Hady Taher, 45, and a mother of 22-year-old son, is proud to be a Muslim woman who could make a change in the Saudi society by virtue of being the first woman member of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) board. “I want to make a difference and it won't come unless you push yourself and make your existence felt,” said Nashwa. Getting married at 21 to a Saudi businessman Mahmoud Al-Maeena and having her first and only child Omar didn't stop her from striving hard in achieving her goals. At the same time she did not neglect her family duties and drew a fine balance between all her roles. “My first priority was my family; even when Omar was young I used to go to work during his school hours; he never felt that I was away,” she said. Nashwa completed her high school from Dar Al-Hanan private school in Jeddah and went to the United States for higher studies. She stayed at Santa Barbra University in California for about 30 months before coming back to the Kingdom for her marriage. But the wedding did not prove a hurdle in her career and she finished her bachelor's degree in accounting from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. “I was a dependent woman and I knew exactly what I wanted,” she said. “My father had a big influence on my personality and he used to push me and always advise me to explore new things.” Her father made her attend sessions and courses in Switzerland and the United States. “He always made me feel that I should depend on myself in order to have what I want,” she added. The only girl child in her family with three other brothers made men's role in her life very effective. Her father, brothers and husband all pushed her to have a successful business life and they were very supportive. “When I graduated in 1985, my father gave me a separate office in our family company and gave me my own work to do; after I got married, my husband and I had our own international catering and trading company; by that time I already had a clear idea of how business is run,” said Nashwa. “Although we faced failures in our business because of family issues. But we survived and got back on our feet. We learnt from our previous mistakes,” she said. “We used to have one item in our company; now we have 57 items,” Nashwa added. During the course of her initial days in business, she often visited the JCCI. “I used to attend many training courses and workshops in business. Ultimately, we had a woman's committee under the supervision of JCCI,” she said. During the JCCI elections she wanted to enter the race individually, but then she decided to enter with LE-Jeddah group. “I was afraid that the group will lose because of the women candidates but we won because we worked as one group.” “We worked professionally and we earned what we got,” she said. “The Saudi government and King Abdullah supported us a lot and gave us the push to depend on ourselves and prove that we are worth taking the chance and could work alongside the men. “If King Abdullah didn't give us his support, none of this would have been done,” she added. __
