For me from what I see in the current years Alexandria has become the city of arts for us here in Egypt, creating many artists in different parts of the industry. I guess it has to do something with the tranquilitay and beauty of the sea. Today we are looking at a different artist, Ahmed Rock, the co-founder of “Dawenha” and hip-hop artist in “revolution records”.
Art has always been in Ahmed’s life, from his work as a graphic designer to him creating hip hop music. It has always been a part of who he was and what he has always set for himself to be, an artist. Ahmed has been working as a graphic designer for 15 years and one day a friend of his came to him and gave him an idea that they will start working on creating their own brand. They have been working for people for so long, now is the time they risked all they got to create something new. The idea was since Ahmed was already in the music scene, why not combine his passion with his work? That’s how Dawenha came to life. However, the idea was just the start of a long journey that has obstacles laid out for them, which in time they will overcome.
“Our main problems were the money to start the project and not having an office to work from. It was a huge risk to gather our money to put in a project that we don’t know if it will succeed or not. Also, we had to work from home then meet in a café to discuss what we will do next.”
However, their hard work paid more than any of them would’ve imagined.
“The next big problem we had was if our first set would sell; this fear though was rid of fast because the set was sold far quicker than we had imagined. Afterward, we found bookstores contacting us to sell our products through them. We were shocked by this success it was far more than we had hoped.”
Ahmed and AbdelRahman, the co-founder, thought that at first Dawenha will only be an online store and that they will be the ones who will try to send their products to the stores, funny how some things turn out.
“To market your work through the internet you need to study the platform you’ll be using and the people who use that platform, that’s how you create a suitable marketing plan. We started out using Facebook; however, there were troubles with the ads and using our credit cards so we switched to Instagram. Afterall our target audiences were the teenagers and young adults who enjoy these kinds of designs so it wasn’t all bad for us, the switch.”
After the huge success of two years a new member has been added to the Dawenha family, Ibrahim who became the manager of theiroffice in Egypt.
“I really appreciate having Ibrahim and Abdelrahman by my side, they are both really important to me and Dawenha.”
The reason for success according to Ahmed is the consistency of working. He made sure that I understood the importance of working on what you love even if it isn’t as successful as you have wished.
“I think the biggest mistake I made, on a personal level, was pausing my music career. When you stop working on a project you love and care about to start something else, you have essentially killed it and returned it to the start line again. Make sure to never stop working on what you love, ever, even if you aren’t appreciated at the time don’t stop, consistency will gain you this appreciation with time.”
Dawenha isn’t a success only here in Egypt, if you didn’t know, Dawenha delivers across the Middle East and are now establishing their name in the Northern American stores. They have created a large name for themselves and it doesn’t seem like it will end soon.
“One of my dreams is that this is the project that I will be working on for the rest of my life. I don’t want to start another project I want to continue this one. Moreover, I hope we become more of a global brand and have stores all over the world. Right now, we are establishing a store in Alexandria, it will be the first official Dawenha store and then we will be working on creating more.”
It is always an inspiration to find such successful people in between us, working hard and gaining the fruits of their work. This always gives me hope that we all can someday reach our dreams; all we have to do is believe in ourselves.
In the end, I asked Ahmed if he can give us any advice to help guide our future artists and creatives to reach such a future:
“As I said consistency is key for success. You also need to be unique, don’t search for what project is succeeding right now and just start something similar. You are then doomed to fail after a while because this isn’t your passion and this project won’t stay at the top for long. Search for something you love and start a new initiative, that’s how you succeed.”
Indeed, look for what you feel is missing in the market right now instead of going after the trend, set the trend. Be the first in what you do and then always improve yourself and stay up to date. The road to success is a hard one but the outcomes, oh they are the best.
Writer: Abdelrahman Monwar
Editor: Nagla Aly Khalifa
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