Meet Samannah Momin-Basharmal | Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samannah Momin-Basharmal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samannah, how do you think about risk?
I think it’s important to take risks. If not, you’ll just get caught in the race with the rest of the herd. But it’s imperative you can recoup if the risk fails. I take small risks and see the result, then I’ll keep building on the risk until it’s come to life. That’s how my businesses have gotten to where they are today. Yes, I have made some poor risk decisions, but not to where they resulted in me losing out too much. If I have learned anything in this industry, it’s that people will see your success, and think that it’s easy to do what you’re doing. But it’s a lot more than just having money and selling. It’s the person behind the scene, that makes the success come to existence.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Mona T Shirt was started by my parents in 1988 when I was just 5 years old. My parents dedicated much of their life to building this business and in my opinion they did a great job. If anyone needed to get shirts made in the greater Houston area, our amazing clients would often refer their friends to us saying “Just go to Mona’s”. Mona’s became a brand, which to me is incredible, because we had our fair share of competitors on the strip but the brand had built a name for itself and it was doing the work for us. So when I took over in 2005, we already had our fair share of clientele, but I almost doubled our revenue in 3 years making our business see a huge growth. In 2020, the idea of A2Z Wholesale Apparel came about. People started making shirts from home and they needed an easily accessible supplier to provide their blanks, so I took the risk and converted over 8000 square feet of space we were using for our production into a showroom.
If there’s anything I want people to know, it’s that if you put your mind to it and you believe in it, then you will make it work. This all came about because I love what I do and seeing the positive reactions from our clients just helped fuel the fire to keep expanding and growing.

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.
Houston is such an amazing city. A lot of my family come to Houston to eat! We have some amazing new restaurants that have popped up that I wouldn’t even know where to start. I will say after becoming a mom, my social scene hasn’t been as cool as I would like LOL.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband has been my greatest support. We have 3 beautiful kids and with each one we’ve learned to overcome any hurdle that life presents. Especially as a business owner, being away from work for a while was hard. Afterall, the staff needed me for any questions, issues, and guidance. So, my husband and I figured out a schedule so I could work, watch the babies, come home, and still be sane. It wasn’t easy, but I feel we’ve managed a good routine to get us by.

Website: a2zwholesaleapparel.com

Instagram: monatshirtxa2z

Linkedin: Samannah Momin