Humans are a curious bunch – we tend to stick with what we think works even when it’s inconvenient. Take umbrellas, for example: for over 4,000 years, people have been carrying them in one hand while struggling with bags, babies, and cameras in the other (or whatever they carried millenia ago). For all the times we have fought to unlock car doors without getting soaked, you would think someone would have invented a hands-free umbrella by now. Well, guess what? It has finally happened – Humeira Ahmed, the Founder of Huriia, has designed the world’s smartest umbrella holder, one that allows you to use your umbrella, hands-free. Your days of taking photos or walking your dog in the rain just got a whole lot easier.

Huriia, which means “freedom” in Arabic, is an appropriate name for a company whose founder has traveled the world and values the potential of every individual.  Humeira is an immigrant to the United States, having arrived from Qatar in 1994. She relates that in 2017, she was visiting Portland, Oregon, renown for its incredible natural beauty but also a bit notorious for its rainy weather.

“I was with my sister in the Japanese Tea Garden, whose waterfalls, mountain views, and teahouse must be seen to be believed,” Humeira recalls. “The rain was coming down, I just had to get photos of everything, and – stop me if you have experienced this yourself – I couldn’t get the right angle for my pictures because I was trying to balance my umbrella at the same time. Who can’t relate to this?”

Humeira persevered and got her shots, and she mentally filed away her struggles and the need for a hands-free umbrella. “I was interested in becoming an entrepreneur, but I wasn’t quite ready to take the leap just yet,” she explains. “I needed a few more years to learn about running a business on my own, selling online, and drop-shipping products before I could think about what exactly I would offer.”

One night, tired of the 9-5 life, Humeira was sitting at her kitchen table, brainstorming new products that she could sell. Suddenly, that memory of the Japanese Tea Garden flashed through her mind, and it hit her: why not create a product that would clip the umbrella to the body of the wearer, ultimately allowing it to be used hands-free? 

“That was it!” Humeira says. “I was going to design the hands-free umbrella holder that I wished I had had back in Portland. People could be comfortable, mobile, and free in any weather. Huriia was born.”

As you would expect with a product whose potential customer base is enormous, Humeira quickly found support for her invention. With the help of a San Francisco engineer, she was able to design a wearable, hands-free umbrella holder from scratch and received a patent within 1.5 years. 

She also focused on including everything the user would need in order to enjoy a truly hands-free umbrella experience. She did not want to sell accessories separately, thereby increasing costs for customers. Instead, Huriia would provide the adjustable straps with each holder yet still remain affordable.

“Last, I concentrated on solving two key issues with the holder: efficiency and discretion,” says Humeira. “If it’s raining, of course, you want to set it up fast, so I made sure the wearer could secure the umbrella pole very quickly. Also, customers need not feel  self-conscious wearing it, as Huriia’s design is sleek, modern, and minimalist.”

As the hands-free umbrella holder has been rolled out, she has noticed that the simplest of inventions has an uncanny way of bringing people together. Humeira has had many conversations with individuals she might otherwise not have met.

“Everyone has a story of their own frustrations with carrying umbrellas in their hands,” she reveals. “Sometimes it’s a construction worker who works in the sun a lot and wishes they had a way to protect themselves from its rays. We have also heard from people who use wheelchairs and are searching for an easier solution for keeping themselves dry when it rains. It is amazing how one problem is really universal, and by solving it, Huriia is helping people everywhere, perhaps even millions.”

For more information on Huriia’s hands-free umbrella holder, please visit https://huriia.com/.