On the surface, Almari is a Product Designer for digital products but what she really does is so much more. 'It's bigger than just the product, as one is designing around everything the product touches both within and outside of the business.’ Almari designs product experiences and is cognisant of the impact and weight her expertise carries for the businesses she serves. Being a business herself, she thinks deeply about what turns a well designed product experience into a business success. A good reminder of how important it is to think bigger in terms of what we do and to start thinking about the impact we can create within our areas of expertise.
From her younger self who wanted to work with animals not people, Almari has a knack for understanding people and teams and building a product from there. She is a big picture thinker using her creativity to problem solve and create. Almari is not the typical opinion shooter who just wants to be heard. She focuses on listening and observing, “as people talk I map and doodle. Staying quiet until I have enough to base my feedback on”.
Creative entrepreneurship was the only answer for her to take control over her talent. As a Business-of-One, her creativity can naturally flow and flourish with no confinement to the traditional 9-5 mold, company politics, and the ability to have ownership over things like annual leave and working late. She runs her business on her own terms, and her clients are grateful for it, they get the best of Almari, “it’s harder work, a lot of uncertainties, and this is where good work ethics come into play.” It’s always interesting how Business-of-Ones like Almari, despite having control over their work, are in fact SO committed to their work, that when it transcends into weekends and evenings, it is out of choice and pure pride in what they have built a business doing. Without passion, there is no drive for greatness.
Whilst hard at work making her clients dreams a reality, she relies on her instinct to kick in when her own business needs her attention. Almari is adept at connecting with advisors in the creative entrepreneurial space as well as like-minded peer businesses in her industry, displaying an appreciation for learning and mentoring to grow, inspire and be inspired. Her vision: to have a well constructed and thought out community of people she likes to work with and collaborate on projects with, “a true collective”. She leads by pushing herself out of her comfort zone, to challenge herself on how she can give back to the community first, be it through talks, mentoring, and so on. Almari gives more than she receives. We wonder how the creative entrepreneur world would be if more of us worked this way - an exciting thought!
We begin to understand how Almari carries such quiet confidence, her secret lies in her transparency of failures. Her advice: ‘Tell people how and why you failed, what you learnt and how better decisions were made as a result’. A small but powerful way of exuberating experience and humanness that leaves us feeling like we can trust her. There are many creative entrepreneurs facing challenges but very few talking about the pitfalls and helping one another safeguard against them. Sharing is the first step to standing together and finding ways to be better, as a collective. Almari opts for oversharing with fellow creative entrepreneurs, especially those in the design space, over no sharing at all.
Patience, self-awareness, and zero ego is her recipe for success as a creative entrepreneur. We say ‘well said’ to that! There is certainly no ego, no brash self promotion, no hard sell when it comes to Almari. We admire her genuine and unique way of unknowingly selling her skills in her sincerity and pure belief and passion for what she does. It’s contagious, and she makes you believe that product experiences can be memorable again - we challenge you to have one conversation with her and not be sold on her ability to do just that. How does she stay so inspired? Here is her simple answer: start conversations and truly listen.
Her advice on starting your journey in creative entrepreneurship:
“First ask yourself what's holding you back, then talk about it, if you’re uncertain, really get to know why. Only then can you start finding answers, and start to back yourself up with things you know. Then… just take the leap. It will be scary, but remember nothing stays scary for long.”
“Solving niche challenges Founders face”.