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Meet Masouma H.

Masouma, a resilient entrepreneur and immigrant from Afghanistan living in San Diego, has shared her inspiring journey of pursuing her goals to start a family daycare business in San Diego. With the ongoing support of WE Grant Partner, International Rescue Committee (IRC) San Diego, and its STEPS Program, part of the WE STAR programming funded by WE, Masouma received access to tools and resources to maintain and run a successful and thriving business of her own.

In 2016, after fleeing Afghanistan with her family as refugees, they resettled in San Diego. She faced numerous challenges, including language barriers and caring for her son with autism. Before immigrating to the US, Masouma had an established career in the Afghan government, where she worked in different positions with the Ministry of Education after graduating from university.

Masouma is a trained teacher and loves teaching. When she discovered the childcare business, she thought it would be a great way to channel that passion and her expertise, while still providing care for her son and having flexibility to take him to his appointments. Masouma received valuable resources, information, and technical assistance through the IRC San Diego’s STEPS Program to navigate the startup and operations of her business. The program also provided her with a stipend to purchase extra equipment and a laptop to help digitize her business.

She stated, “When I moved to the US, in the beginning, it was very challenging to navigate the process of opening and running a small daycare business, but the help of IRC and tools that they provided through programs like STEPS made it so much easier to navigate and feel confident to go through the process.”

Masouma opened her business in the fall of 2020, amid the pandemic. Like many other businesses during the pandemic, Masouma’s business struggled. She found enrolling children in her childcare program to be difficult and turned to the IRC WE STAR programs to help market her business. With the help of her IRC Business Advisor, Masouma developed a marketing plan that helped enroll six children in her childcare business and work on expanding her business with a waitlist for enrollment. She worked with IRC staff to open a Google My Business bank account, develop her social media account, and gain marketing skills to promote her business. IRC staff also helped her develop a business plan and provided other financial tools to track her budget and expenses.

Masouma’s new skills, business plans, marketing efforts, along with her love for teaching and her incorporation of activities for children to learn about Afghan culture helped to attract more families. After just over two years since starting her childcare business, she was able to buy a house and expand her business to a large childcare license and hire additional employees to help. Currently, she has 20 children enrolled in her program. Masouma is genuinely grateful for the assistance and support and highly recommends the IRC’s programs to anyone looking to start or grow their business.

Her story is a testament to the impact of the WE grant funding that helped IRC San Diego to launch and grow the WE STAR programming, which helps empowered women to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Her determination and hard work, combined with the support from this program, have enabled her to overcome obstacles and build a thriving business. Masouma’s journey serves as a reminder of the resilience and potential within immigrant communities. It highlights the importance of providing resources and support to help them succeed in their new home. She expresses her gratitude to the IRC and WE for helping her achieve her dream and is thankful for the opportunity to pursue her passion for running a successful business.