LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
IZHA Interior Design, Limitada, a specialist business turning interior spaces into live/work sanctuaries in Mozambique
Alcinda Cumba Durão, or Isa as she is known, is the founder and executive director of two companies, namely, IZHA Interior Design and JD&D Group in Mozambique, which is currently a 6 people team. Both of her companies represent her life motto: “Explore your full potential and be whoever you want to be”. She’s been a Lawyer by profession for 7 years, with over 10 years of experience working in the corporate sector and administrative services. She has a mentoring program for helping adolescents and young adults on their professional journey and also has a passion for interior design and decided to finally pursue her dreams.
Lioness Weekender spoke to the talented and inspirational Alcinda Cumba Durão about her entrepreneurial journey, her ambitions, and her drive to build strong values-driven businesses.
What does your company do?
IZHA Interior Design: We help busy people who don't have the time nor the zest to transform their space into the sanctuary of their dreams. We are specialized in interior design and décor of homes, offices and accommodation sector. Our design style is clean, light, minimalist and simplistic, taking into account space functionality and highlighting visual amplitude JD&D Group: We work for the corporate sector and facilitate our clients' ventures by being a focal point for different types of corporate services, such as legal consulting, administrative, secretarial and HR services, contracts management, as well as brand management and representation.
What inspired you to start your company?
After being at life risk and losing my first daughter at 7 months of pregnancy, due to a severe preeclampsia in 2019, I decided to stop working and stay home during my second pregnancy. I saw myself unemployed and with no luck finding a new job, despite various job applications. During my daughter's first year of life, I found motherhood SO challenging, that I began to put my life into perspective and to readjust my priorities. When she turned one year old, I felt so strong, empowered and resilient that I made the decision of starting my two businesses, in order to work on my passions and inspire other women to pursue their dreams, despite their past traumas and regardless of being a mom.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
I believe that what makes my businesses and services special is my commitment to serve. I consider myself just, outspoken and result-oriented, and from an early age I've always enjoyed being available and resourceful to help others. I take pride in being the person my friends and family look for help, with the certainty that I will do my very best to help them with their concerns. Thus, I'm building businesses and workplaces where I intend to multiply the same vision and principles, in the hope that our clients will feel the same comfort and assurance in working with us in any of our businesses.
Tell us a little about your team
I have an amazing team, composed of 6 people, including me. We have: an administrative assistant who helps us with the day-to-day management; a driver, whose role is to have direct contact with the authorities, to submit and follow up on official documents for the companies and for our clients; a junior legal consultant who assists us with the legal consultancy part of the business; a sales representative, who helps us with our clients' brand management services; and 2 (two) Executive Directors who are responsible for structuring and implementing a strategic vision in business operations.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I don't come from an entrepreneurial background, considering that both my parents and my grandparents were employees, and except for my mother, all worked for the Estate. Hence, their guidance was the same: go to school and find an employment until retirement. However, given their experience, the orientation was to work for the private sector, instead of the public sector. And that was my mindset and what I was carrying out. In fact, I was always verbal about how I could never work for myself, because I didn't have the acumen to be a businesswoman. However, as incredible as it might seem, in 2019, when I was occupying a managerial position at a big company, I saw an invitation to attend one of Lionesses of Africa's events and, as an avid feminist, I decided to go and see what it was about. I was absolutely fascinated by the stories the speakers talked about their entrepreneurial journey and I decided that one day, it would be me up there, telling my story, hoping to inspire other women that same way I was inspired by all those strong and amazing women at the venue. And I began to study everything related to business. And this is the reason why I identify with and commend this platform so strongly.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
I aspire to be a national and international reference in the fields in which I operate, in terms of professionalism, high-standard quality of services and an inclusive work culture inside the company. I'd like to be known for my strong and honest personality and I intend to only give wholehearted and committed young people an opportunity to work for a greater cause than themselves at our businesses. Our mentoring program for adolescents and young people aims at finding and helping this segment of people, so they can feel seen and heard enough to build their self-confidence, go after their dreams and be exceptional at their ventures. I believe that this is the type of people that will help develop of our country and, hopefully, change the world.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
What gives me the most satisfaction as an entrepreneur is to go to sleep every night and wake up every day knowing that I am fortunate enough to, tirelessly, go after my dreams. My aspiration of always looking to become my best self and help others to do the same, either from a business perspective (in case of clients) or at a personal and professional level (in case of employees and beneficiaries of the mentoring program), fills me with joy and purpose. Also, I hope to inspire my daughter and other people to realize that they have within themselves the strength and capacity to be whoever they wish to be and leave a mark in this world, as well as inspire other people to do the same.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
I would advise them to:
Start their self-awareness journey, so they can know themselves deeply and work on their strengths and weaknesses, traumas and triggers.
Know their own measurement of success.
Develop a passion for constant learning and self-improvement.
Have a sense of serving and helping others, this way it will become easier to add value in their businesses.
Really believe in themselves and learn to block outside “noise”.
To learn more about Alcinda Cumba Durão’s businesses and product/service offerings, send her an email: isacumba0@gmail.com or visit the company’s social media platforms:
