While most students begin their working careers after graduation, some pursue their passions alongside their degrees and find inspiring success. Here, we profile AUCians who have launched their own homegrown Egyptian businesses.
Dalila Hassanein
Dalila Hassanein is an undergraduate visual arts junior who has been working as a professional artist in Cairo for two years. She presents her paintings at exhibitions and creates new pieces on commission.
Her work currently focuses on the "creative informality" of Egyptian street art. Some of her distinctive paintings are based on the hand-painted real estate ads created in public spaces in central Cairo. Selling these paintings brings in the revenue needed to make new ones, typically done on costly 1.5m by 1.5m canvases.
Managing expenses is just one part of the art business Hassanein has learned to handle. "I love every part of my career, even though the beginning is always the toughest. As a young emerging artist I've faced many difficulties and had to realize that the Egyptian art market does not always treat artists fairly," she says.
Hassanein complains of working for low rates, not being paid in full, and sometimes struggling to navigate professional relationships with different art curators. "I've definitely been taken advantage of due to not having enough knowledge on how the art market in Egypt truly works," she says. "However, experiences like these drive in clients, exposure and more exhibition opportunities, so no matter how tough it might be, there are always lessons to be learned."
Hassanein at her New Cairo studio. 
Photos by Ahmad El-Nemr
Although balancing her time between studies and work has also proved challenging for Hassanein, there is a synergy between the two. "I've received a lot of support and input from my professors on my projects," she recalls. "Also, the courses in the visual arts program truly help me understand what it takes to be an artist and to create work that reaches its full potential."
Still, working in the art market as a student has taken a toll on her social life, sleep schedule and free time. It can be stressful, she says, "but I've found that as long as I am passionate about both, I will find a way to work everything out."
Hassanein's favorite part of her business is "the fact that not only what I'm doing is succeeding but that my work is making a change." She opines that the contemporary art scene in Egypt remains limited to incessant depictions of fellahin (farmers), pyramids and deserts. "While this is a part of our culture as Egyptians, constantly having this imagery just further orientalizes us, 'others' us and neglects Egypt's creative urban culture." In her artistic manifesto, she stresses the importance of "a new visual language" for Egyptian art -- something to which her own work directly contributes.
To her fellow students, Hassanein recommends getting into business even before graduation, provided they are ready for the workload. "Creating something you're passionate about is worth the struggle."
Dinah Harvey '22
Dinah Harvey '22 is a graduate of AUC's architecture program and founder of Clooper Studios, Egypt's first professional pet photography studio.
An animal lover, Harvey always wanted to take high-quality pictures of her dogs but was unable to find a local pet photographer in Cairo. "I realized this is lacking in Egypt and that no one has professional, if any, photos of their own pets," Harvey explains. She decided to change that.
After consulting with a pet photography studio in Canada, Floofy Studios, Harvey launched Clooper Studios -- named after her dogs, Cleo and Cooper. Although elevating her hobby into a professional enterprise has required some serious investments in a studio, equipment and a website, Harvey's project fills an underserved niche and provides a valued service for Egyptian animal lovers. "Our dogs don't remain with us forever, and this is just one special way of keeping their memory alive," she says.
Harvey, Cleo and Cooper at Clooper Studios. 
Harvey and her sister pose with Cleo. 
Cleo smiles for the camera.
Photos courtesy of Dinah Harvey
Like any business owner, she has faced her share of difficulties. "My experience so far has been a rollercoaster," says Harvey. Learning to set terms and conditions with clients, managing payments and bookings, and working without a full-time assistant have been some of her main challenges. Dogs, of course, are also sometimes less than cooperative with a photographer. "My friends and family are always helping out; this wouldn't be possible without them," she says.
Balancing her business plans with studies at AUC forced Harvey to delay Clooper's full launch until after graduation. However, it was all for the best, as the photo editing skills she learned in the last year of her architecture program have proved invaluable to her work as a photographer. Although running any business is tough, Harvey's is a labor of love, spending time with animals and giving clients priceless memories. She recalls how one woman, after receiving edited photos of her pet, sent a voice note screaming with happiness. At the end of the day, says Harvey, "the dogs always make it worthwhile!"