In 2015, a fresh graduate from College of Accounting and Management Sciences (CAMS) found her way through the professional world by getting a job at ‘GlaxoSmithKline’ (GSK). Soon she realized that this is not where she wants to be and decided to quit her heftily paying job to look for something to satisfy herself while catering to the needs of others.
You must be thinking, ‘what a silly move!’, right? Well, that’s what everyone thought, including her parents, sisters, friends etc., but she did what she wanted to regardless.
Zoya Altaf Hussain, a 24-year-old Karachiite, decided to set up her own business. Her initial plan was to provide a space for people to plan a perfect wedding. A space for people to find and access all (things) related to wedding planning such as venues, makeup artists, salons, photographers, caterers etc. She went ahead with her idea and with only Rs. 10,000 in her pocket, she got a booth at the HQ co-working space and began to work on it.
Soon after she realized that her clients were in search of people who would plan their wedding rather than making all the selections themselves and thus, she altered her plan to turn in into an event planning business. The name for the business was established with the help of her mentor, and Eventualle came into existence during the Ramadan of 2015.
Zoya worked tirelessly for up to 18 hours a day and functioned as a accountant, writer, manager, sales person, and developer all alone. The office boy at the HQ co-working space was her only help who helped her make props for the events.
Eventualle to this day, has organized and planned over 120 events. The revenue from each event was invested into the development of a website which today serves as a venue hub for all individuals, families or/and companies and organizations to plan any event, be it a conference, vacation or a party.
Over the years, what completely baffled her was the way she was treated by the people around her. There was a constant sense of sympathy and pity that people approached her with, because of her being her GIRL! Living in Pakistan, it is unusual for a girl to work, let alone have her own successful business. Therefore, she would often get unusual reactions to the situation and claims such as, ‘Oh you are doing a great job as a girl.’
Zoya became a successful entrepreneur on the basis of her skills and desire to do what she wanted to do. Today, the girl who only had a small amount to start all over with, has hired 15 people to become a part of Eventualle due to its growth and is soon hoping to take it to an international market.