A Woman of Substance
From an employee at Grameenphone to a housewife, to the Owner of a Beauty Lounge, Aura. Nishat Adnan is truly a woman worth looking up to owing to her tremendous dedication and effort put into starting her own business from scratch. Nishat sits down for a chat with Colors’ Tunajina Islam to tell us more about her new endeavours.
After marriage, you have all sorts of responsibilities towards your husband and your household. You seldom have time for yourself or for pursuing a new passion. Nishat’s husband, being the compassionate man that he is, encouraged her to do something for herself and for her own satisfaction, instead of letting her talents go unnoticed. He insisted on her creating a sphere for empowering women through employment and broadening their horizons. She didn’t have to think twice to spot a good idea when it presented itself. Thus began the journey of Aura. “My passion never really lied in the beauty parlour field, but initiating this business gave me a passion for it.” Nishat claims that the idea of employing more women is what really pushed her to do this. Allowing minority women to fend for themselves and their families, especially in an environment such as Bangladesh, is truly moving.
“The moments I cherish most are the positive customer feedback,” she says. Nishat can’t stress enough how important customer satisfaction is to Aura. “Everything we do, we do it for them and we never let a customer leave without feeling fully pleased,” she says. They take every single complaint or criticism into consideration to ensure they put their customers first above all else. Their motto is “inspire every client at achieving their personal best”. This is a major differentiating factor of Aura compared to similar businesses in the industry. They are not just about the cash but more about gaining customers’ loyalty. This is one of the reasons why Aura, despite having only one outlet, has made such a grand name for themselves. Small businesses in huge industries like this don’t always make it and it indeed was a challenge to get to where they are. But seeing as their focus is very customer based, it’s safe to say they are flourishing.
My whole life, my mother has been such an inspiration to me. She reassured me I am capable of doing what I want to do, and eventually, I realised that I am” Nishat says. A mother plays such an important role in the life of a young girl working on herself. Nishat also emphasizes the support she received from her loving husband throughout the whole journey. “He is my pillar and my strength,” she says, and “I couldn’t have done it without him backing me up along the way.” Aside from them, she has a few inspirations in the industry, namely, Farzana Shakil and Sadia Moin. Again, bringing on the topic of women empowerment, these women have endured a lot of it. They create scope for all kinds of women to grow and this is the main reason Nishat is so inspired by them. Women need to look out for other women regardless of background, class, or ethnicity. This creates a stronger foundation for women of the next generation.
Nishat ends off by giving an important message to all young girls out there;
“Nowadays what happens is we don’t have enough self-confidence. You’re pretty, you’re capable, and you have to believe it. Be yourself, be confident and love yourself. Then everything around you will be positive too”
