We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rukayat Egbeyemi . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rukayat below.

Rukayat , appreciate you joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

This is an interesting question. I believe it is reasonable to expect or ask your family and friends to support your business. In many cases, they are the people you rely on the most, and the likelihood of them knowing about the business even at its infancy stage is high; and the relationship with them is close. My belief is that it is appropriate to ask them to support you, factoring in the level of relationship between you. My philosophy is to treat others how you want to be treated; if you want their support, are/have you been supportive of them?

When I started Ashabi, there were many occasions where people said to me “ I want this bag and I will order it online” and hearing that would get me excited; only for that to be short-lived, and I was left feeling disappointed. Eventually, I realized that I could not fault people for what they hoped to do, I stopped waiting for their support and decided to focus on promoting my business like I had no one’s support.

However, this does not equate to you always asking them to support your business, or making the growth and success of your business dependent on their support. Their support is important, but your family and friends should not be our target audience. Expand your horizon.

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?

I am the owner of Ashabi, a handmade beaded accessories brand that combines culture and style by pulling inspiration from my Yoruba culture and the unique style of my birth country, Nigeria as a whole. Ashabi is committed to making beaded fashion luxurious, yet accessible and affordable.

I learned bead weaving over a decade ago, and after losing my job in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to take the leap of faith and dive head-first into officially starting the business. For the past 3 years, I have designed and made various bags and accessories that our customers have fallen in love with. The uniqueness of our products is always a topic of discussion, and it makes me proud to hear people say they love their item(s) and have never seen anything like it.

One of our newest addition is the Yemi crossbody bag made especially for the men, this design has become a favourite in a short time.

But nothing beats hearing a new customer say they bought an item from my business because they saw it with a friend or family member. It makes the challenges, sleepless nights, self-doubt, and uncertainty all worth it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I initially started Ashabi, I started with making and selling beaded bracelets, because everyone was wearing it. I thought “Oh I can make that and make money from it.” Eventually, I realized that I needed to carve my own part and do what I enjoy, which is making bags. I had to pivot, despite the fear that came with it because nothing great ever comes out of a comfort zone.

I had to pivot in my career as well, but this required me to go back to school for 2 additional years. The time it takes us to achieve our dreams might seem long, but nothing worth having comes easy.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Easy, it has to be choosing quality over quantity. I pride myself on ensuring that every product I ship out of of the highest quality. If a bag does not meet my “high standard,” it does not get shipped out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashabi.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashabibeads
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashabibeads
• Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@ashabibeads