Rokaya

“The most important thing for anyone is to love what they are doing. Following your passion and doing what you love the most is an advice I’ll always give because no matter what, it’ll always make you happy. Everyday is an opportunity to wake up, choose what makes you happy and work towards your dreams. And most importantly, you have to highly believe in yourself and that you are capable of anything.” 

Rokaya is 24, a freelance certified makeup artist, and is finishing up her last year of her management degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Makeup is both her hobby and her passion. When she is not freelancing and beautifying her clients, she loves creating her own makeup looks as it allows her to destress as well as be in her own world. Her proudest accomplishment is quitting her job at Sephora and taking a plunge at staring her own business called “beautybyrokaya” and growing her own clientele. She told me, “this was a tough decision but has allowed me to grow as a person and a businesswoman.” She told me something I may not know is that she is an introvert, and makeup artistry has helped her to feel less anxious socially and helps her build her social skills. When I asked Rokaya what her most challenging experience has been she told me, “honestly, I think it would have to be being a hijabi makeup artist. Being a hijabi in the western part of the world is tough already as we face some discrimination but I also faced unacceptance from the Muslim community for being a makeup artist. Some Muslims view makeup as unacceptable in Islam so when I first started my business, I didn’t get much support and would get the usual comments of why I’m not guiding my modesty.”

Q&A Feature:

How do you want to be perceived?

“I want to be perceived something more than just a woman with a head scarf on. I would wish for people to look beyond that even though I know it may be hard especially living in a place with the majority being different.”