Having a degree in Fashion Design and now a business student, I am a talented and passionate woman from a conservative society where these qualities are neither appreciated nor encouraged. A woman is expected to be concerned with domestic chores and rearing children only. This approach has always challenged my ambition and goals in life.
After completing my undergrad in Fashion studies, being restricted to stay at home by my over-protective parents, I started an online fashion retail business: Eve. by Sundas. To their approval, I could now follow my passion whole managing my business from home. My two year old entrepreneurial venture has taught me consumer management, having dealt with over 2000 customers, financial control; making sales of PKR 200,000 annually. Negotiations and dealing with sellers from China, UAE and UK, multitasking, interpersonal skills in handling issues with deliveries, supply chain and portfolio management. This entrepreneurial stint equipped me with immense first-hand experience and has set the path for future entrepreneurial studies.
I am a hardworking and responsible woman. In 2008, right after graduation, I was given charge of the Placement and Training office in my university with no past experience in management. I completely transformed the place. I raised sponsorship through my industrial contacts and conducted the biggest industrial open house in 2009. Raising a budget of PKR 1.5 million, its magnitude has still yet not been beaten. I published the first ever profile directory of my university with about 150 CVs of recent graduates. I also initiated an online CV portal for students, discarding the old tedious process of manual CV collection and distribution.
I am a born leader. I rise above the group and take charge. During the first Islamabad Fashion Week in 2011, among total chaos of organizers, I, participating as a designer, tore out a sheet of paper and made a proper schedule and sequence of catwalk, allotted models to every designer and set everyone to work. I am the first to volunteer to participate in a competition, to help teachers, answer a question or explain a phenomenon in class. Or to assign work to my study group and stimulate them to be productive and formulate the best project. I have been selected twice, once in 2008 and then in 2013, to represent my university in an academic competition in India.
Most importantly, always being an enthusiast for social work and development, I have volunteered to give skill development classes in a vocational center of a non-profit organization, Dhaka Ahsania Mission Pakistan (DAMP). This experience brought me in direct contact with the poor, rural women, working to raise funds to support their families. This heart touching experience particularly stimulated me and connected me with philanthropy and led me on the path of social entrepreneurship. I also coordinate various social welfare projects conducted under Iqra Center for Social Responsibility.
In yearning for more, I always exceed the number of required credits for my MBA and still maintain a high CGPA. Along with my online business and full time post graduate degree, I also volunteer with Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Pakistan; a sister concern of Kauffman Foundation USA, both working to promote entrepreneurship and education. This entails working closely with Mr. Kashif M. Khan, Iqra University’s Director Industrial Liaison and Linkages who is also the President of GEW Pakistan. Due to my social and public speaking skills, I have conducted different entrepreneurial awareness events concerning areas such as access to finance, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship and franchise business in Pakistan. During my volunteer work with GEW, I have had a chance to meet with and listen to the top Pakistani and international entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences. I helped to compile an entrepreneurial policy document during Policy Round Table Conference in November 2012. It was signed by top Pakistani entrepreneurs and policy makers. I have received a letter of thanks from the US Embassy this year, appreciating my valuable contributions and efforts in promoting entrepreneurship.
From fashion to business management and now social entrepreneurship, I have given it my all and will continue to do so. Today, my country is completely immersed in various societal problems, the root cause of which is poverty. Having seen the government fail, in my opinion, it now vastly depends on social entrepreneurs to stabilize the economy of Pakistan. This prospect excites me and so I am eager to take this field of study as my next course of action. With one foot in fashion and the other in community development, I want to find my way forward and lead my country towards progress.
Sundas Liaqat 