Some time ago, five friends who were all at a crossroads in their lives and between careers: Hind Wassef, Nadia Wassef, Nihal Schawky, Ali Dessouki, and Ziad Bahaaeddin dreamt of opening a bookstore that was an extension of their love for books, music and culture as a whole. It had to be a place that they themselves would love to frequent, which was something missing in Cairo at the time. Five years ago, the Diwan bookstore , opened its doors in Zamalek. During the initial start-up phase, all five friends were involved. Once Diwan operations began, the three women became the more active partners, whereas the two men gravitated to other careers. Each woman was drawn to the area that appealed most to her: Hind is in charge of all Arabic titles; Nadia orders the titles that come from the United Kingdom and the United States; Nihal manages the café and all items in the impulse section. This was a spontaneous division of labour, but one that clearly expressed each of their passions. At the start they were guided by their gut instinct and the desire to create something they would like to go to themselves. Five years down the road, they are very conscious of the importance of fulfilling the needs of their clientele. They like to think that a measure of their success has come from listening to their customers. Today D iwan is shifting from a "cottage" industry to a middle-sized professional organization. However, as they move to a more structured organization with new jobs being created, they still struggle to retain their personal work environment where each individual counts and has a palpable contribution to make. As in any business, they do encounter challenges, of course. "Constraints are a normal part of any business climate", they note. "We have always felt free to think outside the box and we hope to always have the conditions that enable us to do so. That is not to say that life is a rosy picture, but we try and focus on what can be done rather than what can't be. In the words of Voltaire, c hanges in the general climate will come in their own time, what we can do is to cultivate our own garden. And how do these busy young women juggle career and family? "It is not an easy balance to strike, but the joy comes from constantly trying", the three agree. "We show our children by example the importance of their mothers being career women who allocate equal importance to raising a family and to having independent roles which contribute to society outside of the home." And their career advice to other young women? "Only, that it pays to have a passion."
