Right Now interviews Donna Sherwani for World Refugee Awareness Month. Sherwani is a human rights lawyer, former refugee, mum turned fashion designer, entrepreneur and TEDx Speaker. She is the Founder and Creative Director of the purpose-led eco-luxury fashion brand Shér & Seo. Each bag purchased gives back to refugee and environmental causes.
Leila Lois: What’s your background? What was your journey to Australia?
Donna Sherwani: At the age of 13, I found myself aboard a rickety refugee boat in Bali, Indonesia, on our way to Australia. Clueless about what the journey ahead would hold for me and my family, I resorted to speaking positively to myself, telling myself that I could survive. In the midst of uncertainty, with no food, water, or toilet cover, and being on my first menstrual cycle, and not knowing what was happening to me, I made a vow to myself: if I survived this harrowing journey, I would use my story as a beacon of strength and purpose to transform lives and help others.
But the seeds of my destiny were sown in Kurdistan, a place torn by politics and war. At the age of three, I found myself walking from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey, crossing borders as a three-year-old for three days and three nights. That’s one of many times, and unfortunately Kurds being a persecuted minority have had to live under the gloominess of war since donkey’s age.
But my journey is not just of survival but of self-transformation and empowerment, turning myself from refugee to lawyer to TEDx speaker to entrepreneur, creative director, fashion designer, and Ambassador. This journey has been guided by the belief that within me lies the power to effect profound change.
After the birth of my two children, I took it upon myself to realise my true dreams of transformation and empowerment by becoming the change I wish to see. I want to create generational impact and pave the way for my daughter, so she doesn’t have to fight as hard as we did. I want to arm women with accessories of empowerment, encourage fortitude, and promote resilience. I believe we are destined for more.
We are the captains of our destinies, and by connecting the dots and not staying in victimhood, we have the power to heal and change the world.
How has this story motivated your business and artistry?
I am a poet at heart. I live my life proudly, accepting all my adversity and challenges as a hero on their journey. I believe that the best opportunity lies in your authentic story, that whatever cards life has dealt you, whatever your story is, doesn’t have to define you. You define it.
I believe your pain is your best product. If you can turn your pain into art and sell it in open markets, that’s your life’s best revenge. That’s laughing at life and saying, “I thank you for what you’ve given me, good and bad. I thank you for the darkness and light, day and night. Thank you for the strength and tenacity with which I shall step ahead, not look back, unless to connect dots, and say that’s how I got here.”
As a child, I used to collect water in buckets, whether from wells or streams, and walking home with two buckets of water, like a farmer, I would daydream of making it (or escaping) overseas to safer lands. As an artist, I turned the bucket with which I would collect water for survival into a Bucket Bag, and called it “Life”, also after my Daughter. The Jian Bucket Bag then is a thing of beauty, lasting fashion, a bag inspired by my story of heritage, survival, freedom and hope.
What words would you give to inspire the next generation?
The journey through which you take a dream and turn it into fruition will be hard. If you can accept this preamble to life’s constitution, especially the entrepreneurial journey, then you are halfway there.
Whatever you do, you must start with your North, with your why, with your mission, with your drive, with your purpose. That purpose is your compass, guiding you, reminding you, mentoring you on your hero’s journey. When you take that first step, the second step will appear, but without taking the first step, the other doors, which you will connect looking back, will never appear.
Courage is the lens through which you must look at any journey you take. The universe rewards the brave. The mentor appears when the student is ready. The next door opens when you are prepared and aligned with that next opportunity that’s meant for you. So don’t doubt it. It will either teach you lessons or enrich you with resources. You must be rebellious against the naysayers, yet you must be kind. You can be rebellious and you can be kind. You must live your life as a kind rebel and defy life with purpose.
The kind rebel archetype infuses everything they do with purpose. A kind rebel is a contrarian who lives justly and lovingly according to their bliss, why, and constitution. A kind rebel is a purposeful disruptor, always leading with power and authenticity.
Sometimes, the kind rebel must leave their village, go into a cave, only to empower themselves so they can come back and change that village.
