Every month, Hadassah Foundation grantee Yozmot Atid highlights one of their program participants. Learn about Orly Golan in the interview below, or read Yozmot Atid’s original post here.
Yozmot Atid participant and founder of Happy Birds Orly Golan
Orly Golan: 52-year old founder of Happy Birds – Handmade Decorative Birds
How did it all begin? I was a salaried employee my entire life, the daughter of two salaried employee parents. I was not familiar at all with the world of self-employment. Approximately a year ago, with the outbreak of COVID-19, we faced an existential financial threat, due to being sent on a leave of absence and being terminated from work. This situation led me to the decision to start my own business in order to secure the livelihood of my family.
Turning Point: The turning point was the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to me being terminated from work and sent on a leave of absence and this adversely affected the financial situation at home.
How did we meet? I decided to use the skills, training, and managerial experience I had accumulated over the years from my academic studies and at work, in order to establish an independent business. I began searching for information about “entrepreneurship” and “self-employment” on the internet and on social media, and that is how I met Yozmot Atid.
The leap I took: I learned that the most valuable and important resource I have is me. Although I was not familiar with the world of self-employment, I studied and experimented in unfamiliar territory and internalized everything I could from free tutorials on social media and from the support I received from Yozmot Atid.
What happened during the lockdowns and COVID-19? The idea of the business emerged during the lockdowns and COVID-19, from pieces of plastic that I collected in the yard, from leftovers that we had from sealing the roof, from PVC from the neighbors, and from plastic pipes and plastic bottles that were on the way to being recycled. I cut and painted and worked on product development.
What’s happening now? Demand currently exceeds the volumes that are manufactured and we are working on ways to improve the work processes so we can shorten the time it takes to manufacture the products.
What do you have to say about Yozmot Atid? Yozmot Atid provides support and provides an opportunity to realize the business idea.
See the Happy Birds website here.
See the Happy Birds Facebook here.