Fajjr Khan is a trained actress, dancer, and singer. Born and raised in the rural hills of  Pennsylvania, Fajjr fell in love with dance at a very young age and then began singing in elementary school where she participated in the school and local choirs. As a teenager, she began dabbling in theater where she thrived. As an adult, she continued to pursue theater but began to feel alienated because of her hijab, which made it difficult for her to audition for and land the roles she wanted. After studying at NYU and  Alvernia University, she received her B.A. in theater and the performing arts. While auditioning for roles, she soon began to realize that the world of acting was not yet ready for a Muslim woman in a headscarf -  which led her to the world of music instead. She is one of the first American pop singers to wear Hijab as the lead singer of the music group fajjr+ali. When she is not performing, she loves playing tennis, riding horses, and watching period dramas on PBS.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I am a pop singer and actress from Pennsylvania and I am proudly the child of South Asian immigrants. Currently, I am the lead singer of the pop-duo ‘fajjr+ali’ and one of the only pop/alternative musicians in America that wears a hijab/headscarf.

What inspired you to start your music career?

I studied theater in college, and as soon as I entered the world of acting I realized that there were not going to be any roles for a girl like me (outside of the stereotypical stuff). I made a pivot to music as I felt the music industry might have more opportunities and because there was an even bigger lack of representation for Asian and Muslim women in music that I wanted to change.

Where are you based?

Although I live in Pennsylvania, our music group is based out of New York City.

How did you start your music career? What were the first steps you took?

Me and my best friend from college, Ali, were both acting at the time, but we had always had an affinity to music ever since we met.  We had always joked about starting a band - but we never imagined we would go this far. The first steps we took were writing songs, and recording some demos that we could use to shop around to producers and other people in the industry. Then we recorded and began performing wherever we could.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your music?

It is tough. The music industry is very opaque and there really isn’t a formula. That being said, performing at events is always helpful to get us in front of new audiences. And of course, social media is an amazing tool, if you know how to take advantage of it without it consuming you!

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

We are still overcoming a lot of challenges, but I would have to say finding our audience and marketing. Again, marketing music is very different from marketing any other product.  At the end of the day, art is very subjective and the market is very flooded and the success rates are low. We overcame a lot of this by getting advice from more experienced people in the industry as well as catering to many different audiences and seeing where we saw the most interest.

How do you stay focused?

I am lucky because I am in a duo, so Ali is not just my business partner, but also a great motivator. When you have another teammate who is depending on you it helps to keep you focused when something needs to get done. Besides that, I always try to plan things out as much as possible and give myself breaks.  Being over-ambitious can be detrimental to focus, so I always do things little by little.

How do you differentiate your music from the competition?

Because there are so few mainstream musicians from similar backgrounds as Ali and me, we truly believe that our experiences and the context of our music sets us apart. We have very unique stories that are often not being told and we notice that when people simply see us performing, they are so intrigued by what we create and share with them because they have never seen anyone like us.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your brand and audience base?

That’s tough, it would have to be a mixture of social media and live performances. Being able to perform at an event where you can meet new people and really connect with them is how we're able to find true fans. But in situations like the pandemic, social media truly helps, and we have found success in being active on social media and running ads on Instagram.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Really check in with yourself (and partners, if there are any) and make sure you are happy with where things are going. You need to learn to be honest with yourself about what you want - but one MUST be adaptable in business, and sometimes you need to change direction and adjust. But if you don’t take the time to stop and assess, things can get out of hand and you can end up somewhere you never expected to be.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I love Snapchat (should I be embarrassed to admit that?). My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice!

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Definitely the website/app Trello, we use it to stay on top of the millions of things we have to do. And it allows us each to do things on our own time and see what the other is doing.

Who is your business role model? Why?

I don’t know if this is my final and official answer, but I do like Gary Vaynerchuck. Mostly because I love how he promotes kindness, empathy, and contentment above material things. However, I think there are a lot of things on which I don't connect with him; because he is definitely a part of this strange toxic world of male business/motivational figures that I think are so ... overwhelming. But I gotta hand his business success to him!

How do you balance work and life?

To be honest, I am still working on this and so I feel it would be misleading to give advice on something I have not achieved!

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Definitely rewatching shows that I love and that make me laugh.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Releasing new music and really starting to perform regularly again! I would also love to get back into acting after all these years.

How can our readers connect with you?

Follow us on all social media @fajjrplusali and check out our music on your streaming platform here: ffm.bio/fajjrplusali