Spotlight on our Co-Founders

Welcome back dear Zoës.

Well, we are not wasting time in helping you to get to know us. In our last blog post, you got to know about the might behind being boss mamas. In today’s post we will dig a little deeper and highlight the people at the heart of Zoë Qu’an.

Freda Muyambo: Managing Director Global, Head of Nairobi Ops

Freda is a bit of a number cruncher, estimator and risk manager behind a lot of the business processes. She also thinks deeply about growth strategies and partner acquisition.

We asked Freda for a brief quote about her approach to business. 

“There is a Swahili proverb I always go back to that says something like “if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” The Swahili words say…. As someone who has run my own business, I know it can be a truly lonely process with no one to fall back on. I wished for a partner and I am so happy to have found not one but two amazing people to work with and build this business with. Each day we meet is like a breath of fresh air.”

Stephanie Semaan: Director of Creative Global and Head of Lagos Operations

Stephanie’s eye for quality and creativity in design is second to none. She has learned news skills overnight to overcome design challenges and has produced the most amazing concepts. We can’t wait to bring them to life. And, she is our gracious model 😉. 

We asked Stephanie to shed a little insight about her design process. 

“Surprise! Surprise! I’m still surprised by what we have created, all these are inspired from our friendship, family, lifestyle, daily routine and wardrobe.  Blessed with two superwomen, they challenge and inspire me .  They make me feel like I can do anything, even in hard times. My life has changed, it has never been a dull moment.  Key is teamwork  makes everything possible and don’t stop learning.“

Lilian Zaranyika: Marketing Director Global and Head of Dubai Operations

Lilian is process driven and our innovation champion. She thinks out a process from cradle to grave. Bringing a website online is no mean feat but Lilian single-handedly made it happen with our remote IT team. She has brought Zoë Qu’an to a new spring in our business growth journey.

We have asked Lilian what drives her to achieve the most difficult tasks without breaking a sweat.

“Well, without breaking a sweat - 🤭yeah right! I am lucky I just don’t sweat a lot, but trust me, it's not done without lots of hard work and some creative thinking involved.  I am lucky to be surrounded by passionate and creative sister partners, and that makes my work easier.  I know I can’t do it alone so my advice to anyone setting out to do anything taxing is ‘YOU CAN ASK FOR HELP! - PLEASE, DO ASK FOR HELP’ people are always willing to assist and they’ll even do a little more than you expect.  I am still learning to ‘ASK’ whenever I need help and I’m grateful to my professional and personal support structure who are always rooting for me and us.

More Than Fashion

Did you get any surprises out of this? We sure have on our journey. We are all middle-aged women but much to our surprise, we dived into the tech-enabled fashion business without necessarily having fashion backgrounds. Have you taken something away from our journey story? Drop a comment or two. We would love to hear from you. Until next time dear Zoës, keep shining.