Her Story
About Suraya
My career has been all over the place, but each chapter has been meaningful. I spent 10 years in cosmetics where I was one of their top people, then I opened my own boutique called My Quarter's Unique in our historic downtown area and ran it for 10 years. I've always loved children and had done volunteer work with the city helping kids from underprivileged areas, so I decided to apply for a position and became a special education paraprofessional working with kids with Asperger's and autism. I'm so proud that most of the kids I worked with were able to go to some of the finer universities, and some now work for NASA. I had students who became engineers, got full scholarships, and graduated at the top of their class. I believe every kid should be allowed to have their own identity and not be put in a box, because everybody's brain is different and you have to find the best way for them to learn. After I retired in 2018, I felt a divine intervention telling me to go back to selling hats. Now I create exclusive, one-of-a-kind hats and fascinators for women. I was featured on our local news channel during Mother's Day, and my hats won first place in three different churches in three different cities that same Sunday.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Suraya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I believe God puts you in places for a reason, and if you follow His lead, you can't go wrong. A lot of people don't listen to God. They want God to help them, but the type of help you ask for might not be the way you asked him for it, but it's still coming from him. You have to know that when certain things line up, that is divine intervention. My motto is, if it's for me, it will happen, because anything that happens in your life, God already knew. Everything that happens was designed long before you were even created. When I retired and was trying to figure out what to do, it was like a voice, and I believe in divine intervention. I thought, you have something to do, and I thought, your hats. I started that night.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
We have to advocate for our kids and other kids, because if we don't, the system will pretty much determine the outcome. Every kid should be allowed to have their own identity and not be put in the box, because everybody's brain is different, and you have to find the best way for them to learn. You have to find an outlet, like a light socket to me. You keep plugging until you get the right plug to fit that individual. In my personal life, my husband and I make joint decisions. That's how I've been able to be married to my husband for 51 years. When we make decisions, we just don't do it unless we've talked about it together. We discuss whatever it is that we're gonna do together, not as an individual. We do have our individual personalities, but when it comes to our finances, we discuss how we're gonna do it.
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