Theodore-Yarranton-Snow
Theodore Yarranton-Snow
My Jumpstart Training
Abdulhadi Ahmed
About Abdulhadi Ahmed
Abdulhadi Ahmed is a passionate and experienced tailor from the Yelwa community in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with a dream of transforming his small tailoring shop into a thriving, youth-empowering fashion business.
With over 20 years of experience, he is known for his honesty, dedication, and creativity. Abdulhadi’s vision extends beyond personal success. He hopes to open a fashion school to mentor aspiring tailors and offer free training to youth.
He believes that with the right tools, resources, and mentorship, his business can flourish and become a source of opportunity and growth for his entire community.
Abdulhadi Ahmed
Business Goals
Abdulhadi’s business is rooted in honesty, integrity, and service. He values every customer, treating them like family and ensuring that each garment is crafted with care.
His vision is to transform his tailoring shop into a vibrant fashion center offering custom services and ready-made clothing like gowns and kaftans for both men and women. Abdulhadi aims to reduce unemployment by training youth and creating a network of skilled tailors across Bauchi.
He plans to grow his business by expanding his workspace, improving production, and strengthening outreach to better serve his community and support future fashion professionals.
Abdulhadi Ahmed
Obstacles
Abdulhadi began his tailoring journey with a seven-year apprenticeship and has spent over two decades building a reputation for creativity and quality. Though he now runs a shop with apprentices and strong skills in design, recordkeeping, and customer service, major challenges persist.
Limited access to modern equipment puts him at a disadvantage in a competitive market. Without advertising, many potential clients never discover his services. Heavy family responsibilities also restrict the time and resources he can devote to growth.
Despite these obstacles, Abdulhadi stays dedicated to expanding a business rooted in integrity and community service.
Abdulhadi Ahmed
Our Partnership
Abdulhadi is seeking support in the form of mentorship, business development training, and essential equipment funding to help grow his business.
He requires tools including an industrial sewing machine, modern irons, customer seating, a signpost, and a generator to raise service quality and expand training opportunities. He also hopes to strengthen his marketing to reach new clients.
Abdulhadi dreams of creating a better life for his family and expanding his business into a second shop managed by his apprentices. Long-term, he aspires to open a fashion school that provides free training to youth, empowering them to build futures through tailoring.
My Jumpstart Proposal Presentation
During the Jumpstart Program, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading developmental experts in order to expand my partner’s business and brand identity.
At the conclusion of this internship, our team pitched the final proposal to Bill Stefan, Leadership Initiatives Board Member and Deputy for Enterprise Management for the Department of Defense. This formal pitch allowed our team to practice our skills and utilize our entrepreneurial toolkit, all while showcasing our efforts to transform the business we partnered with.
At the end of the pitch, we were able to receive feedback on our proposal for our business partner. Over the next year, Abdulhadi will utilize our proposal to propel sustainable growth of their business.
My Jumpstart Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Abdulhadi Ahmed to gain a clear understanding of their business goals. Though Abdulhadi has leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we crafted a proposal detailing the infrastructure and marketing materials that would support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Abdulhadi to optimize their business through a new budget, financial tracking systems, and logo.
This new budget enables Abdulhadi to allocate funds toward essential materials and equipment, supporting the optimization of their services. Effective financial tracking will be crucial for managing growing profits and preserving assets, ensuring the business’s long-term growth and stability. Investments in a logo and marketing materials, such as signs and flyers, are also vital for establishing a strong brand identity and expanding the customer base.
Career Exploration
Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Abdulhadi Ahmed, and our Nigerian project coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.
After discussing important considerations for our marketing materials including local populations, family situations, and prior experience, we began our exploration of the business industry.
We received briefings on marketing and branding tactics from Carla Brooks and Nikki Hendricks.
Outside of the classroom, we received a personalized tour of the Embassy of Austria where we learned about Austrian culture, US/Austria relations, and international business.
To begin our exploration of the medical field, we learned about patient histories and doctor-patient interactions from Dr. Zainab of the Kidney Center of Kano State, Nigeria.
We also got hands-on training for building plaster casts. After receiving this training, we had the opportunity to build model casts and practice assessing damages and breaks.
At the end of the week, we got to put our medical skills to the test through a demo EMT scene where we used triage and emergency response.
To explore the legal field, we received a briefing on legal advocacy from Professor Sarah Stiles, an experienced educator and leader in advocacy and leadership.
I also got to meet esteemed DC District Judge, Adam Hunter. Judge Hunter taught us about questioning, data analysis, and evidence collection.
I also received a personal tour of the University of Maryland Crime Lab where I learned about forensics science, evidence viability, and how to assess crime scenes.
We got the opportunity to learn about different aspects of the intelligence community from an active government investigator, Kesha Middleton. Ms. Middleton taught us about the role of investigators, how careers in government work, and the process for entering the government and intelligence fields.
Outside of the classroom, we took a tour of the International Spy Museum. Throughout this tour, we learned about intelligence and counterintelligence equipment.
We also got the opportunity to discuss topics related to global affairs and government relations through our meetings with the Austrian Embassy officials, government officials from the NSA and DoD, and through collaborations with representatives of universities including Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, American University, and more.