I am Lisa Vogl.
I am a mom of two and the co-founder of Verona Collection.
I started a hijab brand with only $7,000, and now I'm on a mission
to empower women and make modest fashion accessible for all.
I kind of grew up in a bubble.
I knew nothing about Muslims or Islam until I went to college.
And then I graduated college, went into the corporate world.
I was doing pretty well financially, but I just wasn't fulfilled.
I went back to school in 2010 to go to photography school.
And during that time is when I kind of was discovering Islam and I
converted July 29th, 2011.
I would actually like waitress at night when I was in school
and when I became Muslim, I ended up quitting and then photography
allowed me to provide for myself.
I was actually traveling the world, doing photo shoots.
And then in 2013, I became a wife and I became a mom right away.
I quit my job and I moved to where his job was.
We were very comfortable, but for me personally, it was difficult because
I was actually traveling like
nonstop,
and then my lifestyle really changed.
I think sometimes as moms, we feel guilty,
but what I learned is that if I'm not fulfilled, I can't be the best mom.
I took a couple jobs when I was pregnant and I started taking Elias on a few trips.
When the second one came, I was like, "this is just not going to happen."
It wasn't until my second child that I decided to launch a business
and do things that I love. The hijab is not just the headscarf.
It requires you to wear looser clothing.
It became very difficult to find like nice clothing that was still affordable,
loose, and modest, and extremely time consuming to find like the right
pieces that all went together. Alaa
and I met in 2014, and so we joined forces and officially launched in
February 2015 with only four hijabs,
two skirts, and a dress. We launched to fill a need, but it was more than that.
We really wanted to give Muslim women the confidence to be proud of who they are.
We put in a total of $7,000.
We stretched every penny we could.
I took care of the website. We sold out in about a matter of like one or two weeks.
After that, we then restocked and rebuilt.
What I was not expecting is that I would be a single mom just a few months later.
Verona started out as something that I love.
It wasn't necessarily the intention of providing for me and my kids
and that's what it became. My ex did provide for a full
year while we were separated.
I realized halfway through
I have to take this time to make sure that Verona becomes successful because this is
all I have right now. Thankfully, because I had put my heart and soul into Verona,
it's gotten
the kids and I by. Running your own business, it seems like day and night.
The minute the kids go to bed, I am working, but I wouldn't trade it for the
world because this job is allowing me to actually be able to put my kids first.
So my mom was a single mom
so she was a source of inspiration that if she could do it with three
kids, like I could do it with two. Every dollar that came in
was reinvested. My recommendation, if you are building a business, is
to really use that time for growth because you're setting up a foundation.
I had to learn very quickly on a small budget.
It is very similar to run budgets in a business like you
would in your personal life
and those are some of the habits that I still carry them.
now. I think it's just honestly having a certain lifestyle
that allows you to live on a smaller budget, but still be just as happy.
I don't need to ask for help anymore.
I not only don't need to ask for help, like I can help other people now,
and that to me is the best feeling in the world. I realized the
most important thing that you can do
for your family is to become financially stable
so then you can help others going forward.
I put my faith in God and my business honestly took off. Verona
Collection became the first modest fashion brand to be launched and
sold at an American department store.
It was amazing for the community because it wasn't
just about filling a need.
It was Muslim women and hijabi women were represented on a larger scale.
I used to get stressed all the time about money, but I realized
like I've always been okay
and I always will be okay.
I teach my kids that now, no matter how much money we have, or don't
have, real happiness comes from having family and love and support.
I want them to know that they can actually go after anything that they want
and that they can actually achieve it.