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How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with my business idea during a phone call with a good friend. We were discussing our recent online shopping purchases and the difficulties we faced with them. This opened up the conversation to all the common problems women face in the ecommerce world. That’s when I had a eureka moment — I told her ‘We need to pursue this! Let’s solve this problem!’.
What does the average day look like for you now as an entrepreneur (especially compared to past jobs/days)?
As a Junior, my days are already pretty busy as a computer science major. Additionally, running UT’s premier co-ed technology fraternity, Kappa Theta Pi, as Founder and President also takes up quite a bit of my time. While being an entrepreneur definitely makes my already busy schedule busier, it’s really rewarding work. Regardless of the outcome I am so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be a FoundHER this semester. I have learned a lot while being in the program. Further, I believe in lifelong learning, and trying new things goes hand-in-hand with that mindset. For me, that looks like pursuing my startup idea.
What are some of the top things you have learned so far?
Important things I’ve learned so far include legal aspects of starting a business during one of the KS WELI workshops. Additionally, building a team for a startup is a very difficult task. It comes with a lot of challenges to find people who are willing to pursue the 1% chance at success in the startup world — especially when your startup idea is tech-heavy. If anyone is interested in helping out with Style AI, please reach out to me!
Who or what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I have always been a creative individual — specifically in the scope of art. I would do tons of DIY’s as a kid and one of these creative endeavors was making wallets and other items out of duct tape. I ended up running a small duct tape business out of my locker at school in the fourth grade for a few weeks and made some money — this was my “lemonade stand” as a kid, if you will. I always played around with creating things as a kid, but I would say what really inspired me to become an entrepreneur was shark tank. I was enthralled by everyone’s creations and knew I wanted to be one of those people up there one day.
What have been 1-2 of your proudest moments in creating your business?
The proudest moment in creating my business thus far has to be getting accepted into the FoundHER program. Another proud moment would be finally finding someone to help out specifically with design and branding recently.
What’s the best advice you have received along your journey?
The best advice I’ve received on my journey so far would have to be to create my minimum viable product as an extension first as that would be the most compatible way to work with large amounts of data. I received this advice from a few mentors through the FoundHER program!
What’s a fun fact about you?
I am actually from the Chicagoland area! I was born and raised in Illinois my entire life. I came to Texas, and anywhere in the South for that matter, for the first time for UT specifically! I’ve definitely noticed quite a few regional differences including southern hospitality, the fact that everything is indeed “bigger in Texas”, and that the entire state seems to be on a Keto diet!
About The Author:
Yumna Ahmed '25
Founder of Sizable
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