We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ellaf Al-Tamimi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ellaf, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I started Bosskey Premium Services LLC in March of 2021. I was preparing to graduate with my bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico. As a first-generation immigrant, and single mother of three children, having a career and an advanced college degree were not the definition of success for my family. They were for me. As a middle school dropout (yes, I’ve never been to high school), I wanted nothing more than an education. I yearned to be successful, to make my own money, and be find my independendence. I was held hostage in Iraq for over seven years by my ex-husband, whom I was forced to marry at the age 14. I came back to America and was eager to accomplish my goal of finally going to college. My father instantly tried to shut down my dreams. He told me things like: “Why can’t you just be a good mom and stay at home for your kids?’, and “You think you can get a degree and raise decent kids? You’ll neglect them and they’ll end up in the streets selling drugs because you were so selfish with your time.”
Because I decided to end an abusive marriage, my immigrant parents will not see anything I do in life as successful. That was their definition of success: raising kids and being married.
My mission with Bosskey Premium Services LLC is to help other small business owners succeed with proper marketing tools and techniques, as well as other business services. My mission is to change people’s mindset on what they can accomplish as entrepreneurs; to give others confidence in not giving up on their ideas, passions, and creativity.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Ellaf Al-Tamimi. I am a 31-year-old Iraqi-American woman. My family came to America in 1991 as refugees when I was a few months old during the war between Kuwait and Iraq. When I was 14 years old I was sent to Iraq to get married. I was trapped in Iraq with my ex-husband until 2017 with no way to communicate with anyone outside the house I was living in. I was sexually, mentally, and physically abused by my ex-husband during my entire marriage. When I came back to America I experienced a lot of racism and chose to take my hijab off. This upset my parents, but they were living in Dearborn, Michigan and I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico with no support from anyone, so I continued on my mission of getting a better life. I worked at the hospital every weekend night for 4 years, so I can take care of my 3 kids during the daytime and go to school. I graduate with four associate degrees in honors and continued to earn my bachelor’s degree in Criminology and International Studies. I am currently a graduate student in the Master’s in Business for Professionals Program at the University of New Mexico. I have started my marketing agency, bought my first home, and continue to stand in the face of domestic violence and break toxic generational cycles.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I believe the most effective strategy for growing clientele, is building a strong brand presence through networking and professional relationships. I strongly believe that people want to work with others who value skills like; honesty, integrity, and reliability. Being known for positive soft skills open a lot more doors for an entrepreneur, than just offering a good product or service.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a digital creator is helping people bring their business visions to life. Being able to gather my client’s thoughts and dreams of their brand into a logo and website they love is the best part of the job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://allmylinks.com/ellafaltamimi2012
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellaf_altamimi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellaf.altamimi.7
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellafaltamimi/
Image Credits
Brandon Lamar