A henna artist’s guide to using Mac for business
Watch as we catch up with henna entrepreneur and artist Zubaidah Amod to find out how she balances the delicate art of henna design and business management using Apple products.
It’s in human nature to be driven with a story to tell and a mark to leave. Creating meaning through art is a tale as old as time – and one of the oldest and longest-standing art forms known to us is body art.
One type of body art that is loved the world over and weaves its pattern across cultures and traditions is henna (also known as mehndi). Making her mark in the henna industry, Zubaidah Amod is an expert in henna design and runs her own henna business called Henna by Zubaidah.
The natural stain has roots in North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia and is often used as a symbol of celebration and beautification. Zubaidah uses her skill set and a mix of instant and natural henna as well as body paint to create intricate and mesmerising artworks that adorn and decorate her clients at events, festivals, weddings, charity events, or just in everyday life.
Watch as we catch up with the artist to find out more about her work and how Apple products help her manage the logistics and marketing of her delicate and special creations.
Henna images in the video above supplied by @zubaidah.amod and sourced on her Instagram page.
The 25-year-old Cape Town artist runs her henna artistry business while working closely with a team of henna artists. They specialise in henna artistry, body art, and temporary tattoos for a range of events – from weddings to music festivals.
“We offer everything from body art, temporary tattoos, face paint, everything you can think of for all different events like festivals, mehndi (henna) nights, and weddings,” shares Zubaidah.
Image by Zubaidah (Shot on iPhone)
Image by Zubaidah (Shot on iPhone)
Growing up, Zubaidah always enjoyed the mastery of getting her own henna done when attending weddings or for Eids. “It was such a special part of my childhood and a special part of growing up,” she reminisces.
The way that henna, or mehndi, nights* (*a celebratory evening in Indian tradition where a bride and the women in her family get their henna done the night before the wedding) created a sense of connection and warmth intrigued Zubaidah to want to create that joy and warmth for others.
“I enjoy being able to do that for other people now for their special memories,” she enthuses.
Zubaidah may only be 25, but she’s been in the henna industry for a decade already – carving out a well-deserved name for herself one cone at a time.
“At the age of 15, I decided ‘I’m going to start doing henna’. So, I just picked up a cone and went for it. I posted an ad on the corner shop and asked people ‘Who wants henna?’ - and that’s how I started my business,” she recalls nostalgically.
The journey so far has been great – and being able to stay connected with her client base and attract new clients has been made easy with social media and reliable tech tools from the Apple suite – namely her iPhone, MacBook, and iPad.
Her pocket-sized Apple device, the iPhone, helped elevate her business marketing through improved photography of her work. This helped her attract new business simply by upscaling her social media photography of her work.
“First, I got my iPhone. My iPhone was great for my photography – it really changed my business so much. I started with an iPhone 8 Plus and it took amazing, amazing photos. People loved the work,” Zubaidah explains.
“I then moved over to the iPhone 13, which was even more amazing. The photography, the cinematography really upscaled my product photography and my ads as well for social media.”
Working in the henna industry means that Zubaidah’s days are very unpredictable and dependent on client events. To track her ever-changing schedule, she finds value in using the MacBook to operate and sync her Google Calendar to her iPhone and stay on top of her appointments and schedule.
“I love how unpredictable my day usually is just because henna is just unpredictable. So, usually Mondays to Tuesdays, I'll be doing some admin prepping for the week coming and Wednesdays to Fridays are usually when my peak bookings are,” she shares.
“I also use my MacBook for my admin. So, that would be Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Drive, everything. I manage all my spreadsheets and my documents on there. I can also access it from my iPhone, and that’s where I manage everything on the go.”
Zubaidah appreciates that the MacBook helps keep all her goods together and the iCloud feature has been a treat for syncing her data, schedules, and images between her Apple devices.
“One of my favourite features of my Apple products is the iCloud. A lot of my clients want to see the pictures that I’ve taken for them at their mehndi nights and their events – and iCloud just makes it very easy to share. I can make a public website for them to access all the pictures and videos that I’ve taken,” she says.
“The iCloud features also help me share documents and all the important things that I need to share with my team – so, the other artists I work with, my PA, and my social media creator.”
To prepare designs for her clients, Zubaidah used to go the traditional route of pen to paper but has since gotten her hands on the sleek iPad Pro 11” and Apple Pencil 2nd Generation to help streamline her design process.
Using Adobe Fresco from the App Store, Zubaidah has been able to create crisp, clean, and detailed designs she can share with clients and use as a reference when moving the design from iPad to hand.
“Doing it [designs] on a creative tool like Adobe Fresco has just been really helpful for me to properly show my clients what I can do for them,” Zubaidah adds. “So, the iPad just helps me integrate all the ideas into one design.”
Beyond seamless connectivity, business bookings management, and cross-device collaboration, Zubaidah is also grateful for the durability and reliability of her Apple products. She feels that the performance and quality of the device last long after use.
“I used to have to replace my phone every year and I’m still using my iPhone 8 Plus from years ago,” she says.
“The quality of the photography and cinematography has always been great and it’s nothing like any other devices that I’ve used before.”
Maintaining her Apple devices to keep her work bookings and content creation flowing, Zubaidah reaches out to her local iStore where she finds the service and assistance great.
“Whenever I’ve needed to go into the iStore, which was very infrequently because I never have any issues with my products, the customer service was great,” says Zubaidah.
“Everybody’s great and can help you make informed decisions on your products. The warranty and support are also nice – I’ve never had any issues with my products, and I don’t think I will anytime soon either.”
As for what’s next, Zubaidah is excited to expand her clientele reach into new markets. She’s planning to target some of the bigger music festivals around Cape Town as well as grow her social media presence.
Her growth over the past decade has been rapid wildfire, and the henna artist is also hoping to streamline her business processes.
“I’m looking at scaling more efficiently, I’ve been growing too much for my own good and I’ve been struggling a bit with organising all my processes. So, I’m hoping that I can just integrate more of my Apple features to help me with that scaling,” she shares.
She also hopes to expand her Apple knowledge to better her business offerings – especially regarding features that will improve her customer satisfaction.
“There are so many more that I know I can still use,” she explains.
“For example, being able to create designs for my customers on the iPad or sharing calendar invites on Apple. Things like that I think will just help a lot with my customer satisfaction in the future – and I’m excited to grow my business using these tools.”
Visit iStore today to learn more about the MacBook range and iPad range help you grow your business and make art out of routine.
For more information on iStore’s offerings for businesses, please visit here.
Built with Shorthand