Originally from Yemen, I came here as a student who couldn't speak a word of English. Picking up the language while studying Marketing & Advertising was tough but I graduated in 2019. Rather than moving back to my home country like others, I decided to stay and look for a job.
A friend who had joined me from Yemen to study in university started volunteering at EYST. She was always telling me to join as so many positive things were going on. But I was in university and wanted to graduate. Then one day I saw an advert for a placement at EYST that fitted the bill for everything I wanted. EYST really resonated with me; even before working there I felt like I belonged.
- Magnificent
- Inspirational
- Ambitious
- Multitasking and working under pressure: Juggling home schooling & my placement with Myana Naturals developed my time management skills in a fast-paced environment
- Persistent: I was told I did not take no for an answer - in a good way! I worked until I got it right
- Reliable: I never missed a deadline due to my efficient work
I loved the placement so much there wasn't much of a challenge because I was always ready to have a go. Because of COVID-19 I was working from home at the same time that my young son needed homeschooling. Juggling the placement and homeschooling was challenging. I thought I would never be able to do it but by pushing my limits I learned more about myself.
Dr Youmna Mouhamad is a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow at the University of South Wales and the CEO of Myana Naturals – a start-up with an innovative detangling technology for black women with natural hair. Youmna engaged with black women from the ideation to the product development and the user experience. I was to be in charge of their social media. This included scheduling content, video & picture editing and much more.
I didn't know everything EYST was doing until I was looking at the job. I started to see all the help they were providing to the community and felt EYST was like a part of me. I was so pleased to see that they represented people like me. It aligned with what I stand for and I believe in everything EYST stands for.
Fatima brought me peace. As a start-up with a direct-to-consumer model, it is important to build a brand and engage with our target customer prior to the product launch. I was able to rely on Fatima while I focused on the R&D. In addition to managing the social media platforms she has done tremendous work around Myana Naturals branding and marketing which will be invaluable in the next few months when designing the packaging and revamping the website. Fatima is a delight to work with! She has a great personality, and she is reliable. I knew that the work will be done on time. Her creative mind and her unique gift to create messages and tag lines have been valuable for content creation. I also appreciated her honesty and our constructive exchanges enabled us to improve the quality of our work and created an open supportive space.
