Interview: Ali Ardekani (Baba Ali)

On 03.25.10, In Opinion, by tareq

I had the opportunity to interview Baba Ali this past summer at MuslimFest 2009.

In Part 1 of the interview, Ali discusses how he started each of his projects from his board games to his YouTube channel. He explains how he got others involved and provides links to resources he utilized. In Part 2 of the interview, Ali provides some amazing advice and life lessons for any Muslim interested in business.

Takeaways

A truly inspiring and motivational interview! I would recommend watching both parts of the interview but, for convenience, I have summarized some of my favourite takeaways.

Be Original

“When is it going to be the time that we stop imitating the non-Muslim products and they start imitating our products […] and you imitate people you like so when are we going to change the stereotype and become the higher standard inshAllah”

Ali encouraged Muslims to be more creative and original with their ideas rather than “Islamify” already existing ideas. He emphasized that with unique ideas we can inspire others and become the standard for high quality products.

Make Products That Sell Themselves

“Make a product or service that is bought, not sold”

Ali is convinced that if you make a high quality product the people will come to you. During MuslimFest 2009 he simply sat at his booth for Kalimaat and didn’t once call anyone over. People who were interested approached him and asked him what it was all about, he demoed it people to show them the quality of the product. Kalimaat sold itself.

Build An Expertise And Ask For Help

“Become the expert in that field”

When Baba Ali decided to make board games he didn’t know much if anything on how and where to start. In the interview he emphasizes that to learn, you must ask others for advice and help and become more knowledgeable about your field of work.

Accept Failures, Learn From Your Mistakes

“You have to accept failure. [...] So sometimes you make something that fails and you have to accept it and say ‘look, I made a bad decision. I go onto the next project’. You fall down, you get right back up and move on to the next one. But if you learn, and say what did I do wrong? If you learn from your lesson it actually humbles you.”

Failures can be tough to swallow but Ali advises to not let them keep you down. He mentions how every failure is an experience to learn from ones mistakes and then start over again. The experience teaches more than just how to avoid another negative scenario but rather humbles oneself.

I’d like to thank Ali Ardekani for his spending his time to chat with us and share advice from all his experiences. You can follow all the projects that Ali is involved with on his own blog, http://www.ummahfilms.com/

tareq

Tareq is currently pursuing a Mathematics degree at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. His internships have led him to explore different opportunities in the ..MORE

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2 Responses

Aatif

3.28.2010

Great work editing the interview and I love the summary/take-away points. While it seems so logical that these are some good ways to go about business, its appropriate to acknowledge that in certain cases it doesn’t happen. However, more importantly, I appreciate that it’s not just a criticism, he’s also providing applicable suggestions on how to enhance your business practices (ie. monitor/evaluation, utilizing resources/expertise, communication). Whether you are buying or producing something to be bought, this video shares some very keen insights. A great interview Product Muslim!

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