For Gurgen and his friend Samvel, the idea of starting a business took shape years ago while they were serving in Stepanakert. As they talked through different possibilities, one priority stood out: their work had to benefit the environment. After careful thought, they chose paper recycling as the foundation for their future business. However, soon after they began planning, unexpected challenges intervened. First came the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the war, which forced

40-year-old Seda Ghevondyan, never imagined that sewing would one day become not just a skill, but her passion, and the foundation for her future. A teacher by profession, she thought her path would always lead to a classroom. But the moment she picked up a needle and thread, something shifted. She couldn’t put them down. “It all happened by chance,” Seda recalls. “I started working at the Ijevan sewing factory, even though I always thought my place was in a school or kinderg