Hayati Magazine Owner/Founder Fatima

Ndaa Talks Fashion had the chance to sit down with Fatima, founder and owner of Hayati magazine to get to know a little about her and her new magazine.

Tell us a little about Fatima, the owner and founder of Hayati. Your background studies, hobbies, interests. 

Well, my name is Fatima and I am American but Beninese and Nigerian by origin. I studied business management in uni but graphic and web design have always been two of my favourite hobbies. Other than being in front of the computer designing, I enjoy listening to music, baking and bbm’ing lol.

 How can you relate to the Hayati reader?

 I am my reader. I’m a Muslimah who understands that Islam is not just my religion but my lifestyle. I, just like my readers, am interested in knowing about new Abaya styles, cute ways to wear my hijab, easy tricks to taking care of my skin, ideas on how to better manage my household and more.

 Why "Hayati"?

I chose the name Hayati because of its meaning. It means ‘my life’ in Arabic and that’s exactly what Hayati is about; our lives as Muslimahs. It covers faith, charity, beauty & health, fashion, featured Muslimah making headlines in their respective fields, shopping and living.

 Goal of this magazine?

My goal for Hayati is to build a relationship with Muslimahs worldwide and be able to help them whether it is with questions pertaining to faith, fashion or just life in general. I also hope that Hayati will serve as a helping hand to Muslimahs who have recently reverted to Islam and give them a sense of belonging to a community and sisterhood.

 Who is your target audience?

Hayati’s target audience is Muslimahs between the ages of 15-35. We have material for all whether it is fashion, living or literature.

 How did this magazine come together?

Lol. Allah (swt) (Allah: god in Arabic) has a way of making things happen. It started with a blog in August this year, continued to instagram and turned into a Magazine idea soon after. My followers on instagram are due some credit because they inspired the idea.

 How many people does it take to run the magazine?

Well… that is a fantastic question lol. It is just me and ALLAH (swt) for the moment but I received help from Melanie of Haute Hijab, Yaz Raja, Diajeng of Hijup, Nancy of SixteenR, Imani of Venus Visuals and my loving friends.

 How often will the magazine be published? Weekly? Monthly?

The Magazine will be published monthly. I will have a proposed topic schedule posted on our website once the magazine is published and readers can send in material, pictures, suggestions, stories or whatever they want featured. I will make room for it Insha’Allah.

 Where do you see Hayati in 5-10 years?

Wow! In 5 years I would love for Hayati to have a full staff and rise to be a top choice publication. But Allah (swt) knows best and Insha’Allah Hayati will grow as big as I hope.

 How do you plan on differentiating Hayati from other Muslim identified magazines?

I feel like the main difference between Hayati and the other Muslim identified magazines is our content. Although we 50% of our content is fashion oriented, we also have a Martha Stewart feel in terms of our home, cooking and living content. I also hope (insha’Allah) to publish a French version of the magazine starting in January next year.

Hayati's release of its first issue is THIS Thursday November 8th, 2012. You can subscribe to a free copy @ hayationline.com 

I've subscribed to get my first issue of Hayati Magazine! Hurry up and get yours!!

xoxo
Ndaa