We were lucky to catch up with Sisi Surgant recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sisi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I was born and raised in Germany to working class immigrant parents from Morocco and Tunisia and growing up I felt inferior to everyone else because I did not share the same culture, have the same skin color and didn’t even speak the same language at first. In addition, I experienced a nearly-fatal burn accident when I was very young that left me with big scars across my body that caused me to feel even more self-conscious. I learned how to live through these things and I fell in love with fashion because it was a way to feel beautiful. As the years went on, I studied the art of fashion and learned how I could apply what I learned to help other women. My current mission developed from the struggles that I went through and what I did to overcome them – and that I could use that to help many other women who feel inferior and self conscious to find their confidence and beauty through fashion. The women whom I already helped have given me the deepest sense of meaning and I see beauty in the fact that I can use my suffering to create something great for someone else.
Sisi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was a stay at home mom until I decided to turn this crazy dream into a reality. I wanted to use my creativity, my years of experience working for big designers (Filippa K, YSL, Calvin Klein) and my eye for fashion to improve the lives of others. I had always styled my family and friends and every time I returned from Europe I received compliments for my clothes, therefore I decided to open a European influenced fashion store. The brilliant and unique styles of clothing are all hand-picked by me to bring out the best version of every woman. In addition to the products themselves, I offer 1:1 consultation where I like to get to know you and find the optimal style for you and your occasion. Finally, a portion of every sale at SIHAM contributes to a non-profit organization we partnered with, Burns Recovered, to provide child burn survivors with opportunities they may not otherwise have, such as education, recreational programs, financial assistance and much more.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Sure, I believe I had to be resilient almost my whole life since I had to carry around my burn scars wherever I went. Besides that, moving to the United States and running a business in a language which is/was foreign to me is pretty hard. This is especially hard emotionally when it comes to managing things for my kids because I don’t want them to go through what I had to go through as a child, feeling unprepared and behind in things just because we are immigrants. Even in Germany, the country I grew up in, our language at home was Moroccan/Tunisian so I didn’t even speak the same language at school for the first couple years. I worked hard and got through school but without the high school diploma let alone a college degree. After working for a few years I decided to go back to school and get a college degree. However what I did in high school didn’t even qualify me for that. And unlike the US where someone can take a test for their GED, in Germany I was required to take the same classes and this added 4 more years onto my educational journey. I sacrificed having a job and money over the years just to eventually get my college degree. I had an opportunity to work for the vogue magazine in Munich, which was a dream job for me. But I’m proud I chose to not give up on my education even though I did it later than most. The odds were stacked against me but I’m the first one in my family with a university degree. Now I have the education AND the career I always dreamed off.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Oh I have a few but this one had the most impact on my life so far. After finally getting my degree instead of working my dream job in Munich I chose love and moved to the USA. It wasn’t easy for me to leave my family and friends and start a new life from scratch. For those who know me I am a big family person. But now, I could not be happier about this decision. I am married to the love of my life, we have 2 healthy and beautiful children and my family in Germany comes to visit frequently and we travel overseas too whenever we want. Everything worked out just fine. I’m blessed that I was able to turn my passion for fashion into a profession and I get to help so many women in so many ways throughout my experience. I am also grateful to have the opportunity to empower women through public speaking. Public speaking has also helped me understand myself better and my purpose in this world. I’m trying to be the best example, especially for my kids and want nothing more than for them to be healthy, happy and proud of me. Because as I always say, I am a mom first!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shopsiham.com/
- Instagram: @shopsiham.official
- Facebook: @shopsiham.official
- Other: My Personal instagram account is: Sisi.Sur
Image Credits
@schyhi