ENTERPRISE AND PURPOSE IN PHILLY:
Hanifah Samad of Fason De Viv
"Aunt" Sophie Bronstein with "Niece" Hanifah Samad of Fason De Viv.
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“The most surprising thing is that I’m still doing this,” says 28-year-old small business owner and mother Hanifah Samad. “I originally wanted to be a nurse, but the more I worked on my store, the more I loved it.” Hanifah’s laugh is enthusiastic and she is thoughtful when talking about her hopes and dreams for Fason De Viv, the most recent iteration of her business. For a short time, Hanifah ran a successful online store called The A List Look, before opening a brick and mortar of the same name in 2013. In the Fall of 2015, she moved the store to Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood, a bustling shopping district known as “America’s most historic square mile.” The move inspired her to change the store’s name, and in December 2015, The A List Look became Fason De Viv, which is Creole for “lifestyle” and a nod to Hanifah’s Haitian background. “Not a lot of people know about my Haitian heritage,” she reports. “Creole is the people’s language and it wasn’t officially recognized by the Haitian government until 1987. I wanted the name of the store to also teach.”
Fason De Viv sells clothes, skin care products, and accessories from Philadelphia’s local, diverse, and vibrant creative community. But Hanifah, like other millennials, is enterprising with a purpose. “I asked myself, what is the purpose of my store? What do my customers get besides clothes?” Motivated by these questions, Hanifah now hosts personal weekly growth workshops at Fason De Viv. In addition to helping her customers look good, Hanifah also cares about making them feel good. |
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Creating a positive experience for her customers and fostering community are high priorities for Hanifah, as well as others involved in the local economy movement in Philadelphia. When Hanifah moved to Old City, she was also in need of capital to expand her inventory. She received help from The Circle of Aunts and Uncles. The Circle prioritizes loans to entreprenuers like Hanifah, who is an existing business owner, as well as to those who have great potential but who might have a difficult time accessing the financial and social capital to grow. They especially seek out entrepreneurs of color, women, and individuals from lower income environments. While enrolled in a class at Philadelphia’s The Enterprise Center, Hanifah’s financial advisor introduced her to the Circle’s founder Judy Wicks. |
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Hanfiah reflects that the support The Circle of Aunts and Uncles has given her has been instrumental to her business success. “The Circle put me in touch with Ann Gitter, who is my retail mentor,” Hanifah explains. “She’s awesome.” Ann’s mentorship has inspired Hanifah to think about becoming an “aunt” herself. “I want to give advice, I want to create jobs, and a good local economy,” she reports. While Fason De Viv welcomes everyone, Hanifah does want the store to resonate with her Black customers. “It’s also important that Black people see themselves reflected when they are in my shop, especially women,” she says. “I’m trying to help women like me understand that we can do and be anything.” --Natalie Peart (Natalie is a freelance writer who loves to explore new economic ideas. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.)
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