Many of us think that social media is only meant to be used for the younger generations, and, to some extent, millennials and generation Z are in fact, conquering social media at a pace that hasn’t been seen before. As a matter of fact, many of them have become millionaires by using social media alone to market themselves and/or their businesses. Perhaps, learning the ins and outs of social media is the one thing that generation X learned from the younglings.
Heba Ghobashy, founder of Bash Hub and mother of two, was able to achieve her dreams with a little help from her daughter Zeina by using social media to grow her fashion empire. “My partner is my daughter. She is a graphic designer who inherited the same love for fashion that I have. She is the one responsible for the content for our social media platforms. When we both disagree, her opinion is the one that gets implemented as she also represents part of the age of my target customers,” Ghobashy told me.
Her passion for fashion was actually inherited from her mother. “My mom was a well known haute couture designer back in the 60s and early 70s. All my life she infused in me the love for fashion and how to develop my sense of style, good taste and the importance of choosing high quality garments in fashion.”
Even though Ghobashy’s went on to study mass communication and acquire an MA in TV news production, her passion for fashion never really went away. In 2012, after her children were all grown up, she went back to the TV production field while also taking professional courses for makeup and styling.”I was taking professional styling courses and makeup courses to fulfill my passion for beauty and fashion. I discovered that I need to go more in depth and as I have a great passion for those fields why not start a new career. I studied towards acquiring a fashion design diploma and at the same time finishing one make up course after another.”
Ghobrashy finally made the decision to leave behind her job in the TV production field and pursue what she always dreamed of and that’s when the idea of ‘Bash Hub’ hit her. She wanted to create a hub where women can benefit from many services in one place. “For example, if a woman has an event coming up; she can go shop for an outfit, confused how to choose the right one. Then she would have to go deal with another similar situation on how to choose the right makeup to go with her outfit somewhere else. Then she has to think of how to style the pieces she bought to create the best look. So Bash Hub offers all of these services under one brand.”
Of course, establishing a business in the ever-growing fashion and design market in Egypt was a challenge for Ghobashy, “I had to find people interested in my products because people in the beginning don’t know the brand and later you need to continuously work on increasing your clients, followers and more importantly the people who will be loyal and attached to your brand in order to find success.” Ghobashy believes that the best approach to marketing your brand is social media, as long as you consider the page as being your window to reflecting the core essence of your brand.
For her, consumer psychology was the biggest challenge, with it being very complex with no set of rules to define it. “Consumer psychology doesn’t always necessarily meet with what we learn in diplomas or fit with designer’s personal vision.”
The best part for Ghobashy, about owning her own business, is the indescribable feeling of success that makes up for the worst parts which is the increased worry, stress and endless working hours. In the coming five years, Ghobashy wants Bash Hub to become a renowned international brand. “My advice is my motto and my favorite quote is that it’s never too late to dream a new dream or walk a new path. So get rid of your fear and try so you never regret not going for it. Do your best!”
Click here for Bash Hub’s fashion house page, and here for the makeup page.
