Layla decided to learn fashion design at the age of 21. Her talent was quickly noticed and she was recruited by a famous fashion design house in Lebanon. Layla had a dream of owning an atelier… but being the mother of five daughters and the sole breadwinner of her family, she had to put it on hold for a long time.
It was not until 2002 when she met Al Majmoua and took her first microentrepreneur loan of USD 2,000 that her dream was revived. With her determination, skill and the support of six consecutive loans from Al Majmoua, Layla succeeded in further developing her business. Her revenues helped her finance all of her children’s education and even contributed to the wedding expenses of four of them.
Currently, Layla employs four full-time dress-makers and three others on temporary basis to help her during the high demand seasons. She also became a peer dress-making trainer for other female entrepreneurs as part of Al Majmoua’s non-financial services. In 2014, PlaNet Finance Foundation chose her over three other participants from Cameroon, Egypt, and Niger to be the Micro-Entrepreneur of Honor of the year.
