she’ in Arabic!”

And there you go,  Hiya Tees 

Hiya Tees was launched last week on the 1^st of April just because we thought Friday would be a good day haha. It’s the 4^th day today and Alhamdulillah, I can say that we are doing great in terms of sales. Izza had just mailed out a total of 40 parcels in the morning! And oh, we currently have 4 designs in our collection named ‘Simplicity’. The designs are really simple, with a mix of basic colours as we wanna make it easy for the ladies to match it with their pretty shawls! Hehe. I myself am keeping each design for myself. Mom says that they’re versatile and can be worn to many occassions, especially when you’re travelling around and just wanna feel comfy but still look good.

Honestly, this was not the first time someone approaches me for a business collaboration. So, when they did, I actually had the thought that this is just gonna be another short-term “thingy”. But hey, lets be positive, I hope that we’ll be able to expand our clothing line and make this a “real” business in the future. Insya Allah. J

www.hiyatees.com

DARE TO DREAM BIG

Hi all. Peace be upon you readers. :')

Being a tertiary student is different from being in a secondary school, from all aspects. The guidance you got from your teachers, the level of care, the amount of love and yeah... I can go on and on. Went to visit my primary and secondary school teachers recently and it makes me miss my life there even more. Like what people always say, "YOU WILL ONLY MISS SOMETHING ONCE ITS GONE" Straight to my face lah guys. T.T

So, I actually went to greet my former (hate to us this word actually 'cos to me, my teachers will always be my teachers but, just to avoid confusion thus the word's usage) teachers from madrasah with a few friends last week to give them the special cupcakes as a token of appreciation, also as a remembrance. The smiles drawn on their faces upon seeing us were all worth it. I can say that they seem happy with how we've turned out to be now. We received a few cute responses from them too...

"Whoa you guys still remember us. Come lah visit us more often, everyday also can!"

"Did you girls baked these cupcakes? Hehehe"

"One cupcake only? That will be gone in no time! Hahaha"

Hahaha my teachers are all pretty much like-able and I am glad that we actually stepped forward to plan something for the teachers, representing our cohort. I hope that this tradition will continue as years pass by. And I'm happy to say that this is by far our 2nd year doing this. :') *tears of accomplishment*

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"When you want to succeed in life, as bad as you want to breathe you will be successful."

As we grow older, I guess we need to think forward and plan ahead. But sometimes we fail to do so due to the busy schedules and the dashing routine we face daily. We're too occupied with the never-ending-school-stuff and whatnot... which left us with no space. PITIFUL.

Well, I've ways wanted to do my own business and I believe it's not impossible to start NOW. It doesn't matter what kind of business you're fond at, as long as you have the determination and passion with a specific plan, Insya Allah all will be well. I've experienced a couple of small-businesses, but one is sadly extinct a year back. What I'm referring to is the 'Bukharalites Muslimah Kendarat' company which used to be led by Munira and me. We even had our own name cards and our weekends used to be packed with wedding events. My phone won't stop ringing as people keep enquiring about our small company. I can say that we were doing quite well as starters. Moreover, we started this when we were only 15. Unfortunately, it only lasts for about 4 years due to our team members' personal commitments and stuff. Plus, Munira and me are also busy with school and we thought that we should really focus and adapt to our new school  that time.

Currently, I'm having this baking affair. Have you heard of 'Ghurabakes'? Yes, we actually bake those sweet treats and promote them on instagram. Established in January 2013, I can also say that we are doing well than expected. But, also, due to school and stuff, we can't afford to bake on a daily basis, even monthly. We will take orders only during our free time. We kind of treat this as a hobby, also a channel to gain some side income. Also, through baking, our friendship becomes stronger. Friendship? Ya, ghurabakes consists of 4 people including me and we became even closer with the presence of Ghurabakes. :')
Follow us on Instagram: @ghurabakes

Apart from those mentioned above, I intend to invest on other things. The plan is there but the excution part....errrmmmm x_x. Plus, my business partner, Ruffy is super creative when it comes to business planning and I seriously hope that at least one of the plans will be executed soon. Insya Allah. The only problem is that we don't really own a large capital to start it off by ourselves. But we will work towards it for sure :')

When I came to visit my secondary school last week, Mdm B actually asked about this:-
"Syazreema, what kind of business do you intend to do?"

.....and I couldn't really give her a concrete answer. :(