Women Entrepreneurs: Asmaa's Journey to Success
Asmaa Mustafa is a 33-year-old environmental engineer from the West Bank and a resilient and innovative entrepreneur. Her journey to success wasn’t smooth sailing – she endured many hardships and was close to letting it all go when she came across TYO’s training program. Her passion and strong will led her to expand her business and become a leader for other women in her community.
Asmaa was born in Kuwait and moved frequently with her family before settling in the West Bank. She earned her degree in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Agriculture from Palestine Technical University Khadouri. Her journey was challenging—facing family opposition to her career choice and struggling with financial difficulties. Balancing work and studies, she often couldn’t afford tuition and suffered health issues from her job. Despite these setbacks, Asmaa never gave up on her dream and persevered through adversity to pursue her passion.
In 2018, she attended an exhibition where she learned about specific techniques for gardening, and saw an opportunity to innovate within her field and turn her vision into reality. So she established Gardenia Nursery – a business created to ensure a safe and sustainable gardening environment with a thermal system for seedling plants.
“Gardenia Nursery is more than just a business; it represents my triumph over adversity and my ability to transform challenges into opportunities. I had to climb the ranks from a production engineer to manager of the Al-Junaidi nursery, overseeing all production to gain expertise. I accumulated nine years of experience in this field in order to prepare myself for my own business,” Asmaa said.
Asmaa's family provided the land for her nursery, and she sold her gold jewelry to fund her dream. Despite facing resistance from her husband’s family, a male-dominated industry, and financial setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, she pushed forward. Eventually, technical and financial issues made her consider closing the business. The turning point came with TYO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Intensive Training, which gave her crucial skills in finance, management, and networking. With seed funding from the program, Asmaa revived her greenhouse, installed solar panels, and improved her nursery's sustainability.
“I was very close to letting it all go. If it wasn’t for the support received from TYO’s staff and program, I would never have been able to venture into new ideas to help increase revenue, I would still be in constant worry. This experience revived my business and helped it regain momentum,” she recalls with gratitude.
Reviving her business allowed Asmaa to raise employee wages and focus on empowering women from difficult economic backgrounds. “I struggled financially, so I know what it’s like to feel undervalued. That’s why I strive to help women without other income sources feel appreciated,” she says. As a flexible employer, Asmaa fosters a positive work environment, hiring more women, including mothers and people with disabilities. “Gardenia is not just a source of income for me but a way to empower women in tough circumstances,” she adds. Her thriving business continues to grow, thanks to TYO’s guidance. "I'm deeply grateful for the support that helped elevate my business.”