Meet Umamah Siddiqui: Entreprenuer

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

Hi Umamah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Stitchxd was founded by us two besties (Umamah Siddiqui and Naaz Shaikh) in the summer of 2019 with a simple mission: to preserve the allure of South Asian culture by blending it with our American identities and curating footwear that spoke to people like us – South Asians Americans. And of course, our obsession for fashion and shoes drove that. The purpose we wanted to fulfill by starting this brand was incorporating a fusion of both of the cultures us best friends shared. We are proud South Asian Americans and fully embrace the best of both cultures, however, sometimes the footwear that we so adore were not befitting to be worn with our western outfits or even outside of wedding events. So we thought – let’s create a timeless trend ourselves!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art is a stress outlet for both of us. It brings us to this whole utopian space in our minds. We love to do DIYs, paint and research fashion trends. This was the perfect way to pursue our passion and turn it into a side business. Something we both would enjoy… The process itself is so mind-wracking! There’s the fun part of creating designs and choosing colors and fabrics but then there’s the other part of rejecting the prototypes that don’t turn out the way we want and basically starting all over again from scratch. That time invested doesn’t come back. All people see is the final product but not the strenuous process behind making the actual product. We remember a time when one of the most difficult decision to date that we believe we had to take when it came to Stitchxd was switching to a different group of vendors. We were experiencing unexpected issues and delays with the current vendor at the time and even missed our initial launch date. There were a handful of designs that we had to let go as a result. There so was much money, time and effort that was invested, but we had to move forward. In the end, we want to be remembered as two best friends that revived an old school royal artisan art and successfully embraced both aspects of our culture by creating this brand to suit various personas that a woman holds and celebrate friendship, sisterhood, womanhood and culture altogether. We are on a journey to create a world of confidence and belonging. It is our purpose, and it is at the center of everything we do.

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 filled with fun things to do! Galveston would be my first stop- because who wouldn’t want to go to the beach. I would take them to Americas which is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The food is delicious and the ambiance fabulous. My other favorite spots are Toulouse in River Oaks and the Food Truck Park at Voss in Sugarland. We would definitely be visiting Discovery Green- they have a lot of fun events during the summer. The Graffiti Walls are a masterpiece, Buffalo Bayou Park, and my absolute favorite the Water Wall.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents who raised me to be independent and confident My partner Naaz Shaikh My spouse Khurram Siddiqui My three beautiful children

Website: https://www.stitchxd.com

Instagram: iamstitchxd_

Image Credits
NA