Meet Annie Sayyed

We had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Sayyed and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Annie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I am the oldest of three girls, and my parents are from Pakistan where henna is a popular and creative way to express happiness during weddings and holidays. Even though my sisters and I were born in NJ, my parents raised us with as close to an authentic Pakistani childhood as possible. My mom cooked biryanis, curries and kormas, we all wore traditional shalwar kameez often for special occassions, and always spoke Urdu at home. All of this was a core part of our Eid holiday celebrations, except the henna was probably the cherry on top of it all. My mom and sisters would sit together a few nights before Eid to doodle henna flowers on each other’s hands, then keep the paste on all night to ensure a deep, rich color on Eid day.

Fast forward a few years. I’m married to the most amazing man who serves in the US Army and we find ourselves moving around the states every few years. We’ve blessed with three children. The older two are boys who love their toy cars, legos, wrestling, dinosaurs and roughhousing. Becoming a mom of boys after growing up with sisters was an adjustment to say the least, but I loved every minute of it. I will say, though, that I lost a lot of that girly time in my life. I rarely went to get my nails or hair done, and since we moved a lot it was hard to make friends again and again to go out for girls’ nights. Then we got the news that God was granting us a daughter, Hana, and all the pink things rushed back into my life. I had barrettes, dresses, nail polish and bows to start, but it wasn’t until Hana’s first Eid after she turned two that I rekindled my love of henna. I had her by my side as I started doing a design on myself, and while she watched closely she held her hands out toward me as if to say “me too!” and that was it. I drew on her hands and she sat so still. This moment gave me the encouragement to share henna with others. My husband supported me as I took classes on how to make my own henna paste, build my website and refine my henna drawing skills. This is how Hana’s Henna was born.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There are plenty of amazing henna artists out there, and what sets me apart from any of the others is simply my journey compared to others. My day job is in the software industry, but my passion allows me to work anytime. I enjoy, very passionately, making and designing henna. Why the passion? Well for one, it is representative of my Pakistani culture, and I never want to lose that, and two, each time I do henna, I am brought back of memories of sitting together with my sisters and friends getting ready for a wedding or Eid holiday. I was blessed to do my sister’s henna for her wedding day, after doing her henna for years when we were younger for Eid. If I can’t call this nostalgia and sentimental memory filled activity a passion, then what can I call it?

I long to improve my work and see myself continuing this work for years, God willing. I take classes and ask lots of questions from other artists about how they improve and what their advice is so that I can continuously grow. Henna is an outlet for me to be creative and showcase my passion. It doesn’t feel like work; that’s the thing about it. I am so humbled that ladies will book me for their wedding day or sit at my booth at a fair and ask me to doodle on them. Most of them don’t know what henna is or how it’s made. I get to share the background of henna with them, so they learn more, or bond with them about their already established love for henna. Whether it’s a first timer or an all-timer, my henna clients are each given full love, respect, time and dedication as I treat each henna design as if it was my best work. I am just so grateful to be a henna artist and small business owner because of it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I just moved to Fayetteville area myself, so bear with me on this. Being a military spouse has me biased toward the Fort Bragg base, since I’ve had the privilege of living and visiting so many military bases in the US. A base tour is where I would start, as I think most civilians find military life so intriguing because it is quite different than the private sector. I personally love the greenery and farmland in this area, so I’d take a drive through Lillington and Fuquay-Varina up to Holly Springs, Apex and Cary. All of these places have beautiful scenery so just the drive alone is a joy, and there are amazing places to eat. In Downtown Fayetteville, I recommend Winterbloom Tea and Vibe Gastropub, and close to base you can get incredible Pho at Vietnam Kitchen. Smashed – Burgers and Cocktails has great burgers in Holly Springs, and Afghan Kebab and Biryani Maxx Indian Cuisine have got all the flavor in Cary. I absolutely love Pullen Park in Raleigh where you can go paddle boating, ride a train with littles and grab a bite at their cafe, and a close second are the downtown parks in Cary and Apex as well. There are so many fairs that happen here in the summertime. I’d love to visit the Wings over Wayne Air Show in Greensboro and the Dream Asia Food Fest in Winstom-Salem. If you can’t tell by now, I am a huge foodie and love planning my time around where we will eat!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As I’ve mentioned, my husband is an active duty service member and we move often. Having a small business is a very difficult thing to manage when you are moving every 1-3 years because you need to market yourself and build clientele. I’ve had two other henna artists that have supported me in a fragile transition period: Urshita of @UBHENNACO and Mary of @HENNA_WARRIOR during my career thus far. Urshita took me under her wing when I first started my henna business in Savannah, GA. She offered me to join her for wedding henna bookings and even sent some of her clients to me when she wasn’t able to take them on. Similarly, Mary took me on as a partner when I moved to North Carolina. We’ve serviced large downtown fairs and events together where she allowed me to take henna clients while she did facepainting, despite being a henna artist herself.

Both ladies shared the same sentiment with me as I thanked them for their loving encouragement: the henna community is all about collaboration, not competition. Yes, it feels good for any small business owner to make money for their work. However, there is a greater value for me to build connections and trust with fellow artists, offer my service to more people and showcase my work as I improve each day, and teach others about the fun and creativity of henna.

Website: https://www.hanashenna.com

Instagram: hanashennadesigns

Linkedin: Annie Sayyed

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hanashennadesigns/

Image Credits
wedding photos are by Natalia Bareka @nataliabareka_photo