Connect
To Top

Meet Salima and Ameen Lalani of Sognare Tile, Stone & Sinks

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Salima and Ameen Lalani.

Salima and Ameen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Wow! This started as a dream, a thought, an idea, something that seemed very much impossible. Starting a new business in an already saturated market was a very frightening thought, but we knew that this is what we wanted to do – we wanted to help folks find a perfect design for their homes at their very perfect price. Buying a home can be a daunting task, and then to remodel that home is equally challenging! We understood this fear and really wanted to start something that would help people feel at ease while making their house into their home! From the day we started our business, our focus has been helping customers achieve their design dreams and desires – we believe that whether your home is a $100,000 or $1,000,000, you deserve the very best for your home. We really wanted to focus on this, which is why our company name, Sognare, means dream. We strongly believe that every client deserves the best service coupled with the best products to complete their dream; their home.

We still remember we were sitting at Starbucks at the Irvine Spectrum, discussing whether we should do this or not. We were assessing the risks, challenges, and the thought alone was so scary! Nevertheless, we decided to take a leap of faith and found a tiny store front on a side street for our first location. From Day 1, our goal was to work hard, honest, and provide the best darn service possible; so we did just that. We were blessed to have had some of the best clients imaginable – our hopes were high, and we kept going. Working late nights, keeping our store open when everyone else was closed, working on weekends, and offering the best customer service possible! One day, a client of mine, Veronica, went on Yelp and wrote a review for me, which was the beginning of something new! We will never forget Veronica as she was one of the first clients, and her review helped open new doors for the business. It was at that moment, we realized how powerful social media can be so we dipped into every form of social media to spread the word about our business; to introduce customers to a store where the owners cared about what they were looking for and who were willing to spend time with them. Since then, we have personally helped each client and can tell you just by looking at their name, what product they bought. We decided that my growth will occur only through customer service, and have been focused on that since the beginning. Today, 2 years after we first opened our doors, we are at 2300 transaction with over 59 5-star reviews and referrals that don’t stop. We count our blessings every single day, and hope to keep working, keep working hard and honest! There were times when things were tough, but we knew that we had to keep going, we had to put one foot in front of the other, and keep marching on – keep moving towards our goal. We were assured that tough times are there and if we don’t have to face challenges then how would we able to enjoy the success. As of this month, we have acquired a new and much larger space almost quadrupling our footprint. We have once again, take another leap of faith, and a new step towards growth and success.

Our vision is simple, CCA (customer centered approach). With growth comes a million challenges; however, one thing we do not sacrifice on is customer service and good business ethics.  CCA is the cornerstone of our business approach.

Has it been a smooth road?
Things that are the most difficult to attain are the ones worth fighting for the most! The day we decided to get into this business, we knew that I (Salima) would be entering a shark tank in a male dominated industry. Learning every aspect of the business has been difficult as it was a one man show with my Husband, Ameen, still maintaining a job while juggling the back office responsibilities of the business.  From building relations with vendors, paying bills, finding new clients, delivering material, updating samples in the showroom, taking care of the website, helping clients, providing service, cleaning up the floors, picking up the material, ordering the material, keeping up with the changing trends and so on! I had to learn the entire process, and learning to multitask between all my responsibilities sometimes left me sitting in a pile of work, crying my eyes out, thinking of giving up. Every time, I would cry, I take a deep breath, read positive quotes, repeat positive affirmations, and in the words of Walt Disney, “keep moving forward”.  I created a Bless Cup – I have multiple positive affirmations in that Bless Cup, whenever, I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I take a quote from the Bless Cup, and read it – it has without fail, brought a smile and a burst of hope in me every single time.

From the day that I opened my doors, I had to prove myself time and again to the vendors, customers, and competition that I had what it took to make it. Some of my vendor’s sales reps refused to opened accounts for me citing that I was inexperienced, and had a very small location. Detested at first, I decided to keep trying so I started emailing them on a daily basis and refused to take no for answer, eventually, they had to give in and open my account. Over the past few years, I have developed amazing friendships with these sales rep, so much so that today as we are expanding, the same sales reps have gone out of their way to provide us much help and support! We are so proud of the relationships which we have created with our vendors.

The second challenge was customers! A lot of clients would walk into my tiny showroom and leave because they thought that I had nothing to sell, and frankly, they didn’t think that I knew anything. Slowly, one client at a time, I proved my knowledge and abilities to each one.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Sognare Tile, Stone & Sinks – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Sitting among other tiles stores, we knew that Sognare Tile had to be “unique.” What makes us different than others is that when a customer walks in, we listen to them and their needs, and then provide suggestions that cater to their specific design needs. We offer design consultations to help our clients bring their design ideas into reality.

We provide as much information as available about their selections so that the client has an opportunity to make an informed decision.

Our formula is simple, we want to win our clients over by helping them fulfill their own personal design. No one client is like the other, everyone has different unique style and set budgets – and that is exactly why we take the time to listen to our clients, and only after, we have gathered enough information, we provide suggestions.

We also go above and beyond for each client even if it means recommending a product that we may not carry. We believe that being honest and helping the client by providing them with recommendations that are good for them, will and has in every case blessed us with referrals and repeat business.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Honestly, it has been the wonderful clients and customers that we had the blessings to work with. Each client with them has brought us new opportunities, given us new information which has helped us to grow the business. Customers are so much more than just a customer, they bring a plethora of knowledge and encouragement. When a client writes a good review or refers their family or friends, it reaffirms our faith and continues to inspire us to give it our all and keep working hard each and every day. Our clients are our superstars!

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Julie Dunn & Salima Lalani

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in