"I left my career in finance and was self-employed for three years, during which I created a PR, marketing, and business consultancy that helped me advise international brands on how to penetrate the regional market. I worked literally day and night and took on as many clients as I could to save enough money to start The Dollhouse, a beauty salon in Dubai. I was extremely scrappy, and when my sister and I founded Huda Beauty, I took care of all departments of management to save on costs.
Our father actually sold his home in Baghdad to help fund our new stock.
While trying to establish her brand, Huda worked countless days and nights taking on makeup jobs to help create funds for the company. Once we started growing really fast, our father actually sold his home in Baghdad to help fund our new stock we had to order. It wasn't a large amount, but it helped us, because at the time, banks weren't offering us loans because of the length we had been in business.
I recommend people start small and always overestimate your costs and underestimate your revenues so you don't run into cash flow hiccups. Sometimes your own growth can take you down if you're not prepared financially." — Mona Kattan, cofounder and global president of Huda Beauty
Image Source: Getty / Desiree Navaro