Meet the Founder: Hero Mohammed

This week’s “Meet the Founder” post features Hero Mohammed, the founder of Helana, a food business redefining pastry, appetizers and homemade food. Hero is a graduate of Five One’s first incubator program in 2017 and also the Female Founders Fellowship Program.

Can you give a brief introduction about yourself?

I am Hero Salih. I am a chef, graphic designer, artist and the founder of Helana Hub. I am from Erbil and live in Sulaimani. I am a graduate of Information System Management at Lebanese University in Erbil. I can speak three languages - Kurdish, English and Turkish - and have worked in different fields, but I started to be an entrepreneur in 2017 as I was passionate to start my own business.

Can you tell us about your business? What inspired you to start it?

Helana is a home-based business. I make snacks, desserts, sweets and also brunches for special events, workshops, and seminars in Sulaimani. I always have received positive feedback for the food I cooked and baked. This inspired me to do more work to improve my business. I also sponsored two of the amazing public figures - Lana who is a personal blogger that opened a fashion exhibition for young girls, and Dunya who is an artist and opened an art exhibition at Jamal Erfan Café. I also sponsored 9 young ladies who came from Sina, Iran to do an art exhibition on International Women’s Day on March 8 at the Kurdish Museum Amna Suraka. In 2019 I decided to put more effort into my food business for special events and any other events through the online orders. It is a home-based work, and I will continue to do more so that I can have my own cafe in the near future.

What are some of the challenges your business has faced and how have you addressed them?

After joining the Five One Labs incubator in 2017 and currently the Female Founders Program, I really have learned a lot of business skills which helped me to start up my own business. I started my home-based business and am taking online orders. Now, I am selling my food products online and making them at home, but my plan for the future is to have my own location, and also offer and deliver my food products to my customers.

What is your proudest moment/biggest achievement when it comes to your business?

Participating in conferences as an entrepreneur and acting as a mentor and also joining the panel for new startups as a judge are the priceless moments that I had. My biggest achievement would be starting my own business, even if it is a home-based one, receiving offers to organize events, workshops and also receiving online orders as I have an active Instagram account.

Can you tell us about your experience starting your business in Kurdistan?

I joined Five One Labs’ first incubator cohort in Erbil in October 2017, where I received training for three months. I learned a lot of skills about doing my own business in this incubator. I am also still improving my business skills for the purpose of its growth. It is not easy to start up your business, especially if you are a female as you need to find an affordable location, resources and etc. but, I am still working on my business online so that in the future I may have my own place to serve my community.

How have you supported other women in your community?

I sponsored young girls who are personal bloggers/ fashion and artists and in the future, I really want to support more women.

Why did you join the Five One Labs FFF and how has your experience been?

I joined Five One Labs and the FFF to improve my networking and also to showcase my business and progress.

What advice do you have for someone trying to start their own project/business?

My advice would be to be confident and believe in what you want to do and never quit. Always believe that you can reach the mountain peak!