An Interview with Salam Sisters
Inspiring young Muslim girls to dream big through play
Salam Sisters was one of the earliest campaigns on LaunchGood — and still one of our favorites! Almost 5 years later, we wanted to see where they’re at now and what advice they might have for other entrepreneurs.
What was the inspiration behind Salam Sisters?
The idea for the dolls started with Peter Gould’s two daughters. He wanted to create representative toys that they would love; with messages and stories that would inspire them to become leaders, and encourage them to boldly make positive contributions to the world.
As a Muslim parent — and speaking with other Muslim parents — it became clear that there were no dolls sharing messages of empowerment and inspiration that were also inclusive and authentically connected with elements of the Muslim experience; while remaining super cool and fun.
Peter (Australia) is the co-founder and Design Executive Officer of Zileej. After sharing this idea with the Zileej co-founders Ansarullah Ridwan Mohammed (CEO, Canada), and Mawlid Benmansour (COO, Spain), it was full steam ahead and we started our two-year journey into making the Salam Sisters a reality.
What kind of impact did crowdfunding have on your product? What would have been different if you hadn’t crowdfunded?
The initial crowdfunding that we did for the earliest version of the Salam Sisters app enabled us to test the waters and bring to life our first exploration of a fun brand for young Muslim girls.
This initial experience paved the way for us to grow our idea from a purely digital-based brand to creating real world dolls and a new generation of the app that now implements augmented reality. You can download it for free here and print your own playmat for free too, to access the AR feature: https://salamsisters.com/app/
What has the response been since launching Salam Sisters?
The dolls have been received with overwhelming support and love from all over the world. We are receiving happy photos and positive stories from parents, aunties, and uncles who have gifted the dolls to young girls that are saying things like “she looks like me” and choosing their Salam Sisters doll as their favourite toy.
We have also had some of our dolls purchased not just as Eid gifts, but also Christmas presents. So we can see that our message of welcoming diversity and celebrating representation is being shared.
What do you wish to inspire through Salam Sisters for the future generation?
Our biggest dream for Salam Sisters is the see the world changed for better as a result of the representation and inspiration we are sharing with our global community. We can’t wait to see what the next generation of empowered and confident Muslim girls will achieve as women; who grow up with memories of being comfortable in their identities, connected with their roots, and welcome anywhere in the world.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs crowdfunding children’s toys and games?
Really think about your brand’s story and image. Do you have your main messages boiled down to a key sentence that captures emotion & conveys what you’re about? Do you have the branding and visuals to match? Don’t underestimate the importance of strategy-led design that is purpose-built to connect with your audience. You only have one opportunity — that lasts for less than 10 seconds — to put your best foot forward.
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