Aïsha Temfack, founder and CEO of the award-winning handbag company Missiris Montréal, felt inspired to create her brand because whenever she was looking for the four key elements in handbags: good quality, price, fanciness, and practicality, there was always a missing factor, which motivated her to make a difference. After launching her brand on Sept. 22, 2022, she won the Canadian Choice award in retail and has grown her audience.
Temfack said her journey has had ups and downs, but staying persistent is one of the main reasons for her success.
“There’s been tears, happiness, desperation and lack of motivation. But the one thing that I will say is there’s always been consistency; I’ve always been disciplined, no matter how I was feeling, no matter what ‘no’ I had gotten that day or what ‘yes’ I had gotten that day. I was always consistent,” Temfack said to the CONTACT. “In the two and a half years that I’ve been doing this, I’d maybe say I haven’t shown up ten days in total. So I’m here every day whether I’m motivated or not, whether I’m feeling good or not. I’m showing up, and that has been helpful because I have created this amazing community. I don’t even need to speak about the bags. They do it for me.”
She added that she wanted to create handbags that people could wear on any occasion and sell products worth the price.
Temfack said that another motivation for her brand is her enthusiasm for women’s empowerment. After watching a documentary on child marriage and seeing young girls being forced to marry older men, she felt that her calling was resonating, and she has been supporting African organizations that help girls escape early marriage, such as Days for Girls, Give1Project, and Women’s World Wide Web (W4) Girls’ Parliaments, to end child marriage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She is also working to get in touch with Malawi’s Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, who is known for breaking up child marriages.
“I’m very sensitive to women’s empowerment. That’s something I’ve always been big on. So to see that [documentary] was really like, I’m going to use this passion for fashion, and I’m going to make a change,” Temfack said.
Temfack’s recent visit to Radio Canada’s Dans l’oeil du Dragon led to a sales boost, and to her, it demonstrates that as a Black woman, you can reach people outside of your community with your brand.
“It’s important to show that as a Black woman, you don’t always have to do ethnic stuff to succeed. You can sell. You can compete with non-Black people in the open market and still do it right,” Temfack said.
Looking to the future, Temfack hopes to become one of the top three handbag brands in Canada.
“I want to make a difference in the lives of these girls who were married so young and didn’t have the chance to get educated. I want to make an impact. I’m not here just to sell bags and make money. It’s never been about that. I want to make sure that I’m making a difference. I’m empowering women here with the bags to empower girls there to get more education,” Temfack said.
Temfack’s bags can be found at: https://missirismtl.com/fr.
