“I feel self-assured and confident because I wear the hijab”
Azellia 'Selly' A. Shafira, Taught Postgraduate, Imperial College Business School
Starting up
I had my first business when I was 18 as a passion project with my high school friends. I had no idea what I was doing as the head of marketing, but I was doing something I loved while making money. I used to travel to client events in another city every weekend while being an undergraduate student during the week. I remember jumping with joy when we sealed a deal with an important client. As I learned more, I realized I was basically doing entrepreneurship and I was addicted to it.
I co-founded a startup which provides remote water quality management for small-scale fish farmers in Indonesia, and I came to Imperial to do an MSc in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management to give me the skills to progress it.
Back in Indonesia I entered a few entrepreneurial competitions as an undergraduate. I noticed the winning teams often had students or recent alumni from Imperial involved and it made me wonder, what is it about Imperial that means all these cool startups are emerging?
I spoke to someone from an Imperial tech startup that I was paired with in one of the competitions and they told me about the Enterprise Lab and that it’s easy to meet people through networking events.
It’s my dream come true to come to the UK to study. What I love the most is meeting people who are not just here to study but who are also here to network.
After I started at Imperial, I joined the We Innovate programme. There was a philosophical component about being a female founder, which gave me names for some of the challenges I’ve faced. My favourite session was when they invited two magicians to teach us about storytelling.
When I was growing up I loved reading novels, and that’s where my love for storytelling came from. Pitching is basically telling people stories – that's why I love it so much.
I'm an Asian Muslim woman in the startup world – it's like a tripling of discrimination
A tripling of discrimination
I'm an Asian Muslim woman in the startup world – it's like a tripling of discrimination. One time when I was a student in Indonesia, I was featured on the Cisco Twitter account after taking part in a competition. The comments were wild. People were saying things like “You should go back to your country” - which was funny because it was an online competition, and I'd never even left my country.
I'd never experienced discrimination like that before. I'm used to being part of the majority as a Muslim in Indonesia, as we make up 90% of the population.
I was worried about this before I started at Imperial, but I’ve found that people are curious in a good way. My programme has students from 42 different nationalities. I was afraid I'd have to adjust myself to this culture, change who I am – but no. I didn’t have to change how I dress, act, speak. It's been a valuable lesson, that my internalised fear was unfounded.
I have found the Muslim community at Imperial to be invisible. You have to dig to find the information. It's difficult to find a space for prayers, and at first I didn’t know how to access the prayer room. As someone who didn't join the orientation week, I wasn't given any information or guideline about it or if there is any Muslim community that I can go to. In the end, I have to ask my fellow Muslim friends to give me the tour.
Even after having access, it is still challenging to accommodate my praying schedule in between lectures and campus activities because the praying room is outside of the campus building. I try to find an empty room in the Business School if prayers fall between classes, but sometimes I've had to ask someone if they wouldn’t mind leaving the room for a few minutes. It’s a big difference compared to my country – we have lots of prayer rooms and breaks.
Growing up in Yogyakarta
I was born and raised in Yogyakarta, a small city in Indonesia. It's a good city for students and lots of people come from all over Indonesia to study there.
My parents are both Indonesian and Muslim, but they come from relatively different backgrounds – their cultures are pretty different. My father’s culture is more conservative, and traditionally people have lots of children – he has 14 siblings. Their communities use different calendar methods for calculating when Eid falls, so sometimes it falls on different days. This can work out well for us, as it means we can visit my mother’s childhood home for her Eid, and my father’s for his!
My parents are unconventional in a way. Indonesia has a patriarchal culture, and a lot of parents would be worried if their daughter wanted to be a businesswoman. There are still some people who say, “You’re a girl, why would you get a Master's degree, men will not be attracted to you.”
But my parents, especially my mom, are very supportive. I’m grateful to them, they’re forward-thinking and see I have passion and potential. My mother is a big defender of me. I want to be like that in the future if I have kids.
Selly with her mother
Selly with her mother
Selly throughout her childhood
Selly throughout her childhood
I didn’t choose to be Muslim – I was Muslim from when I was born – but deciding whether to wear the hijab was an opportunity to explore my faith
I feel self-assured and confident because I wear the hijab. I feel I have more freedom – it's something I chose for myself. My journey is a beautiful one and I’m happy to share it.
Wearing the hijab
Since I started at Imperial, people have asked me a lot about the hijab and why I wear it. I love to share this part of my story.
There are no rules in my country about how you should dress, but there are rules in some families. My father’s extended family is more conservative – there's an unspoken agreement that when girls hit puberty, they have to start wearing the hijab. My mum’s side is more free, there’s no pressure. Growing up, neither of my parents wanted to force me the way that some parents do.
My journey is a beautiful one and I’m happy to share it.
I had the liberty to choose, and the time to learn more about it. I didn’t choose to be Muslim – I was Muslim from when I was born – but deciding whether to wear the hijab was an opportunity to explore my faith.
It is cultural as well as religious – some people wear the hijab because others do. I used to wear it sometimes and sometimes not. I had a wakeup call when I was 16, the night after I'd acted in a play at high school. After the play I felt like I was done exploring, and that I could commit to wearing the hijab – because it is a commitment. Sometimes you may feel you have beautiful hair, and you want people to see it – but I made a promise to myself and to Allah.
I feel self-assured and confident because I wear the hijab. I feel I have more freedom – it's something I chose for myself. My journey is a beautiful one and I’m happy to share it.
This interview was edited by Elizabeth Nixon, and photographed by Jason Alden. The video interview was filmed and edited by Tom Walker and Martin Sayers.
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