Saif Bhoja’s hemp-based clothing company, Huriah, is pioneering in an industry where progressive change is needed more than ever. The clothing industry is the second-largest environmental pollutant after the oil industry, using five times more energy than the airline industry and sustaining our society’s unhealthy culture of fast fashion: prices are low, items don’t last, and 98% of workers, most of whom are women from economically underdeveloped countries, don’t make a living wage.
In the context of the world’s wider climate crisis, the problem of the clothing industry is a relatively solvable one; compared to the scientific and technological feats required to overhaul other industries such as energy and travel, clothing is not such a headache… we need companies making quality clothing, sourced from ethical, sustainable workplaces and materials.
Huriah is one such company.
The key to Saif’s enterprise is the use of hemp, one of the world’s most versatile crops: strong, tough, soft, and breathable. It’s incredibly eco-friendly, too! Compared to each kilogram of cotton needing a gargantuan 20,000 litres of water throughout its growth process, hemp only needs 1/8 of this amount, a far more sustainable 2500 litres.
So why isn’t hemp more widely used? Hemp belongs to the Cannabis Sativa plant family, meaning that, despite its low THC levels (the psychoactive component of cannabis), hemp’s reputation is forever tarnished by its infamous cousin, marijuana, and the drug culture which surrounds it.
However, times appear to be changing. As more and more governments are reconsidering their stance on the illegality of cannabis, Saif believes that people’s wariness of hemp is “becoming desensitised” and that “now is a good opportunity to have that discussion with people about why it's a good product and why it should be used a lot more.”
Growing up, Saif didn’t know of his potential to begin something like Huriah. Family expectations served his future hopes with a cultural pressure: “from an early age, the idea is ingrained to become a dentist, become a doctor or an engineer, those stereotypical, vocational roles”. With this mindset in place, he took academic subjects at college before studying Forensic Investigations at university. Beneath the surface, though, Saif knew that he wanted a career not only to pay the bills, but to give purpose to his life – something he cared about. In his third year at uni, Saif got involved with a leadership program which helped him to glimpse the potential of a career in the ‘third sector’, an unexplored possibility; a new realm of career opportunities which could offer what he was looking for: the chance to make positive change.
“I realized that, for me personally, it wasn't about the tangible gain, but the opportunities I can create not only for myself, but for other people.
I felt that, once I graduated, I’d be in a race to with millions of other people to really advertise myself for the opportunity of a job. So, I was like, ‘Why not create the opportunity myself?’”
The innovation of eco-conscious clothing brands has already inspired Huriah to collaborate with other creatives, but getting to know Saif, it becomes clear that his passion is about far more than just clothing.
“I want to be in a position where I can help young people visualize that, the system we live in perpetuates the idea that chasing money only is our sole purpose… but It's not going to bring you eternal happiness.
Money is great when its seen as a tool to create opportunities for yourself and other people. You see plenty of people that are rich, and you can see they’re unhappy, because I personally think that money hasn’t fulfilled their purpose, that thing they really wanted.”
Launching into the clothing industry was never going to be easy, though. Driven by purpose rather than experience, Saif leapt into a world of business where everything was new to him. No amount of study for his Forensic Investigations degree could have prepared him for the new skills he suddenly needed: Photoshop, website design and entrepreneurship, just to name a few.
Plunged in at the deep end, Saif learned a lot about delegating and reaching out to people.
“Sometimes, to make things work, you have to let go of your ego and say, ‘I can’t do this’. Being able to step back and actually manage a business as a business owner means not being the individual that does everything all the time.”
It was at this point, around a year ago, that Saif joined our entrepreneurship program and became a part of the Social Ark family. Through this, we’ve been able to guide and train him through the trials of beginning a small business, using all of our means to help see his plans come to life!
“I wouldn't be where I am now with my idea, if it wasn't for Social Ark. Their insider knowledge of how this industry works and how to manoeuvre it has given me the insight and the chance to really develop and thrive.”
“More than just helping practically, it’s been personal moments with Lisa and other mentors that have given me that deeper, needle-and-thread help to pull things together and refine them.”
We’ve been able to help Saif with practical, nitty-gritty essentials, like securing grant funding and understanding his industry, but our favourite thing is to have seen him grow as a creative, big-thinking entrepreneur.
“‘Entrepreneur’ is a word that I feel like we throw around quite a lot, but I now truly understand the core fundamentals of it.”
“On a different program they might just give you the basics, but this is more than that. Not only have I become more of a social entrepreneur, I feel like I've just become a better person in general”.
“On the program, everybody has this sense of wanting everyone else to achieve. No one is competing with one another, it’s very much a cohesive unit in which we are moving together”
An amazing way that we’ve seen Huriah fly is through the workshops that we’ve helped Saif run for young people. They begin with creating discussion based on everyone’s lived experience, reflecting on how different issues can be brought to light and challenged, followed by the creation of designs based on the discussion which are printed onto t-shirts at the end. Saif nails it with the description that: “we use creative design as a medium to discuss issues within our society. It's as simple as that.”
The hope is that each young person leaves the session with a self-designed t-shirt which can act as a trigger, a planted seed which one day should serve as reminder of their achievement and creative potential.
Saif represents exactly what we love to see: passion, purpose and care for the world around us. To any aspiring social entrepreneur, he says this…
“The place where you're going to learn the most and really develop your character, develop as a person and see real change within yourself is in stepping out of your comfort zone. You're only going to get one shot at things, and you don't want to look back with any regrets.”
