Celebrate International Women’s Day #IWD w/ #MoreBizWomen #womeninbiz @staplesCanada
International Women’s day is coming up around the corner. It’s a day to celebrate the amazing women in our lives and their many accomplishments. When I think of a local entrepreneur making a difference in their community, I think of a woman who immigrated to Canada with a plan for her future. Amber Ahmed came from a third world county with a dream and spent the last couple of decades working to achieve that dream. She is in the business of beautifying women but does so much more than that with every client.
The 39 year-old built her business from the ground up, literally starting in her basement twenty-three years ago. I met her over a decade ago, when I first became her client. Her passion for what she did set her apart from other aestheticians and makeup artists I’ve met. Over the years, I have watched her business grow and admired her passion for her business, her clients and perfection. Her professionalism and attention to every client makes you leave feeling luxurious and pampered.
Ahmed came from Pakistan as a makeup artist and beauty specialist and knew she wanted to grow more. “As a beauty specialist my goal is to make my clients happy with their looks and feel good about themselves while boosting their confidence within themselves. I take care of their concerns,” says Ahmed. She takes great joy in seeing her clients leave happily.
As a business owner, she strives to remain organized and manage her staff and their needs while maintaining and growing her clientèle. Speaking as her client, her care and concern has touched me on a personal level many times. I have walked into her salon either stressed, preoccupied or feeling glum and she will pick up on it instantly. She has a knack for understanding her clients and through her attention to detail is reassuring, comforting and manages to make you leave feeling glamorous. Despite there being no shortage of beauty salons or aestheticians around, Ahmed’s commitment to the care and comfort of her clients has spoken to my heart.
Ahmed is an inspiration for young aspiring aestheticians. “We have a lot of students and of course young girls with little or no investment who want to start their business like how I did it from my house in a very small room.” Ahmed is happy to help coach them, help them with stages and answer any questions they may have.
“There aren’t many places to serve our south Asian community in Montreal. Having a place for Bridal makeup and hair and understanding their needs.” The talented hair/makeup artist and aesthetician is hoping to one day open her own beauty school and continue giving back to the community.
Ahmed’s advice to entrepreneurs is that “If you have a passion or discover one, go for it, always start small, pay attention to little details and future results. And only focus on things you love to do, work on it, then the sky is the limit. Running a business is not easy. There are ups and downs. The most important thing is to be positive and keep believing in yourself!”
Join Staples Canada to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 7th and 8th by visiting your local store. Each store will be showcasing local entrepreneurs making a difference in their communities. Enjoy and save at these events with a 10% savings coupon.
Remember Staples Canada has everything a business needs to succeed. Discover how Staples products and services can help support your business needs throughout these events.
I hope you can join us for a Twitter chat LIVE March 4th at 1 pm EST via #MoreBizWomen to celebrate the accomplishments of business women in your life
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DISCLOSURE: Please note this is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.
It is so inspiring to hear stories like this! Thanks for sharing Amber’s story!
I know first hand how hard working people who immigrate to Canada are, as my husband is originally from Romania. It takes a lot of courage to leave ones family and homeland and start over from scratch. Way to go Amber and Staples for supporting these courageous individuals in business!
WAY TO GO STAPLES!! What a great way to celebrate Women!! This Women is amazing!! I love her work!! Stunning!
Such an amazing and inspiring story. Thank you for sharing! Staples is amazing.
What a great picture! Also this is an inspiring post. I love how it combines both women’s strengths and abilities and celebrates diversity too.
Love Ahmed’s work in those pictures, wow! Wishing her all the best with her career, she definitely has talent! 🙂 It can be incredibly difficult for those who immigrate to Canada to thrive in the career of their choice here. I truly admire my sister-in-law for what she had to work through for her dreams. She has always wanted to be a nurse (its in her nature to help everyone,) and had graduated as such outside of Canada, but due to regs, she had to go through the entire education process again shortly after she moved here (all the while learning how to fluently read/speak/write English at the same time.) It took a few years of patience (and paper work, oiy,) but she’s back on track in the profession she loves! <3
How great that staples is helping out these women like this. I wish I lived closer so that I could check out some of the featured ladies in the stores.
I love reading success stories like these that revolve around women entrepreneurs. It inspires me to continue forging ahead.
What a wonderful story they are sharing not to mention how beautiful they all are.
What an amazing day to celebrate and bring awareness to international women. Those photos are amazing.
We have more women going into business for themselves than men these days. We are women, here us roar!
What a wonderful story. It is so awesome that Staples is doing this.
Beautiful ladies! I am celebrating our day with our friends
Wow, what a great day. I love the photos, the makeup especially!
I love that Staples is celebrating International Women’s Day. That makes me want to pick up some office supplies.
Girl power! I always love hearing such success stories of women! Kudos to Staples for recognizing women go out there and make their dreams a reality!
What a wonderful cause, this is surely an amazing day to celebrate!
Being positive and believing in yourself can get you through so much. Amber is so cool!
This is an inspiring story. I am glad that Staples recognized it. Way to go
Ahmed does fabulous work! The women in these pictures are so gorgeous!
All of those women look so fabulous. I would love to be able to do makeup that well. What a great story.
the make up is amazing and these women look beautiful.
Wow this is amazing! So wonderful of Staples! Those photos are absolutely gorgeous!
wow! I love the beautiful makeup and head dress on the lady in red. Beautiful
It’s nice that she’s happy to coach/help others. And the makeup is gorgeous.
Omgosh those are beautiful photos and amaxing make up work. The attire is stunning too.
I just found out recently that it was IWD. I’m a true believer as well that you should only truly work on things you love because then it becomes really fulfilling.
Lovely Article Fariha. Amber is definitely an inspiration to a lot of women and so are you
. What a woman. More power to her 🙂
Thank you Shaista 🙂