“I want to make the hijab as cool as jeans!” That’s the mission of Henna and Hijabs founder Hilal Ibrahim (she / her), the designer behind Nordstrom’s first-ever headscarf line. The landmark collection is a huge deal for Hilal’s mission of normalizing hijabs and for her company, which she began in 2017. “[Hijabs] are politicized a lot,” she says, “But for me, I feel very liberated. I'm a young, Black, Muslim, American woman. This is who I am, and I'm proud.”

Here’s how the San Diego native fuels up for endless meetings, what department stores should know about their hijabi customers, and why she thinks the garment is so misunderstood.

4 A.M. I have early morning prayer. If we’re in summer, it’s earlier. If it’s winter, because the sun goes down later, it’s different. Right now, it’s around 4 A.M. Morning prayer is critical, like that is the day. If I miss prayer, it’s like, “Oop, the day is gone.” It’s just a moment to pause, and you sit and reflect after prayer. For me, that is my morning affirmation.

5 A.M. I have a whole wash-up routine. I use Dermalogica’s gentle cleanser and then a nice little scrub. I do light foundation—shout out to Charlotte Tilbury for her nice products! Then I slick my hair back—I don’t show my hair, but I still do it.

6 A.M. I usually pick out my outfit first, then find a hijab. But if it’s a really nice silk scarf where you can’t just wear it with anything, I’m thinking, “What are we wearing?”… The way I see my hijab, I feel so empowered with it. I think people get confused as to why Muslim women wear the hijab, and the sole reason why—for myself and women I know—is because this is our way of worshipping G-d. Period. That makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable. I don’t know why, [because] Catholic nuns cover their hair and orthodox Jewish women cover their hair. We have this conversation a lot about feminism, and I’m like, “Being able to wear what I want and being comfortable with it and feeling liberated is feminism at its core.”

7 A.M. Breakfast is a top priority for me. I like fruit in the morning because it gives me that drop of sugar. When I’m really busy, I don’t really have an appetite, so a plum did it for me today. I am [also] a juicing girl. I love celery juice. I love carrot juice. And I love pressed watermelon juice. I know it sounds really weird, but it is so good.

8 A.M. I’m in meetings back to back to back, and the bulk are with Nordstrom. Things move really quickly and differently in a bigger setting, but as a young entrepreneur, you learn a lot, so no complaints there. I’m really fortunate that they gave me the ability to really be the expert when it came to the hijab, because with big companies, that’s not always the case. When we were creating these pieces, we gave it so much thought, and a lot of it came back to, “What do you think, Hilal? What can we do?” To be celebrated and honored in that way, to create this product, I think it’s what made the collections so special.

9 A.M. What makes me most excited [about the partnership] is that I [can] normalize the hijab without diminishing what it stands for. Even my non-Muslim friends, who are actually my number one customers, wear them as neck scarves and sarongs and all that. They see it as a symbol of empowerment… when we have that community and sisterhood. My work is not to fight people’s ignorance. That’s their job, right? I am here to celebrate Muslim women and what we stand for, and do that in the best way possible.

12 P.M. My company created the first-ever medical-grade hijab, so there’s been a lot of things going on. But adjusting as a leader, you’re planted in places and you have to pivot all the time. You wake up one morning and you’re like, “Oh, I didn’t know this was gonna happen today.” We’ve had to make adjustments, but we’re excited.