Nassali and Namuli: Two journalist friends team up to change the face of ushering

As the saying goes that once a journalist, always one.

Zahra Namuli and Fatia Nassali are journalists who decided to halt the profession a little bit to see if they can try their fortune at something new.

According to Namuli, she took sabbatical from the newsroom but among the many things she now does is promoting Modest Ushers, an ushering company that she cofounded with a colleague, Nassali , also a fellow journalist.

“It was not a one man dream but it was conceptualized by my friend turned sister, Fatia Nassali with an objective to target a specific clientele of the Muslim community,” Namuli says.

Nassali couldn’t agree more.

“This is not something we had seen in Uganda since most ushers at the various events we have attended come wearing not only skimpy but often short dresses. From observation we realized that it was uncomfortable having these girls settle in Muslim guests so we thought we could change something. It’s uncomfortable having the Mufti, Muslim religious leaders or Muslims at events as guests welcomed by ushers not dressed modestly,” Nassali says.

Nassali says that as muslims, they realized a gap that they could address by starting an ushering company for both male and female ushers.

The two say that there was no particular inspiration to start the ushering company, they sought to bridge the gap created by the absence of Muslim ushers.

The start

Namuli explains that the company they started in March 2022 was birthed out of the savings that both had accumulated.

“We relied on savings to make this a reality. We started with about shs2 million to cater for logo designs, and registration which is still ongoing for us. The money was also used for the clothes we used at our first ushering stints plus the photo-shoots.”

Nassali says they started the company with six female ushers, mostly friends whom they asked to help them  to welcome guests and settle them at events.

“We started with private family parties and it is here that people got to know us. With time, the people who knew us first would refer others to us,” she says.

She adds that they used the first payment to make uniforms for their company.

One thing led to the other and before they knew, the company had grown.

Nassali adds that they use social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to market the ushering company that they run together with Nunus Juice, another of their companies which prepares juice at functions and events.

Challenges

Namuli says that in some cases, the clients ask that ushers dress in a certain colour which makes it expensive for the company to look for new clothes of that colour.

She adds that this means they have to inject in a lot more money.

Namuli notes that some clients get shocked upon seeing veiled ushers at their functions since they are used to the ordinary ushers.

“We spend a lot of money on training our ushers on what to do in a bid to satisfy our clients. This is so draining but nevertheless, the results are good,”Namuli says.

“Some people actually think ushering is a job for people not educated and so once in a while you have that one guest who belittles your staff but we train our girls and boys to remain professional,” Namuli says.

She says despite all the challenges, they are determined to keep pushing and to become a household name in terms of ushering services in Uganda and beyond.

“With time, we wish Modest Ushers to be able to employ a sizeable number of youths both male and female. With time we shall stretch to others arms to events management but it could also be decoration because my colleague Nassali is so passionate about this but it could also be catering,” she says.

Advice

The duo says sometimes one doesn’t have to walk alone to go far and succeed. They need to form partnerships.

“All ideas in the world are worth your time. Don’t despise any,” Namuli says.