Meet the Founder: Jewan Mahmood Jaff
In this week’s post, we meet Jewan, who used her passion for culture, heritage, hiking and the outdoors to start her own tour guiding company in Erbil!
Can you give a brief introduction about yourself?
My name is Jewan Mahmood Jaff, and I am from Kirkuk. I am an energetic independent female tour guide, and I am an ambitious and helpful person. I am married and have two children.
I am interested in and enthusiastic about showing my region to foreigners through various tours in Kurdistan.
As a planner at vocational school in the Netherlands for 16 years, I thought outside the box and decided not just to sit at the office but used my holidays to move and travel with adventure. Because of this I began to bring Dutch tourists to Kurdistan and enjoyed very positive experiences, which made me decide to move to Erbil.
Since I exercise regularly, I keep my body healthy and in good condition to discover more hiking places and archaeological sites to add to my trips so that I can make them more exciting.
What are some of the challenges your business has faced and how have you addressed them?
The most challenging thing that I faced is being a woman in a job that, in this society, is traditionally for men, especially because of traveling alone with strangers. But I have made my choice to not pay attention to the ones who discourage me from going on.
There are many women who prefer to have a female guide, especially if they want to travel alone. That was a big challenge for me to make these women find and approach me.
What is your proudest moment/biggest achievement when it comes to your business?
It makes me very happy and proud when my customers enjoy their tours and go back home with positive experiences and impressions - especially when some of them repeat the tour!
Aside from my passion for showing my country and culture to foreigners, I wanted to contribute to the tourism sector in Kurdistan because it brings income for different parts.
How have you supported other women in your community?
As a volunteer I worked for nine months for a women’s empowerment organization and assisted in a special program named Free to Run, which is intended for young women and girls living in IDP camps. I trained them in running and organized hiking trips to make them strong physically and mentally.
Why did you join the Five One Labs Female Founders Fellowship and how has your experience been?
I joined Five One Labs because I needed support by experts through training and sessions with useful information. I also wanted to be connected with other entrepreneurs so that we could learn from each other. I have had a good experience as I learned a lot from the trainings and got tips from the other participants.
What advice do you have for someone trying to start their own project/business?
My advice for people who want to start their own business is to believe in themselves, make a good plan and not give up! And take chances in every opportunity to make your dreams happen.
