While balancing life and schoolwork as a junior at this university, Omar Goheer has taken on another role as the creator and CEO of a company that sells headscarves for women.
Goheer, a chemistry and economics major, created K. Sultana, a company that manufactures and sells lightweight headscarves that ventilate well in hot temperatures to Muslim women.
Inspired by his mother, Kishwer Sultana, a single parent who provided for Goheer’s family by starting a daycare business, Goheer wanted to create a company that could promote women’s entrepreneurship.
“The word Sultana means ‘queen’ in the Arabic language, and at K. Sultana, we believe every woman deserves the right to be treated as a queen,” Goheer said. “Every woman deserves the right to an education, equal rights in society and equal opportunities.”
Goheer began research for the company during the spring semester of his freshman year through this university’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation living-learning program. The program helped him launch the company website on Oct. 30. In March, the company began selling the scarves in person and donating some of the profits.
“In a nutshell, I would say these programs taught me the skills and provided me with the resources to turn something that was just an idea and make it a reality,” Goheer said.
The scarves from the company can be purchased in person or online at ksultana.com. For every person-to-person sale, $7.50 of the commission is earned by saleswomen from Muslimat Al-Nisaa, a shelter for homeless Muslim women in Baltimore. The company also supports women’s entrepreneurship by donating 15 percent of the online profits to Helping Hand for Relief and Development, a nonprofit international relief organization, Goheer said.
The company is also connected with ICNA Relief, a group of 12 Muslim women’s shelters across the country.
Beidi Luo, a junior art history, information systems and supply chain management major, purchased a scarf from K. Sultana and said she was pleased with the product and company.
“It is really rare that you have a product that does what it is says, looks good, is so simple and wearable and also gives to a great cause that I really believe in,” Luo said.
Goheer said he plans to expand and develop his business while working with the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship’s Fearless Founders program as well as Startup Shell.
Aisha Ali, a junior finance and international business major and K. Sultana’s chief marketing officer, said Goheer’s leadership skills have helped lead the company to success.
“It’s a really important issue, especially in light of something that’s a new almost trend in media,” Ali said. “So it’s really great to be doing something real and focused.”
