Her first encounter with the miswak was in the Middle East, when she was only 7 years old. And despite her young age, Hussna El Yacoubi had a business hunch: why not sell this natural toothbrush in the USA? Miswak is a twig from the Peelu tree that has been used for 7,000 years as a tooth care product in the Middle East.
Having been raised in Boulder, Colorado, the Arab-american entrepreneur visualized a massive potential in a community with such special passion for health and eco-friendliness. Fifteen years later, her idea would come to life. While studying at the University of Colorado at Boulder, a venture challenge gave her the first opportunity to pitch the product.
After a one-minute passionate pitch, Hussna defeated 40 other participants on a simple premise : this rugged earthy product brushes your teeth with natural anti-bacterial components. Why haven’t we used this before? “People were just blown away and awarded me the most imaginative pitch,” Hussna tells BarakaBits , still ecstatic with excitement.
“I went back home, and invested all the prize in a food saver to buy tons of miswak and distribute samples.” One Startup Weekend later, she pitched the miswak again and won a team of volunteers to make her idea come true. And in less than a year, her company True Brush had developed three product lines, sold 700 units, and was selected as a semi-finalist at ABC’s Shark Tank , the top American reality show for entrepreneurs. With her product now trending in the USA, True Brus h is supporting our crowdfunding campaign by providing miswaks to our campaign donors.
