Today we’d like to introduce you to Aasiya Coppin-Ali & Alyssa Felton.
Aasiya & Alyssa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When we first gave thought about starting this business, hookah was really just a hobby and we were known for always showing up to events with our hookah in hand. We both shared a common interest in hookah and travel. That interest led us to finding the perfect hookah experience for us that we wanted to share with others. Now yes, we know that smoking in general is not the best hobby to pick up, but since we live in Atlanta, which is also known as Hookah capital of the world, we wanted to take a well-known hobby and give people a unique experience. Our hookahs are best known for being portable and very compact. This tied hand and hand with our love for travel because this makes it very convenient for all hookah lovers to bring their hookah with them anywhere they went. We are also known for providing better alternatives to shisha that contains tobacco and nicotine with all of our shisha flavors being tobacco and nicotine free. Within this past year, this has also opened up another avenue for us to start accepting event bookings. Now we are able to share our entire hookah experience with others. Our journey as a small business is really just beginning as we just hit our 1-year mark in business this month.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not easy getting this off the ground at all. It is so simple to think and dream of an idea, but it takes real work and tenacity to see it through. Neither one of us had a background in ecommerce or knew about vendor and client relations. We had to learn all of that along the journey. We had to figure out how to correctly price our items, how to ship it, and what business expenses were needed. We both had experience in marketing when we were involved in a previous business venture, but we had to figure out how to properly market ourselves to really tap in with our target audience. Seeing that we are such a new and small company, we had to figure out how to fill in every role in a business with just two people and make it work. Our biggest struggle was really being organized when it came to our time management since we both have full-time responsibilities outside of the business. However, we had to prioritize our vision of where we are looking to take our company. Anyone who is an entrepreneur can relate when we say that it’s always something that goes wrong and there is always something that needs to be done. For us, we still face obstacles in our business every single day, but those are the experiences we choose to learn from to continue to grow.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Hookah Hotline is an online ecommerce hookah one stop shop. We sell our very unique travel-size acrylic Hookahs and hookah accessories such as coals, tobacco-free shisha and ice hoses. The whole way that Hookah Hotline got started was that we did some research and were introduced, by a friend, to Acrylic Hookahs. Immediately we were attracted to these hookahs because they are more compact, and eliminate the inner metal components and fragile material that your regular everyday hookah are composed of. We decided to expand our research to the products we were using with our hookahs. To our discovery, herbal/fruit-based shisha eliminated our tobacco and nicotine usage while coconut coals, that are made from compressed coconut shells, provided less harsh chemicals than those used with regular quick lite coals. This is where our saying, “A new way to Hookah” came into play.
Ultimately, we envision people being able to pack up, travel with, and enjoy their hookahs anywhere, anyplace, and anytime they want to. We foresee our business appealing to a larger crowd due to the versatility and quality of the products we provide. Whether you’re wanting to turn up with friends or vibe out by yourself, we strive to create an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Recently, we just started offering our ‘Hookah Catering’ services where people will have access to be able to book us for their private events to enjoy our hookah experience. So if you are looking for an entirely unique hookah experience as well as a way to experience a new way to hookah on your own, please check us out on Instagram @Hookah.Hotline for all your hookah needs. It was not easy getting this off the ground at all. It is so simple to think and dream of an idea, but it takes real work and tenacity to see it through
How do you think about luck?
The luckiest thing that has happened in our business is the fact that we just so happened to meet each other in a separate and unrelated business venture. Two hard-working African American women with the same goal of generational wealth through business. From there, we would say that it was not so much as luck as it was hard work and the ability to network. Most of the opportunities we received within this past year was some way in part due to our own personal networks and relationships built throughout the years. Life presented us with the sudden and lucky opportunity to start a business together and we used our drive and personal skillsets to turn that luck into something tangible.
Pricing:
- All Hookahs are $55 plus tax
- Ice hoses range from $30-$35
- Shisha and coal range from $5-$9
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hookah-hotline.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hookah.hotline
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077557321276
Image Credits
Chris Triplett
