When Avakino Limited was established back in November 2015, we’re sure Managing Director, Ali Nowroozi didn’t quite realise the affect he was going to have on the people who require his services.
Avakino design and create fashionable headwear called Masumi Headwear for those who are going through hair loss due to Cancer or Alopecia. To reach as many people as they can, they supply their services to organisations such as the NHS and charities including Maggie’s and Macmillan Cancer Support, as well as the Teenage Cancer Trust who they have created an exclusive collection of Masumi Champions.
Although the company was established in November 2015, they only started trading properly in November 2016. Avakino have already been chosen as a Top 100 Most Innovative company in Greater Manchester and are an industry fellow for the University of Salford.
The brand was originally called Purity, however as they were growing fast they soon realised that they faced a big challenge as Purity Headwear had already being trademarked and registered by another company in Europe, the USA and Canada. Because of this they had to rebrand, and quickly!
Ali and his wife looked at many names, but it was his wife who came up with Masumi which in Japanese means beauty, true purity. They felt that this was a perfect fit for their brand and was available to register in Europe and the USA. As a team they quickly rebranded, played with the words and managed to replace Purity with Masumi without any problems.
We’re sure that everyone would agree that what Avakino are doing for those going through Cancer and Alopecia is an amazing thing and proof of the customers gratitude is on their social media platforms. Ali said: “The greatest reward, is when we see on social media our customers wearing our headwear with big smiles on their faces feeling good and beautiful! This pays off for all our hard work.”
Ali is very proud to be an industry fellow of the University of Salford. Working close to the university means that he is able to inspire some of the students and is a way of him giving back to the university.
One way that he does give back is when he hosts talks for the students, 10 of which are working with Ali on an internship programme. The aim of the programme is to inspire the students and to help them with their careers. As well as developing the students they’re working together as a team to do something amazing for the community.
We asked Ali to think back about what it is that he’s learnt while running his own business and what he would have told his younger self, Ali replied “Go and do whatever you wish as soon as you can. Do not have any doubts and do it today as tomorrow will be too late! I wish that I had started sooner. It has been an amazing journey so far, hard but very rewarding!”
The next 12 months look very bright for Ali and his team. While already distributing to Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France and America to name a few, the Avakino team are excited about where things are heading! “We are expanding. We are step by step spreading the word about Masumi Headwear and want to continue to ship to countries all around the world. We are innovating all the time and aim to inspire as many people as possible!”
Well Ali certainly inspires us every time we have the pleasure of meeting with him and we can’t wait to see his business grow and develop, helping more of his customers look amazing!
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