We recently connected with Myda Ali and have shared our conversation below.

Myda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

Patience. Persistence. Passion.

Success and how to achieve it will differ from person to person, but these are the traits and attributes I believe are key in order for me to be successful.

Starting a business (especially with no prior experience), and getting to where you want to be/see yourself, is a long journey. You have to learn and teach yourself a lot of new skills along the way. You have to wear a lot of hats starting out. Nothing will take place overnight, over a week, month, or even a year. This is where you have to keep pushing through, despite feeling like you’re not moving (in your journey) at times, but you have to keep your eye on the goals that you have set for yourself, and remember why you started in the first place. As soon as you lose that motivation and excitement about whatever it is you’re doing, that’s where you’ll hit a dead-end. Your passion for your work allows you to only march forward despite the challenges, allows you figure out ways around roadblocks, and enables you to achieve bigger and better goals.

Myda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Myda,owner at Mehndi by Myda! I am a Dallas based professional henna artist, specializing in henna for South Asian brides. However, I cater to a large variety of clients who are interested in getting henna tattoo for personal care, birthday parties, graduation parties, theme parties, bridal showers, baby bumps, etc. Henna is a huge part of the South Asian/Middle Eastern culture, usually for wedding events where the girls get together for “henna night” during the start of wedding festivities and the bride gets her hands and feet adorned with as little or as much henna as she desires.

I’ve always had a creative streak as a child, growing up. My mother used to apply henna on my sister and I as kids every year for “Eid” (religious holiday for Muslims which comes twice a year). Watching my mother do this, I had a natural inclination towards it, and as a teenager, I picked up a henna cone and began practicing every chance I got.

It took me a long time to realize that I can do more with my skill and feel confident about it. With the immense support from my family, friends, and the final push from my husband, I finally put myself on social media to showcase my work, and began taking clients professionally starting in 2020. During 2020, with Covid, it was difficult to find projects as everything was in a lockdown, but this “downtime” allowed for me to set up my social media profile and create a decent following. During this time, I even branched myself out into creating my own Etsy shop for custom Candle and Charger plates primarily used for home decor, custom gifts, wedding decor, etc.

By 2021, I had gained enough exposure for clients to find me through Instagram, Facebook, and Etsy.

In the beginning of 2022, I launched my website where clients can reach out for inquiries, see my work, and access my Etsy shop.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

One of the biggest strategy that I discovered in being able to growing my clientele and following is consistent social media presence. Social media has become such a crucial part of any brand or business just over the past couple of years, and our lives in general, so staying relevant and in touch with the newest trends and being connected is really important. It is difficult sometimes to always stay current – some days you feel too overwhelmed and burned out from being “online” at all times that you just want to take a break. But it’s part of growing your name and brand; it’s just a different way of running your business in today’s age, so you still have to make sure to set aside some time to be able to keep connected.

Apart from that, having a quality website has also proven successful and powerful. My website has allowed many people, even outside of the Dallas Metroplex, to find me through a web search, so I have been discovered by a wider range of clientele that may not necessary have social media accounts, or some that may not know specifically of me.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

I can say I have had felt rewarded in many ways already in my short span of time. Each henna session that I do, I always make sure that I take away something from that event/session – whether it’s related to my art, the business aspect, client relationships, anything big or small. Sometimes I have faced unanticipated situations that I needed to find a way to work around in the moment, and those sessions have left me that much more experienced and better prepared for rare circumstances that could come up next time. That feels rewarding because in that moment, I have just grown in my skills as an entrepreneur and know how to handle myself and the situations in the best, most professional way for myself and the client.

Another example – there’s always some aspects of henna – some elements, motifs or specific designs – that I have struggled with because they still seem a little advanced. When those challenging designs come out almost perfectly when I’m in the middle of a session, it’s such a sense of accomplishment, and just a wonderful feeling knowing that I was able to achieve something that I was struggling with – it makes me do a little “happy dance” in my head. But the bigger picture of that for me is that which each passing session, I become a better, more polished artist. I still feel I have a long way to go, but I am proud of myself for how far I have come in my skills, in my art, since the time I started. Looking back at my own work from the past serves as a humble reminder to myself that the learning will never stop.

And of course, at the end of the day, the satisfaction on the clients’ or my brides’ faces, the positive feedback and reviews that I receive from them, truly make it worthwhile, and provides me more fuel to better myself even more. It’s truly an honor for me anytime clients wants me to be a part of their events or wedding in such a personal and beautiful way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mehndibymyda.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mehndibymyda
• Facebook: facebook.com/mehndibymyda
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIXLmguQAx5ObBoNjsFbT7g
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mehndi-by-myda-dallas
• Other: Etsy Shop: MehndibyMyda.etsy.com

Image Credits
Robinhood Photography Myda Ali Photos