After successfully completing his campaign on our website for his product "Hagez" last month, We decided to sit down and have a talk with him, see what he's been up to and what his plans for the future are.
Tell us about yourself?
My name Samir Soliman, I’m 21 years old, a trainer in some entrepreneurship organizations such as EYouth and was the coordinator for “El Mashrou3 – المشروع” in Ismailia. I like drawing, designing new products and finding innovative solutions to problems.
What inspired you to make Hagez?
In 2012, my team and I entered Enjaz competition with the product “Hagez”. We wanted to make a simple non-electronic and not complicated product for the competition, so after some research we discovered that a product similar to “Hagez” exists in America but isn’t available here as it will be too expensive. So, we decided to try to recreate it with the materials we had here and thus “Hagez” was born. We placed first in the competition.
Tell us about your experience with Yomken.com, how it started and what you liked about it?
I met Mai, one of yomken’s team members in an event and told her about my idea, she liked the idea and told me about yomken.com and how they could help fund it. We exchanged contact information but at the time the website was being updated so I couldn’t start the campaign yet. We stayed in touch however and as soon as the website was finished, I met them in the Greek Campus and shot the product video, shortly after the campaign on yomken.com started. I really enjoyed my experience during the campaign period. What I liked most was the feedback, given to me by yomken.com’s team members and customers’, as it helped me develop my product and enhance it and encouraged me to do so.
What are your plans for the future now that you have successfully completed your campaign on yomken.com?
As I mentioned before I like designing new products and creating them and I own a place where I can manufacture my products ideas, so I’d like to make a place where I can teach people how to design and produce good quality products and crafts. I hope that one day Egyptians will treat locally made products same as they do Chinese or Japanese made ones.
