Sitting here at Hilton, I can’t help but reflect…
Almost 3 and a half years ago, DolMel ™ was officially born on paper. But the truth is, this dream started way before any legal document existed.
I was a 5th grader when my love affair with fashion truly began. What started as innocent sketches in class (yes, I even got in trouble for drawing instead of paying attention!) quickly turned into full-on fashion illustrations. I’d make tiny dresses for my dolls using scrap fabric and broken accessories I’d sneak from my mom’s closet, styling them with attention and detail like they were ready for a runway show.
By 9th grade, I had already designed a logo and coined DolMel, a mix of my nickname and official name. I started upcycling and hand-sewing details onto clothes my parents bought me, just to add some ‘Me’ into them. And while life tried to nudge me in other directions, that fire never really went out.
After high school, I got a taste of fashion school before diving into university, studying management at Addis Ababa University’s School of Commerce. Like most of us do, I entered the corporate world. It was stable. Structured. Safe. But, for me, it felt like something was missing.
So, I kept one foot in and one foot out, working full-time by day, and sneaking into night classes at design school to keep my creativity alive for the first year after I completed my degree. Still, the industry felt too closed, too cold, too inaccessible for new creators trying to do things differently. That shook me.
Fast forward to 2020, the wake-up call. Like many of us, I asked myself: What am I really doing with my life? I revisited my love for fashion, for patterns, for textiles. I began mapping out what DolMel ™ could be, not just a brand, but a movement. I started laying out my vision on Trello and ClickUp, planning out tiny steps from Hilton’s lounge, believing in something no one else in Ethiopia had done before.
My obsession with patterns met my frustration with our fabric market, low-quality imports, inconsistency, and a lack of innovation. That’s where the new DolMel ™ was born: A brand using Digital Reactive Printing Technology, non-toxic, water-based inks on natural fibers, capable of printing 100+ different patterns across 5000 meters of fabric daily. Wild, right?
It’s ambitious. Disruptive. Unconventional. It’s also not something I could, or can, do alone. It requires a whole ecosystem of minds, machines, MONEY, and momentum. But back then, I just started with the part I could control: small, tiny chewable steps, every day.
Today, DolMel ™ has passed its proof of concept and officially introduced our products to the market in January 2024. Since then, it’s been nonstop: brand building, educating the market, testing, tweaking, growing.
Do I have it all figured out? NOPE. But I’ve learned that entrepreneurship isn’t about perfect answers, it’s about grit, improvisation, and trusting the process.
I had no clue how to run a business. But those 13 years in the professional and international development world taught me more than I knew: resilience, structure, and how to build something with purpose.
Some days are tiny wins, some days are big and unexpected losses. But I’ve learned never to underestimate the power of those “chewable” steps, they’re often the HARDEST and most IMPORTANT ones.
To anyone out there building something from scratch, doubting yourself, trying to break into a space that wasn’t built for you, I see you. Keep showing up. Keep evolving. Your pace is your power.
So, yeah…sitting here at Hilton, remembering those early days when it was just a vision, I’m grateful.
There’s still a long way to go, but I’m humbled by how far I’ve come. I get to do what moves me, and that, in itself, is a blessing.
Let’s keep going…shall we?
#DolMelWave Continues…
