Meet The Young Afghan Woman Changing The World One Pair Of Shoes At A Time
By Tracey Lomrantz, Glamour magazine
Shahla Akbari, age 19, has lived her whole life in Kabul, Afghanistan, where most of her female peers from her school days are now married mothers. But for Shalha, the end of her teenage years are being spent not in the home, as her she admits her brother and male friends would probably prefer, but as an entrepreneur manufacturing and selling her own line of handmade shoes under the label "Afghan Women Initiative Company", or AWIC. She chose to get into the shoe business because it's one of the few things, along with a handbag, that most Afghan women can actually use to express their personal style from beneath a burka.
She recently made a trip to New York for the first time, where an organization called Bpeace--an inspiring non-profit dedicated to creating employment in conflict-afflicted countries and helping foster the spirit of entrepreneurship--granted her an amazing opportunity. Thanks to Bpeace's funding and effort, Shahla spent her time here working with shoe manufacturers, business managers, and designers learning the ins and outs of the footwear business to take those skills back home and to expand her already-flourishing shoe company. She already employs 20 people in Kabul--"mostly women," she says with total pride--and will now be able to take things even further with the knowledge she gained in New York. Her mission is admirable and her attitude is downright inspiring: "I want to show the men in Afghanistan that we can do the same work you're doing, too."
It's that kind of won't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude that attracted Bpeace to Shalha's business, and led them to take her on in a three year mentorship that helps with everything from marketing to management. Bpeace founder and CEO Toni Maloney told me, "Shala and her mother saw an opportunity to make locally made shoes, and they were smart to take advantage of it. All of the shoes she makes, she sells out. We recognize that Afghanistan is an import economy, and they've been so decimated after 30 years of war, they weren't manufacturing anything. But I think her business can become very big for several reasons. Shalha has the right characteristics of a real entrepreneur."
I had a chance to chat with Shalha on the day she met Heather Williams, a shoe designer who has worked for everyone from Calvin Klein to Reebok, and who now has her own line of super-chic stems called H. Williams. She was selected by Bpeace to help Shalha get some insight into the fashion aspect of shoe design. "We don't have any shoes with high heels where I'm from," Shalha told me, "but I'm very interested in them. When I first saw a pair I thought, 'those women will fall down!' but I think the women will learn and will love them." She was both overwhelmed and awed by the sketchbooks and inspiration boards and samples Heather brought to show her, and was ready to get right down to business.
Despite the fact that these two women are designing shoes half a world away from each other, some of the similarities were striking. Shalha told us that most of the shoes women can buy in Afghanistan are imported from China and are very low quality, but that she focuses intently on construction and excellent materials, just like Heather's handmade Italian creations. At $20 a pair, AWIC shoes are pricier than most you'll find in Kabul, but she says they last so much longer that her first few customers--who came to her by way of her equally-entrepreneurial mother's carpentry business--have helped spread the word about them and they're now sold not only from her own studio, but in two stores in other provinces. "The quality is the most important thing to me," Shalha told us. "No matter how big my business will get, I will make sure every pair of shoes is always made by hand. Always."
And it seems like the shoe business isn't just a man's world in Afghanistan, either. While Shalha said she has received numerous threats from neighborhood men who believe her place is in the home and who don't think she deserves to be doing business, Heather confesses that she called her line "H. Williams" instead of using her first name to keep things intentionally androgynous. "There aren't that many women designing shoes for women," Heather told us, "and it's really a funny thing."
Shalha's line of no-nonsense shoes--Toni Maloney calls them "functional but not unattractive"--will soon be looking a lot different thanks to the skills she picked up during her time in New York, and we can't wait to hear what becomes of her already booming business. Her personal goal, she told me during her visit to New York, is to "export to other countries than just Afghanistan. To eventually share my shoes with people all over the world," and we have no doubt she'll be able to make that dream come true.
Find out more about Bpeace and its mission to support entrepreneurs in conflict-afflicted countries now at their website, and then tell us...are you as inspired by Shalha's story as we were? Can you imagine accomplishing so much--especially against such odds--at such a young age? Discuss!
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