Sarah’s story kicks off in 2017, when she launched The Happy Heart, a fashion brand that quickly caught the eye of Kuwait’s style-savvy crowd. She wanted to use the proceeds from her venture to fund the social causes she cares about. Her designs were playful, practical, and full of personality-just like Sarah herself and were an instant success, which got her thinking! She learned a lot from the process of building a brand from the ground up and realized that she could help others by showing them how to start their own brands.

“I saw so many people-especially young women-who wanted to start their own thing but didn’t know where to begin,” she says. She quickly made a bold pivot. Instead of just selling her designs, she started hosting workshops to show others how to launch their own brands, sharing everything she’d learned about business, branding, and, most importantly, believing in yourself.

For Sarah, empowerment isn’t just a buzzword-it’s the heart of everything she does. Her biggest goal? Making sure people have the tools and confidence to create their own income, so they can support themselves and their families. “Financial independence changes lives,” she explains. “It’s not just about making money for the sake of it. It’s about having choices, security, and the freedom to help the people you love.”

Through The Happy Heart, Sarah runs workshops, hosts Q&As, and offers one-on-one mentoring. She breaks down the business basics-like finding your niche, finding suppliers, talking to vendors and sharing your vision, building a brand, and marketing on social media-into fun, relatable steps. Her vibe is all about community over competition. “There’s enough room for everyone to succeed,” she says, and her growing tribe of followers is proof.

But Sarah’s impact doesn’t stop at entrepreneurship. She’s deeply committed to giving back, both locally and globally. A full 10% of The Happy Heart’s proceeds go straight to charity, supporting causes that are close to her heart. Right now, she’s using her platform to raise awareness and funds for Gaza, sharing resources and stories to encourage her followers to get involved.

“Business should be about more than just profit,” Sarah says. “If you have a platform, use it for good.” She regularly spotlights charitable initiatives on her feed, and encourages her community to think bigger than themselves. It’s this blend of hustle and heart that makes her brand-and her story-so powerful.

She’s also very clear about goals. “If you want to be a fashion designer, there are lots of other people who can teach you. I want to teach you how to launch a profitable brand,” Sarah explains. In a region where entrepreneurship can sometimes feel out of reach, especially for young women, Sarah Al Hashemi is proof that you don’t need a trust fund or a business degree to start something meaningful. All you need is an idea, a little grit, and someone to show you the ropes.

Her workshops are a treasure trove of information. The four-day event which can be attended online or in real life, helps fledgling entrepreneurs learn the basics from how to price their products, build a brand identity, and even create capsule collections. The in-person workshop takes things a little bit further and includes a field trip to the fabric market so she can show her students how to differentiate fabrics, make the best choices and even introduce them to the best suppliers.

Sarah’s workshops feel more like a coaching event than a business course. She has invested a lot of time and effort into helping her students dream big and then achieve those dreams. She has already helped launch more than 200 businesses and is not showing any signs of slowing down yet. She never gatekeeps! She has kept her classes affordable so people can easily sign up and get started. She also uses her social media platform to share tips, tricks and hard-learned lessons, so other people don’t have to learn from scratch.

Her journey from designer to mentor and changemaker is a reminder that success isn’t just about what you build for yourself-it’s about how you lift others up along the way.

So, whether you’re dreaming of launching your own brand, looking for a little inspiration, or just want to support a business that gives back, keep an eye on The Happy Heart. With Sarah at the helm, it’s more than a brand-it’s a movement.

Follow Sarah @thehappydesigner.me on Instagram to learn more about her and her workshops.