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Up Close and Personal with Azza Fahmy and her Girls

January 21, 2015 | Rana Kamaly 1
Up Close and Personal with Azza Fahmy and her Girls
Managing Director Fatma Ghaly & Designers Azza Fahmy & Amina Ghali

Juggling between being one of the most talented and creative designers, a pioneering businesswoman who made a name for herself on the international arena and successfully forging a strong bond with two daughters seems close to mission impossible.

But Azza Fahmy managed to be the hardest working of businesswomen and designers as well as being an awesome enough mother for her kids to want to follow in her footsteps and still develop their own wings and character.

The three ladies are working hand in hand at home and at work to make a legacy. Amina Ghali, the youngest daughter, became the Design Director of Azza Famy Jewelry (AFJ) and Fatma Ghaly became AFJ’s Managing Director.

Best bit is? Amina, Fatma and Fahmy share their secret of familial and professional success with 19TwentyThree.

Fahmy started out her journey to becoming the successful jewelry designer that she is today through translating the region’s culture to the world in 1969. Now she is an internationally renowned designer. She frequently took her girls along to her workshop that they both developed a strong passion for the brand and jewelry. Amina studied contemporary jewelry in Italy’s Alchimia School and received a BA in jewelry design and silversmith at the University of Central England. But she didn’t just follow her mother footsteps, she took the brand a step further and managed to introduce a fresh, trendy line to AFJ. Fatma became the business mind behind the brand, taking it internationally and introducing more and more collaborations worldwide and was selected as an Endeavor entrepreneur in 2008.

AFJ became synonymous with creative, original designs that reflect our culture, intricate craftsmanship and quality and sophistication every step of the way.

To learn more about Fahmy’s journey to international success check out our article celebrating her journey.

Edited excerpts of the interview:

Q: Our generation struggles trying to strike a balance between their work and their personal and family life. But you succeeded in growing your business all the while maintaining such a strong bond with your girls, how did you manage to balance your schedule between working on your designs and business as well as finding time to spend with the girls and grow close to one another?

?Azza: For us women entrepreneurs all over the world, ?our toughest challenge lies between balancing our personal lives with our business. Finding the balance wasn’t easy but the key is time management. When I first started back in 1969 I did not have the help I needed yet luckily for me, I had immersed my girls in my business from a very young age, taking them to my workshop, exhibitions, museums and theaters throughout my travels and it worked out for the best as today I have my youngest daughter Amina as the company’s Design Director and my design partner while Fatma is today the company’s Managing Director.

Q: What advice would you give to young mothers who are trying to carve a career path as well as maintain their families?

Azza: Invest in the right resources ?that will help you manage your time and achieve more.

Amina: The key is to be very organized and to have good time management and don’t let one take you from the other. You have to understand that, even though our mother had a business to run, but family always came first. And she had to make time for family no matter how busy she was. And it was the same, when it was time for work it was just time for work, she has to be dedicated and focused and there wasn’t time to be distracted. It’s very important when you are starting up your life and you do have a family that you don’t let both mix. With my mother she didn’t have the option, it had to mix, we helped her out all the time and it was fine but as resources increased we were able to do proper time management. This is how it works, you have to take it step by step.

Q: Many Egyptians argue that having a stay at home mother is better for the kids and give them more quality time with their mother. How would you say having a successful and inspiring mother like yours impacted you?

Fatma: Seeing my mother’s passion and determination as an artist and a business woman growing up has impacted me tremendously and led me to where I am today. ?She also taught me that failure is only but a part of success and that the only way to learn is through mistakes.

Amina: It’s amazing, to have her as an example, as she was able to manage family and work together. It’s a very difficult challenge especially in our part of he world, you either find people who are very good at this or very good at that. But for us it was very key that she succeeds in both.

Q: What would you say is the one single key to succeeding in striking that balance for you?

Fatma: I would say definitely time management and setting priorities. ?

Amina: When we grew up and my sister and I joined the business we created one rule that we all lived by, we don’t bring home work and we don’t bring work home.

Q: What’s next for Azza Fahmy and the girls?

?Azza: We’re currently involved in a lot of projects; Amina is currently working on our 2016 Fashion Line with trendsetters in London and Fatma is working on the brand’s expansion regionally and globally. As for me, I am directing a lot of focus towards education and development with my school The Design Studio by Azza Fahmy and vocational training with the government. ?I am also currently working with Dubai Fashion Council as board member and incubator.


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