Laiba Wanted to Build Something of Her Own. Now She Has.
Dreams can come true but they require dedication.
Before Laiba joined jugnuu, she had a dream that will be familiar to many young women across Pakistan. She wanted to earn for herself, support her family, and build something she could call her own.
She had the interest and the creativity. She was fascinated by technology and spent her free time at home trying to learn new skills.
What she did not yet have was a way to turn those interests into an income. Today, that has changed.
Laiba and her team are launching Giftify by Shalaib, their own customized gift business. They can design products, produce them using their own heat press machine, market them to customers, take orders and earn from the skills they have learned.
For Laiba, something she once imagined has become real.
“Mere liye ye business sirf earning ka source nahi hai. Ye mere liye apne pairon par kharay hone aur apni skills ko prove karne ka opportunity hai. Main chahti hoon ke meri family ko mujh par proud feel ho aur main future mein unko support kar sakun.”
(For me, this business is much more than a way to earn an income. It is an opportunity to stand on my own feet and prove what I am capable of. I want my family to be proud of me, and I hope that one day I will be able to support them.)
Laiba
The Dream Came Before the Business
Long before there was a heat press machine or a business called Giftify by Shalaib, Laiba knew she wanted to do something of her own.
She was interested in technology and creative work and tried to teach herself different skills during her free time. Financial independence was already part of what she imagined for her future.
That desire eventually brought her to jugnuu.
“I joined jugnuu because I felt I would get the opportunity to learn practical skills,” she says. “I didn’t want to only learn. I wanted to use my skills to earn as well.”
At jugnuu, Laiba learned graphic design through Canva, digital tools, social media content creation, branding and basic business skills. Then something important happened.
She began to see a connection between what she could create on a screen and what somebody might actually pay for.
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When a Skill Became an Opportunity
Laiba started designing customized products and noticed that people wanted gifts built around their own photographs, messages and ideas. That gave her an idea.
“When I started making customized product designs and saw that people wanted their ideas converted into customized gifts, I realized that I could convert my creativity and skills into income.”
The idea made sense to her because she already loved creative work. Customized gifts also gave every project a personal purpose. Someone might want a unique item for a birthday, wedding, friendship, graduation or another important occasion. Laiba could take that person’s idea and turn it into a physical product.
There was still a problem.
She could create the designs, but she depended on other people to put them onto products. Then came the heat press.
jugnuu purchased the machine to help Laiba and her team take their business from an idea to actual production.
She still remembers seeing it for the first time.
“Honestly, I was very excited. Before, I only made designs and depended on others to customize the products. When I saw the heat press machine for the first time, I felt that now I could create my designs on products myself.”
“Mere liye ye ek bohat special moment tha.” This was a special moment for her. That machine represented something very practical. Laiba could now control more of the production process herself.
The young woman who had been learning creative skills at home could make something, put it in a customer’s hands and be paid for her work.
Dreams Still Require Work
The path to launch has required far more than creativity. Laiba and her team have had to prepare designs, arrange products, learn printing techniques, understand the machinery and prepare everything needed to launch the business.
There have been technical problems along the way.
“Sabse difficult part sab kuch manage karna tha. Kabhi technical problems bhi aayi, lekin maine har problem se kuch na kuch seekha.”
(“The hardest part was managing everything. We ran into technical problems from time to time, but every challenge taught me something new.”)
Those problems have become part of her education too. A design lesson can teach you how to create something beautiful. A real customer teaches you whether people actually want to buy it. A business teaches you about costs, deadlines, quality, marketing, customer service and responsibility.
Laiba is now learning those lessons by running something of her own.
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The Next Dream Is Already Bigger
Perhaps the most interesting part of Laiba’s story is that achieving one dream has already changed the size of the next one.
She wants Giftify by Shalaib to become an established customized gift brand. Over the coming year, she hopes to increase its range of products, reach more customers and grow sales. Then she wants to expand her team.
And eventually, she wants to create opportunities for other young women. The girl who once wanted an opportunity for herself is already thinking about how she might create one for somebody else.
Her advice to another young Pakistani girl begins with the lesson she has learned herself:
“Apne aap par believe karo aur start karne se mat daro. Har cheez perfect hone ka wait mat karo. Pehle skills seekho, phir chhoti si beginning karo aur mistakes se learn karo.”
(“Believe in yourself and don't be afraid to start. Don't wait for everything to be perfect. First learn the skills, then start small, and learn from your mistakes.”)
“If you remain consistent and work hard, you can create a better future for yourself.”
There is still a long road ahead for Giftify by Shalaib. Its success will ultimately depend on customers, products, pricing, quality and Laiba and her team’s ability to keep learning. But Laiba has already crossed a threshold that once seemed distant.
She wanted to learn useful skills. She wanted to earn from her creativity. She wanted to build something of her own. And now, for the first time, she can put a name on that dream:
Giftify by Shalaib.
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