ISLAMABAD:
Zara Zaman, 25, appears confident without being cocky, completely at ease with a tone of maturity that surpasses her age. What’s more, while a good chunk of Islamabad’s body of young professionals are busy twiddling their thumbs trying to figure out the direction of their lives, Zaman has already started her own and very successful interior design company.
What makes her unique is that she’s a one-man-show and like many young, creative professionals, she’s working against the odds — the small market of Islamabad.
Still, she makes it work. Zaman prizes her independence above all else. She is the sole proprietor of her business, does a huge chunk of the hands-on work herself, and outsources the rest. This allows her to keep her own hours without worrying about answering to higher-ups.
“I’m pretty much a jack-of-all-trades. I can make or I can get made practically anything from lamps to art. Oh, and I love working with power tools,” said Zaman casually.
Zaman studied architecture at the National College of Arts, Lahore, and set up her interior design and furniture business in summer 2010 with the eponymous title Zara Zaman (interior design and furniture). Zaman claimed that interior design had always been her passion and that she would sometimes spend nights decorating and redecorating her house, much to her parents’ chagrin.
“Sometimes my poor parents would wake up to find that the living room had been completely changed — furniture rearranged, walls painted a different colour.”
She’s also not the first and definitely won’t be the last to take advantage of Facebook as an effective marketing and advertising tool. Zaman regularly updates her company page, uploading her work as often as she can.
Her clients are immediately told what to expect: “I tell my clients what I’m made off and what I want to do. Still, I listen to them to get a sense of their tastes and requirements before I start work.”
Recently, Zaman wrapped up a markedly high-profile project with MH9 Solutions, an Islamabad based consultancy firm. Before Zaman patched things up, the office was a decimated wreck situated in a building that had suffered from the Marriott blast, September 2008.
“I literally renovated the entire office space from scratch, myself,” explained Zaman. “The place was completely trashed. I did the plumbing, made a brand new kitchen, a day-care centre, the main doors, the wall partitions ... pretty much everything.” The project was completed in two and a half months.
An interior designer who likes getting her hand dirty and doesn’t mind getting actively involved in construction work is rare indeed. “It’s amazing work,” raved Rafia Maqbool, a fan and interior-design enthusiast. “I love the sense of style combined with vibrant colours seamlessly blending with the ambiance to create a soulful fusion.” Talking about the style reflected in Zaman’s works, Maqbool said: “I think it’s best described as minimalistic, modern, with bright colours, a bit wild but not overwhelmingly so.”
Zaman has also been nominated by the US Consulate, Karachi, for their Multi-Regional Program: Women and Entrepreneurship and Regional Program: Women and Entrepreneurship. She’s also completed residential projects in Lahore and is currently working on two home offices in G-11, Islamabad. Construction, design, entrepreneurship — the fiercely self-sufficient Zaman is a triple threat and is on her way to becoming a big name.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2011.
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