Draft:Nargis Habib: Difference between revisions

 

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The Rug Mine has participated in charity auctions and humanitarian initiatives benefiting Afghan artisans and students.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Nargis Habib |title=The Rug Mine donates rug to Afghan Literacy Foundation |date=2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mRjiBpverCA |medium=Video |publisher=The Rug Mine (via YouTube) |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref>

The Rug Mine has participated in charity auctions and humanitarian initiatives benefiting Afghan artisans and students.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Nargis Habib |title=The Rug Mine donates rug to Afghan Literacy Foundation |date=2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mRjiBpverCA |medium=Video |publisher=The Rug Mine (via YouTube) |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref>

The business has provided aid to its artisan network.<ref name=”CBSnews” /><ref name=”CBS8″>{{cite news |title=San Marcos mother helps homeland of Afghanistan by selling handmade rugs and sharing profits |url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/zevely-zone/san-marcos-mother-helps-homeland-of-afghanistan-by-selling-handmade-rugs/509-5c10553a-eaa7-4864-b6ff-f59f88d76e55 |work=CBS 8 News |date=2024-08-25 |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref> After the [[2025 Afghanistan earthquake|September 2025 earthquakes in Jalalabad and Kunar, Afghanistan]], it raised about US$8,000 to rebuild looms and provide cash assistance to affected families.<ref>{{cite web |title=Afghanistan Earthquake Response: Flash Update #1 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-earthquake-response-flash-update-1-01-september-2025 |publisher=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |date=2025-09-01 |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref><ref name=”CoastNews” />

The has provided aid to its artisan network.<ref name=”CBSnews” /><ref name=”CBS8″>{{cite news |title=San Marcos mother helps homeland of Afghanistan by selling handmade rugs and sharing profits |url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/zevely-zone/san-marcos-mother-helps-homeland-of-afghanistan-by-selling-handmade-rugs/509-5c10553a-eaa7-4864-b6ff-f59f88d76e55 |work=CBS 8 News |date=2024-08-25 |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref> After the [[2025 Afghanistan earthquake|September 2025 earthquakes in Jalalabad and Kunar, Afghanistan]], it raised about US$8,000 to rebuild looms and provide cash assistance to affected families.<ref>{{cite web |title=Afghanistan Earthquake Response: Flash Update #1 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-earthquake-response-flash-update-1-01-september-2025 |publisher=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |date=2025-09-01 |access-date=2025-10-25}}</ref><ref name=”CoastNews” />

== Recognition ==

== Recognition ==

Afghan American entrepreneur and founder of The Rug Mine

Nargis Habib

Nargis Habib, an Afghan American entrepreneur, stands beside handmade Afghan rugs tied with rope at her Vista, California showroom.

Nargis Habib, founder of The Rug Mine, photographed with handmade Afghan rugs at her Vista, California showroom.

Born

Afghanistan

Nationality Afghan American
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for Founder of The Rug Mine
Spouse Jawid Habib
Children 3

Nargis Habib is an Afghan American entrepreneur and founder of The Rug Mine, a rug retail company based in Vista, California. The company sources handmade rugs from artisans in Afghanistan through direct contractual arrangements.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Habib was raised in Herat, Afghanistan.[1] During the Taliban’s rule between 1996 and 2001, formal education for girls was heavily restricted.[4] She attended informal classes held in secret basements, an experience she later described as formative to her focus on women’s education and employment.[1]

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Habib’s mother became a schoolteacher in Afghanistan. She earned no more than $50 USD per month while supporting six children, including five daughters, and at times went unpaid for extended periods.[1] When the Taliban regained power and again banned women from working in government positions, her mother was forced to leave teaching.[1] Habib has cited her mother’s experiences and the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education and employment as major influences behind her decision to create economic opportunities for women through her business.[1]

After immigrating to the United States, Habib worked as a makeup artist before starting her business career.[1][2] Her early exposure to Afghan rugs and traditional weaving, often studied on during her underground education, influenced her later career choice.[1]

Nargis Habib, wearing a black headscarf, assists an Afghan woman artisan as they knot a rug on a vertical loom inside a workshop.
Nargis Habib, founder of The Rug Mine, works alongside an Afghan artisan on a hand-knotted rug in northern Afghanistan.

Habib established The Rug Mine in 2020 from her condo in Rancho Peñasquitos, California.[1] As the business expanded, she relocated operations to her garage in San Marcos, where she continued working directly with artisans in Afghanistan to source handmade rugs.[5] In 2023, Habib officially opened The Rug Mine’s public showroom in Vista, marking the company’s transition to a full-scale retail and design studio.[2][3]

According to CBS News Sunday Morning, since 2020, The Rug Mine has partnered with more than 4,000 women in Afghanistan in various capacities, including those who hand-spin or wash wool, knot rugs, or manicure rugs during the finishing process.[1] Artisans are compensated as independent contractors rather than employees.[1][6]

In September 2024, Habib was invited to speak at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business by Professor Eileen Daspro, Faculty Director of International Business, where she lectured on social entrepreneurship and ethical trade practices.[7]

Her company and work have been featured by multiple media outlets, including CBS News Sunday Morning, Fox 5 San Diego, KUSI News, The Coast News, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.[8][5]

The Rug Mine has participated in charity auctions and humanitarian initiatives benefiting Afghan artisans and students.[9]

The company has provided aid to its artisan network.[1][2] After the September 2025 earthquakes in Jalalabad and Kunar, Afghanistan, it raised about US$8,000 to rebuild looms and provide cash assistance to affected families.[10][3]

The Rug Mine is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and participates in the BBB4Good program for businesses with verified social impact.[11]

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