Zelle: To Aezel, Baskets of Love
Every birth marks a fresh chapter in the life of a new mother. For Shaima Sharief, an architect and product designer, design brand Zelle took shape with the arrival of her firstborn Aezel. That was four years ago. Recently, Shaima pitched her brand on Shark Tank Dubai 2 walking away with an order worth AED100,000 – her largest yet. By Sajini Sahadevan
It was beyond what Shaima Sharief could have ever imagined possible for an emerging brand like Zelle.
Raised in Abu Dhabi, Shaima moved to India briefly to pursue a bachelors in architecture before marriage to Dubai-based planning engineer Ijaz brought her back to the UAE. As an interior architect, Shaima was involved in the design of a nursery which required storage solutions. She proposed aesthetically-designed baskets, sourcing woven baskets and bringing her own touch to them by using yarn in patterns and colours to match the interiors of the room.
After Aezel was born, Shaima took a break from work to spend more time with the baby. Around this time, encouraged by Ijaz, she began to create more patterns for baskets using yarn of varying thickness and colours and launched Zelle – inspired by her daughter’s name.
A page on Instagram followed and so did the orders.
She credits her aesthetic sensibilities to her father, a self-taught artist. A fan of Scandinavian design principles, Shaima’s patterns are minimalistic and inclined towards a pastel colour palette. Travel also provides plenty of ideas. “Every inspiration from a trip becomes a small story in a pattern,” she says.
Leap of Faith
A woman of few words, Shaima says when she received the call from Shark Tank Dubai, offering her a chance to pitch Zelle, it was her family who said yes. “I am someone who does not voluntarily put myself out there. Like how a rollercoaster ride can be scary so you hold back? I need that push and Ijaz plays that part in my life,” she adds shyly.
What Shaima did know from a certain age is that she wanted to launch a product of her own, and once that became a reality the next dream was seeing her baskets showcased in a store. Making it to Shark Tank though was never a part of her wildest dreams.
She admits to being a bundle of nerves ahead of the shoot which lasted an entire day. “The sharks put me at ease though. Besides, they let Ijaz accompany me to present the numbers. That’s one of his strengths, mine’s in the design area,” Shaima says, relieved at the thought.
As the couple progressed with their pitch in the show, scalability emerged as a hurdle. Just when Shaima thought it was the end of the road on the series, Elie Khoury, one of the 12 ‘sharks’ from the region and abroad, on the investors panel placed an order worth AED 50,000. The entrepreneur’s lifeline led the other four panelists Faisal Belhoul, Matt Higgins, Adel Sajan and Amira Sajwani to top up the order for Shaima’s baskets with another AED50,000.
Competition was tough as Shaima’s business was one from among multiple sectors represented by 65 international entrepreneurs and 27 projects in this season across 13 episodes. Her biggest takeaway though has been realising that passion and brand identity can matter as much as numbers. “They invested in an artist rather than the business. We learnt that it is important to let your passion shine in your pitch and let them see your vision.”
Since the show aired last December, it has become Aezel’s new theme for role play. “She watches it on loop and asks us to play with her, placing herself as a pitcher for Zelle and repeating our lines while we play the sharks. We are proud to have been able to go on this journey with her.”
As for her other dream, her baskets are available at children’s stores Maison Tini and My Backyard Chronicles. Shaima is now contemplating the expansion of her line to include tote bags. Her new dream?To own a store of her own. Based in the UK at present, Shaima is mother to two month old Nyra. “Maybe it’s time for a sister brand,” the entrepreneur says, laughing.
