When Noha walked into the Goodwill Columbus Hilliard store in 2012, she was looking for a fresh start. Recently divorced and raising her three-year-old daughter, Hanim, she was determined to build a new life on her own.
“I started as a volunteer,” Noha recalls. “Life was rough back then. This was my first job ever, and I just wanted to be able to pay my rent and take care of my daughter.”
Her dedication and hard work was immediately clear. After only her second day volunteering, the team offered her a paid position as a Donation Attendant. “They said, ‘We like everything you’re doing!’ I was just doing my best, and I’ve been doing that since then.”
Within a month, Noha’s work ethic and leadership stood out. Over time, she rose through the ranks. She began as a donation attendant, next, supervisor, then assistant manager, and eventually advanced to her current role as Store Manager at the Hilliard Goodwill location.
Her success didn’t come without challenges. Balancing motherhood, learning a new language, and navigating life after separation wasn’t easy. But through every obstacle, Noha found strength in the Goodwill mission and in mentors like Alex, her store manager at the time.
“Without Alex, I don’t think I would be here,” she says. “She supported me through everything. Personally and professionally. When I doubted myself, she always said, ‘You’re ready. You can do this.’” That belief in her potential became a turning point and is one she now passes on to her own team.
As a manager, Noha leads with empathy and understanding. She knows firsthand how life’s barriers can make the simplest things feel overwhelming. “I try to be patient and listen,” she explains. “When someone is struggling, I want to understand why, not judge. That’s what Goodwill did for me, and that’s what I want to do for others.”
Her compassion extends especially to employees overcoming barriers to employment. “When I hire someone who really needs a chance, I think, ‘If they don’t get this opportunity, where will they go?’ Everyone deserves that first step.”
For Noha, the mission is the foundation of her daily work. “The more successful we are in our stores, the more people we can help. Every sale, every donation. It all goes back to creating jobs and opportunities for people who need them most.”
More than a decade after she first walked through the doors, Noha’s journey has come full circle. Her daughter, now a teenager, hopes to work at Goodwill too. “She’s seen my story from where I started to where I am now,” Noha says proudly. “She knows how much this place means to me.”
Noha’s story is one of courage and determination. It’s a story of what someone can accomplish when given a chance.
“I had no choice but to make it work,” she says. “But Goodwill believed in me. They gave me my first opportunity. And now I get to do the same for others every single day.”
