Saloua Ibaline Shares the Stories of Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs

Rabat – Digital nomad and entrepreneurship coach Saloua Ibaline’s journey has intersected with several women who empowered her through tough times, helping her find open doors to possibilities.

Saloua Ibaline’s inspiring story, and those of 26 immigrant women entrepreneurs, were put together in a moving yet empowering book titled “The Stories of Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs in the United States of America.”

The book reflects the necessity of women’s solidarity to reach collective emancipation.

Ibaline’s story starts with her mother, who had the courage to leave her small, limited world in Imintanout after divorce to live with her sister in France.

Forced to leave her children back home since her ex-husband removed her children from her passport, Saloua Ibaline’s mother moved to a foreign country despite being unfamiliar with the local language and culture and having no financial support.

She took her newly born daughter Saloua with her to escape “years of misery and suffering” resulting from her divorce.

The mother’s leap of faith started a tough yet fulfilling journey for her daughter as they settled in Belgium after a second marriage with a Moroccan residing there.

The second marriage did not bring much change, with the absence of love and dominance of violence and alcoholism.

Saloua’s mother had to once again prioritize her well-being and her daughters’ safety over cultural expectations. By the time she escaped, she had another daughter, her fifth child.

Struggling to provide for her children and without a shoulder to lean on in Belgium, Saloua and her sister ended up living part-time at a local host family. For six years, the host family allowed them to feel and act like children.

Yet the mother did not give up on her children. After years of struggle, she obtained Belgian citizenship, got her first apartment, learned the language, and secured a cleaning job.

From Europe to the American dream

At the age of 17, Ibaline moved to Brussels as she “was craving change and independence.” With a “well-rounded education” and mastering four languages, she attended university, worked full time in a restaurant, and received dancing training after work.

“It was difficult, but I can still feel in my heart that burst of excitement and joy from my first taste of independence,” she wrote.

With time ticking away, the thrill gradually came to an end. Yet, the “European passport allowed me the freedom to travel anywhere in the world,” she wrote.

Aware of her passport’s power, Ibaline took a one-way ticket to New York City in 2005, replicating in a way her mother’s journey.

Having only two weeks’ worth of food and lodging and an educational and multilingual background, she embarked on a new freedom-seeking path as she challenged her “culture that often undervalues and underestimates women.”

Her challenging spirit will allow her to overcome several obstacles such as being kicked out by her host family in the US.

American dream, struggle, survival

A pinch of luck was also by Ibaline’s side. As she returned to ground zero like her mom’s humble beginnings, she secured a job as a bartender at a French restaurant and settled in a room in a basement apartment in New Jersey.

Trying to build a successful life for herself, Ibaline enrolled in a college offering accommodation to students speaking English as a second language to obtain a student visa.

The visa required having $10,000 in a bank account. A Cuban immigrant, who opened her door to her, financially supported her through the visa process.

To maintain her student status, she worked tirelessly day and night to excel in studies while working night shifts. Her efforts paid off, as in the end as she graduated with an impressive GPA of 3.95.

As her college journey came to an end in good terms, it introduced a new challenge; the need for a job to stay in the States.

Here comes a Middle Eastern woman who used to be her boss in a New Jersey restaurant. The lady offered her a job position that enabled her to pursue American citizenship.

For over five years, she “filled out endless streams of papers” and participated in several interviews, leading her to receive American citizenship in November 2014.

After almost a decade of struggle, driven-by survival instincts, Saloua Ibaline succeeded to obtain American citizenship to then later assist entrepreneurs in developing their business strategies and digital marketing through private coaching and online courses.

As a successful story, Ibaline’s journey “is nothing compared to the thousands of immigrants who are still undocumented today and are still struggling to obtain basic American rights,” she noted.

Yet through her book, she tried to give voice and visibility to dozens of immigrant women entrepreneurs who moved to the US for several reasons including war and conflict as well as for simply chasing the American dream.

From vivid dream to collection of testimonials

Like Ibaline’s story, the book’s idea came to life in a fascinating way. In a vivid dream, a voice urged her to document and share the stories of immigrant entrepreneurs.

Answering the call, she interviewed more than 100 female immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States.

In the end, 27 stories are featured in the book. They are about women “who dared to follow their entrepreneurial dreams in the United States of America,” said the author.

The book, she added, “is meant to entertain, educate, and inspire both new and native-born Americans, by highlighting the struggles and success of women who came to this country to improve themselves, their community, and their new nation.”

Coming to the US as babies, teenagers, and adults, the women share different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds yet they all had to fight for their dreams and face structural issues burdening their growth as “only a few options are available for women and women of color entrepreneurs,” stated Ibaline.

Notably, women-owned businesses in the states generate roughly $1.9 trillion in revenues but female entrepreneurs do not have much access to funding. Thus there is a need for women to invest in women. However, only 18.4% of women occupy investment-level positions in American venture capital firms.

In addition to funding issues, each woman’s story highlights the pros and cons of living in the US, but they all underline the unique opportunities and freedom they experienced in the states as they were fighting for a personal or social cause.

All 27 stories note the freedom available in the states and its symbolic meaning to the women immigrant entrepreneurs. Freedom is just a step towards discovering oneself and embracing one’s own culture while adapting to a new one.

As British-American yoga teacher Susanna Barbataki said in the book, “Immigrant entrepreneurs have the strength of our culture and our roots. We have the promise of radical imagination.”

The balance of resilience and flexibility of the immigrant women define their current identity in connection to the past, present, and future.

“When you’re uncompromisingly yourself, the world will learn to adjust your presence,” said the Lebanese keynote speaker, Hanadi Chehabeddine.