Today we’d like to introduce you to Samannah Momin Basharmal.
Hi Samannah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am the daughter of two immigrant parents from India. My parents grew a successful business in the Harwin District known as Mona T-Shirts. I never really had much interest in the business my goals were to become a doctor of some sort, but life has its ways of showing you the path that was designed for you. After graduating from U of H in the summer of 2005, my father asked me to check out his business and help him out while I finished applying to grad schools. The business was operated on a paper-only system which made accounting and order tracking hard to manage. So, I spent tiring hours putting in what I thought would be helpful to the business and as I put my time in, I started to enjoy what I was doing. I felt a sense of pride in the slow but steady changes and it became an exciting project for me to improve day to day. Fast forward 17 years, I am here now, a successful business on the Harwin strip. I don’t know exactly when or how it all happened, but everything just did. Many customers who come to the store, remember it when we were smaller and always comment on how much it’s changed and I cannot help but glow inside because that shows my hard work paying off. In 2020 as the pandemic hit, I was planning new business strategies to stay afloat and the idea of A2Z Wholesale Apparel was started. A2Z is a blank apparel business which is geared towards your traditional shirts to streetwear to business uniforms. It’s a constant growth, which I have run out of space to put in more inventory. Perhaps a second location is necessary!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been interesting. I got married in 2014 and we had our firstborn in 2015. Running the business while being a first-time mom was hard. My priorities shifted and I wanted to be there as much as possible for my newborn. Slowly we figured out a flow. He came to work with me so I was able to still work and have him around. We have had 2 more kids since then, but the experience of the first helped us manage how to deal with the other two babies. Another large struggle was employees. It’s always hard finding the right fit for your “baby” (Store). I know no one will run the shop the way I want, but it’s hard letting someone take the ropes without feeling anxious. After countless interviews and turnovers, I can confidently say we have a pretty awesome team but still need 3-5 more people due to the substantial growth we’ve had in the last 2-3 years.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Mona T-Shirt x A2Z Wholesale Apparel?
Mona Tshirt is a custom SCREEN PRINT, EMBROIDERY, AND DIGITAL PRINTING store. We bring your ideas to life on apparel. A2Z Wholesale Apparel focuses on bringing customers affordable blank apparel to customize. From business, sports, youth, ladies, men, streetwear, hats, bags, etc, we are constantly adding new items to make our shop separate from the competition.
I think a large part of what makes us different from the rest is our customer service. I like to make sure that you come in greeted and feel welcomed no matter how much you’re spending with us. And often, our clients are so excited to see how much of a selection we have. I have a love for fashion, so I feel this helped me keep our store always up to date with the trends.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Yes! Life is short. So many lives and jobs were lost. I feel blessed we didn’t have to close the shop down, we were able to keep it open as an essential business. And now, due to the job loss, a lot of people learned to rely on themselves and make their own business structure. Be it with clothing lines or small businesses. This world is constantly surprising us and we cannot become complacent, or we will get lost in the grand scheme of things.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.a2zwholesaleapparel.com
- Instagram: @monatshirtxa2z
- Facebook: @monatshirt9410
- Tiktok: @monatshirtxa2z
Image Credits
Kitzia
