Kenza Tahri
Al Akhawayn University
Mary Grace Neville
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Soumya Benhaddou is the CEO of Top Emballage company. She discussed with us how she created her company and from where the idea came from. In addition, she showed us her products and how it is made. Also, she shared with us her will of getting involved in the environment by using recyclable materials in the creation of her products. Moreover, she is proud that her company is not only made for profit but also for helping others; for instance, people in need and in financial crisis.
The innovation is a product, more specifically it is a handmade box filled with an object depending on the event and the people who are going to receive it. For example, for a past charity day concerning poor children in primary school, the gift idea was a handwork box fulfilled with basic school supplies. The idea of the innovation came from Benhaddou's drawings, she was very talented and creative. She inherited those skills from her mother who was a dressmaker who used to draw her dress models. So she took advantage of her skill and started drawing different kinds of handmade boxes, with different shapes and colours. This is how the idea of creating a company that specializes in selling gift products for events emerged. Since the beginning of her project, and until now, she was always the one that designs the product and draws it so that it get produce afterward.
In order to learn more about Mrs. Benhaddou’s life, we asked her to share a story or experience that she had to go through within her life. She took us back in the time where she was eighteen. Due to some family issues, she had to get married earlier than she was expecting. “I got married to a man who was barely starting his business; the thing that pushed me to stay at home and to become a housewife. I was enjoying my mother’s role until the day my husband and I received a call in the middle of the night. It was the police saying that my husband’s warehouse was burned because of an electrical short circuit,” she said. Even after all these years, we could see the pain caused by these memories reflecting on her face. “Even if 10 years elapsed from this tragedy, I still can feel the fear that caught me that night, but we all know that everything happens for a reason and that night was the reason of all of this." She explained to us that after this tragedy she was forced to help her husband; especially at that time, he did not have anything left and had to restart his business. This is when she decided to create her own company in order to help her husband through his financial crisis and prevent them from falling in the same issue in the future. “Patience and endless sleepless nights were the results of my success, and despite the fact that I did not do lots of studies like other people, I am proud to say that today I am the CEO of my own company,” she added with pride. This confession changed how we perceived her, clearly she was a strong woman who sacrificed a lot to stand where she is today.
Soumya always designed her products by herself and this helped her a lot during her career. “My motivation was always my desire to succeed and expand my business. My husband and my family helped me a lot through this experience, especially my husband who took care of the financial part of my company and all what it involved since it started,” she stated. She explained that when she decided to start this company, her goal was not only to help her husband during his financial crisis but also to help as many people as she could. “This is why I have always hired people in need and with no skills and decided to teach them all what they needed to know”. She did not only hire those people, she also helped the majority of them to register in an institute located in Casablanca that helps acquire the necessary skills needed for this job. We had the chance to talk with a new employee who has just registered in OFPPT, the national operator of vocational training, and he asserts that it is a good experience that is helping him improving his skills. "When I started working here I did not know much about the job and the competencies needed for it, but now that the company gave me the chance to study in OFPPT I am expanding my field of knowledge by learning more and more things every day and I will be forever grateful for that," he said.
The company hires a lot of people, especially poor people in order to help them improve their financial situation. The company's CEO explained to us that as soon as her company started to grow she had the idea of employing people with no skills and taught them everything they needed in order to succeed in their job. She added that each time she receives more orders than usual she hires more people for a period of time instead of adding working hours. That way, she provides more job opportunities to individuals in need. Even if it is only for a short period of time, she offers them social and financial support too. This shows that her main goal is to not only make a profit but also help as many people as she can.
Top Emballage Company started as a cooperative, and now the CEO is thinking about getting more involved with the environment with the use of recyclable materials. For instance, during the process of creating her boxes, she uses a lot of raw materials such as cardboard that is less harmful to the environment since it is 33% recycled. Moreover, registering employees in OFPPT and helping them improve their competencies spotlights the aim of the CEO of the company, which is to establish a good relationship with the employees and share her knowledge with them. IN addition, high levels of human capital are ways to create a good societal environment because it gives people the chance to discover themselves in different areas. The main idea is to create a good future for her employees and customers that will motivate people, countries, and states to create a joyful and calm world.
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Soumya Benhaddou, CEO of Top Emballage
