CHEKD Splitter

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Today we are in Sharjah Entrepreneurial Festival in 2025.

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It's one of the biggest events when it comes to Riyadatul Amal and entrepreneurship endeavors in the UAE, which is booming for the last 10, 20 years.

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But, like, what's interesting is that it's the first time that checked is doing a podcast outside of Podster.

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We're here with Hind.

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It's an interesting story that I cannot believe that it's happening.

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It's very crazy how the universe brought me to this lady because one week ago, one of my friends, she was telling me about her.

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It was like, this lady was an interesting story because I asked her, I need female founders in my podcast that born and made and they started from the uae and there is none of them in my podcast.

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I need one episode like this.

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And she told me about this, about Hint Story.

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Two days ago, Isa from the festival, he called me.

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He was like, waleed, you want you to do a podcast with one interesting lady?

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And it's Subhanallah.

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It happened to be you.

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So it was destined to be.

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Thank you for being here in the festival and on Czech.

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Thank you for having me.

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Just to give a brief introduction about yourself to my audience, just to get to know you, for them to get to know you.

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I'm Hindal Mullah.

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I'm founder and creative director of Home Bakery, Home Bakery Kitchen and Lachante.

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And I've been doing this for 10 years.

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Before that, I started from home, and it was a home business that kind of grew organically out of my little kitchen.

#22 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:26,920

Wow.

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These small things that become so huge and they start from.

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From nothing.

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From nothing.

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Literally from nothing.

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I mean, in the US it used to happen in Silicon Valley, but today we're having your.

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There is a lot of examples in Dubai.

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I've seen that women started something from the kitchens.

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Yeah.

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And because the market is so good, that thing is appreciated by the market and it's going viral and it's people are consuming it.

#32 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,730

It's people coming out of their shells.

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And when you.

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I remember when I first started looking back at this 11 years ago, 10, 11 years ago, the idea of a homegrown brand to come into a mall or a strip mall or any mall that was not a franchise was something completely unheard of.

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Malls weren't accepting me.

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They would just shut their doors because it was something that was not normal.

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I was on a franchise.

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I was not a brand.

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I'm not local, bringing a franchise from the outside.

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I'm someone that's actually building Something from scratch and from my little kitchen.

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So I had so many doors shut down, and they were like, we'll put you in the food court.

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And for someone who didn't have a location, I should have been just happy with, I'll put you in the food court.

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But I just.

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I couldn't see myself there.

#45 00:02:38,430 --> 00:02:41,710

I had this other vision and dream for what I wanted from my store.

#46 00:02:41,710 --> 00:02:49,290

And I was like, nope, my dream is so much bigger and what I envision for myself is so much bigger than what they have for me.

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So I just.

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I kept looking for that right location for that right store to open home bakery for the first time.

#49 00:02:57,130 --> 00:02:58,810

And for it to be that key location.

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Yeah.

#51 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:00,970

But it.

#52 00:03:00,970 --> 00:03:03,530

It wasn't something that people were accepting about.

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You know, there is a lot of people that they have a dream and they sell it short.

#54 00:03:07,690 --> 00:03:08,730

You know, they sell it short.

#55 00:03:08,730 --> 00:03:10,410

The first opportunity, they jump on it.

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Very few people, they have such confidence in their vision and then dream and they're confident about themselves that they.

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They have this limit.

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Like, no, you cannot.

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You cannot put me here.

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I'm bigger than that.

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You don't see it now, but I know.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Like what they.

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Because it wasn't.

#65 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:28,860

It wasn't something that was popular then.

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Yeah.

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Local people, Emiratis.

#68 00:03:31,020 --> 00:03:35,340

It was either a franchise brand, but something that came out of the house was.

#69 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:36,860

It didn't exist.

#70 00:03:37,340 --> 00:03:37,660

Yeah.

#71 00:03:38,620 --> 00:03:43,340

And after I opened and I remember this, like, working for.

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At least we were working two months in, and I had to work in my store.

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And eventually, because I didn't have a manager, I know how to run a kitchen.

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I don't know how to run a restaurant.

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So my husband looked at me literally the first day after we kind of took off the sticker.

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We were bombarded by the amount of people that walked in.

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People say, soft opening.

#78 00:04:05,830 --> 00:04:07,510

We did not have soft opening.

#79 00:04:07,510 --> 00:04:08,950

We got whiplash opening.

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But how come it was a huge.

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Because we established our brand from home.

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We had a really good following on Instagram.

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We had a very good client base from all over the GCC already.

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I had people coming to my house, sending me boxes.

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Fill it up and I'll take it with me to Kuwait, Gabbar, Saudi, just anywhere.

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Okay.

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Hint.

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Just burst my bubble.

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There was something in the beginning before everybody know you, something you had in your bakery.

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I don't know what was the recipe?

#91 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:43,520

Chewy melt cookies.

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So that was the key.

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That was the boom.

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That was what kind of put us on the map.

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People were still ordering all a lot of things from us, but When I create.

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Created the chewy melt, it was actually a mistake in the kitchen.

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It was not a recipe that I found on the Internet.

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No, it was.

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I was trying to make a double chocolate chip cookie.

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I didn't have the ingredients.

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I whipped something up in the kitchen, and we got the tree melt cookie.

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And it was ugly.

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It was flat.

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It had cracks in it.

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And I was like, this is not gonna look great.

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I dusted with icing sugar, and I just took it to my grandma's house, and my uncle was trying it, and he was like, who made this?

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This is so good.

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And I went.

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I tried it, and I was like, okay, I can fix this.

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So I went back to the kitchen, tweaked the recipe a little bit because it was too flat.

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It was just too thin.

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I needed to adjust it a little bit until I got it perfect.

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And I remember the day that we launched the chewy melt cookie.

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We were so busy that I just physically couldn't handle.

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You're making me hungry.

#116 00:05:49,810 --> 00:05:50,890

I want to eat this thing.

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Where is it?

#118 00:05:51,490 --> 00:05:52,370

Bring it now.

#119 00:05:53,410 --> 00:05:54,130

Wow, that's.

#120 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:54,960

That's interesting.

#121 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,840

Like, a lot of things that happen by accident is like God giving you, like, giving you, like, a.

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Some push.

#123 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:02,520

Exactly.

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Good.

#125 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:03,240

Take this.

#126 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:03,560

Yeah.

#127 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,680

And that's what kind of put us on the map, and that's how people kind of recognized us with the chewy melt cookie.

#128 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:25,240

And when we opened Home Bakery, like, there was the wait, you know, the two months before you open, because I had to, like, stop the production from home because Halas, you know, we're opening now in our new store, so I had to, like, stop working for a while and just focus on opening the store.

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There was people waiting, texting, when are you going to open again?

#130 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,760

I had to turn off the phone that was taking orders because we couldn't handle the bombardment that was happening.

#131 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:41,560

So basically that the cookie you created, it was so good that it traveled word to mouth.

#132 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:43,960

There was a trick you did on Instagram.

#133 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:45,320

What was the.

#134 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:53,040

It was so my brother has a Megalis, and whenever there is something new that I'm trying, it gets sent there first.

#135 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:53,760

Okay.

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So it's like, imagine like, 20, 30 guys in one little place, and I sent them the cookies to try.

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They went crazy over it.

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They told everyone then they were ordering for their families, and that's how.

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And of course, we posted on Instagram.

#140 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:13,880

But like I said, it wasn't a pretty cookie, so you have to try it to actually fall in love with it.

#141 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:16,760

I'm sorry, I don't have It.

#142 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:18,520

Okay, I will order it.

#143 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,600

I will make sure to eat that thing.

#144 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,760

Okay, listen, you know, there's an interesting thing, because in Czech, we're a little bit edgy.

#145 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:26,240

We want.

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We are a little bit provocative, controversial.

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And, you know, what's happening in the UAE is so big, it's so huge.

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And people, they are jealous, I'm telling you, in the external world.

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And whenever I talk about Dubai or one of my guests, especially the Westerners, when they praise Dubai, the uae, Sharjah, what's going on?

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I mean, the evolution is huge.

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The opportunities are everywhere.

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People, they start throwing some hate.

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People, they start bashing the Arabic woman.

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And I don't see that.

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It's completely the opposite.

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And you are like a very clear example for that.

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What do you think?

#158 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:05,840

What do you think about this?

#159 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,280

If these people, that they're listening today or now, what do you want to tell them?

#160 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,080

Honestly, it didn't start off like that.

#161 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:25,920

Honestly, like, if I look back 11 years ago, putting my apron on and standing at the cashier in my cafe, I was looked at as, what is she doing?

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Why is she working in her cafe?

#163 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,320

We don't have locals working in the cafe.

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And I received so much backlash because it was something unheard of.

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And it wasn't until Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum came to my store because he heard there are locals working there.

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It was because of him that it became something celebrated.

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It was because of him that he's like, you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself.

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You're working hard.

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You're trying to prove yourself.

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You've created something from nothing.

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I support you and I believe in you.

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Go for it.

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And if he didn't do that for me or anyone else in that same position, I wouldn't be here today.

#174 00:09:02,970 --> 00:09:04,730

Everyone else wouldn't be here today.

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The whole.

#176 00:09:06,380 --> 00:09:14,140

The ecosystem of Dubai won't be what it is today because of that little move him coming and supporting gave everyone.

#177 00:09:14,540 --> 00:09:15,740

I can be here too.

#178 00:09:16,060 --> 00:09:17,420

I can do that as well.

#179 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:29,980

I can come out of my shell and every single Emirati woman, man, whether they're working a 9 to 5 job, whether they're at home, they're raising their kids, they all had that chance to dream and believe that I can be him too.

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I can open my dream, I can have my own business.

#181 00:09:32,620 --> 00:09:35,280

And yes, the country is supportive of this.

#182 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:41,280

You know, Shahad Bar Rashid, he's smart and he know his history.

#183 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:42,560

He know history in general.

#184 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:43,680

He is a good.

#185 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:45,160

I think he's a good history student.

#186 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:51,200

Because all the nations in the old days, thousands of years ago, all the leaders, they needed heroes with them.

#187 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,080

They needed to promote some heroes coming from that nation.

#188 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,440

And I think that's what's happening.

#189 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:05,610

Like this nation, we're starting to see heroes, either locals or people who are either born or brought up here, or they came here from nothing and they become somebody.

#190 00:10:05,690 --> 00:10:08,330

And that's what I'm trying to focus on on my podcast.

#191 00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:13,850

And I'm happy that I'm having a story now in front of me that that is.

#192 00:10:14,010 --> 00:10:15,570

That is very valuable for.

#193 00:10:15,570 --> 00:10:17,450

For the vision of Shahad Bar Rashid.

#194 00:10:17,610 --> 00:10:23,930

But I think even before that, even before his visit, you were becoming something.

#195 00:10:24,490 --> 00:10:25,050

So he.

#196 00:10:25,130 --> 00:10:26,570

He gave you the next stage.

#197 00:10:26,570 --> 00:10:27,890

He gave me that push.

#198 00:10:27,890 --> 00:10:29,530

He definitely gave me that push.

#199 00:10:31,190 --> 00:10:38,190

The negative comments, it was like, if he didn't come to support me, I really don't think that I was going to be here today.

#200 00:10:38,190 --> 00:10:44,070

Because the amount of hate that I got, the amount of backlash that I got, the amount of negative comments that were coming through.

#201 00:10:45,110 --> 00:11:00,340

When you're someone who's been working so hard to kind of build something and you see the people's comments and the negativity that comes from it, and you haven't seen your kids and you haven't seen your husband, and you're just working day and night, you end up burning out.

#202 00:11:00,500 --> 00:11:01,060

Yeah.

#203 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:03,380

Especially when someone's not giving you that pat on the back.

#204 00:11:03,380 --> 00:11:03,780

Good job.

#205 00:11:03,780 --> 00:11:04,980

You know, you're doing really great.

#206 00:11:05,540 --> 00:11:13,379

That little support that he kind of did and showing himself and coming here, that changed, like, a remedy.

#207 00:11:13,379 --> 00:11:14,740

It changed everything.

#208 00:11:14,820 --> 00:11:18,500

It kind of gave me that, oh, my God, I'm actually doing something good.

#209 00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:20,060

I'm actually doing something right.

#210 00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:21,340

Like, he's not embarrassed.

#211 00:11:21,340 --> 00:11:22,500

He was actually proud of us.

#212 00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:24,080

He was like, yes, keep going.

#213 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,480

He's changing the culture in a way, in a positive way.

#214 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:28,280

Absolutely, absolutely.

#215 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,840

He's empowering women, and I love that.

#216 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:37,920

There is so much women empowerment in the UEE that it's just they're celebrating us in every single possible way, which is amazing.

#217 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:39,920

So you heard it.

#218 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:41,120

It's not what you think.

#219 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:42,480

Here we have an example.

#220 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:48,000

And Isma, she's a local lady, which is a very conservative environment.

#221 00:11:48,890 --> 00:11:54,250

And conservative doesn't mean you cannot be an entrepreneur lady or a female entrepreneur.

#222 00:11:55,370 --> 00:11:59,210

On the contrary, I think when you're a conservative, you can focus more on your work.

#223 00:11:59,210 --> 00:12:03,610

You don't have, like, those extra disturbances left and right.

#224 00:12:04,010 --> 00:12:05,690

Okay, so basically, hint.

#225 00:12:05,770 --> 00:12:07,130

I just want to know something.

#226 00:12:08,010 --> 00:12:16,610

When you started doing all these things, these experiments in your kitchen, did you think that one day you will reach this point.

#227 00:12:16,610 --> 00:12:17,850

Have you had that vision?

#228 00:12:17,850 --> 00:12:22,210

Or maybe the vision was a little bit smaller than what you are today?

#229 00:12:22,290 --> 00:12:22,890

Absolutely.

#230 00:12:22,890 --> 00:12:24,050

It was so much smaller.

#231 00:12:24,770 --> 00:12:35,330

I just wanted one little corner shop that I could just work from and just sell and just be busy within myself and not go overboard.

#232 00:12:35,650 --> 00:12:40,250

But Now I have 10 shops, two more coming this year.

#233 00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:41,810

We have a branch in Saudi.

#234 00:12:41,810 --> 00:12:43,010

We're opening another one.

#235 00:12:43,010 --> 00:12:45,520

So I can't say I'm small anymore.

#236 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:46,600

We're really branching out.

#237 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:46,840

Really?

#238 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:47,200

No.

#239 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,080

Ten branches.

#240 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:49,520

You're there.

#241 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:50,880

All right.

#242 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,040

Like now we're gonna go to the little bit of.

#243 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:54,840

These are the hard questions.

#244 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:55,200

Sure.

#245 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,280

All right, so an entrepreneur life is a very tough life.

#246 00:12:59,280 --> 00:12:59,760

Yes.

#247 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:09,360

So let's say a man entrepreneur, a male entrepreneur, he will have a tough life, but I mean, he would not be as invested as a female entrepreneur in the family.

#248 00:13:09,710 --> 00:13:10,510

Especially if the.

#249 00:13:10,670 --> 00:13:12,070

If you have kids, let's say.

#250 00:13:12,070 --> 00:13:12,510

Yeah.

#251 00:13:12,910 --> 00:13:23,950

So I think why a female entrepreneur life is way harder than a man's entrepreneur life is because a female entrepreneur, she's very important in her kids life.

#252 00:13:24,190 --> 00:13:28,310

Like, yeah, like, especially the kids or like even the husband.

#253 00:13:28,310 --> 00:13:30,670

Like sometimes the husband is another kid.

#254 00:13:31,230 --> 00:13:32,030

You know what I mean?

#255 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:34,430

But you know, she.

#256 00:13:34,510 --> 00:13:35,390

There is that support.

#257 00:13:35,790 --> 00:13:41,220

If a father is absent versus the mother absent, the impact of the mother absent is harder.

#258 00:13:42,740 --> 00:13:44,340

So how you're managing this?

#259 00:13:44,900 --> 00:13:49,540

See, like you said, they won't ask this question to a man, but they only ask this to women.

#260 00:13:49,540 --> 00:13:54,980

And I'm a mother of four kids and I have two teenagers and I have two toddlers.

#261 00:13:54,980 --> 00:13:57,140

So it's not gonna say that it's easy.

#262 00:13:57,860 --> 00:14:02,580

It comes with its own set of challenges, but we make it happen.

#263 00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:04,660

Day in and day out, we just make it happen.

#264 00:14:04,820 --> 00:14:05,380

We make.

#265 00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:06,660

There's no such thing as.

#266 00:14:06,660 --> 00:14:07,460

There's a balance.

#267 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:08,340

There's no balance.

#268 00:14:08,590 --> 00:14:14,590

We just show up for our kids when our kids need us, and we show up for work when our work needs us, and we just make it work.

#269 00:14:16,030 --> 00:14:25,270

I think for me, when I look back, I think the hardest part that I had to do because after opening Home Bakery, I wanted to open Home Bakery Kitchen.

#270 00:14:25,270 --> 00:14:28,190

Home Bakery Kitchen has lunch and dinner menus.

#271 00:14:28,190 --> 00:14:30,590

And it's a bit different than what I created first.

#272 00:14:31,790 --> 00:14:41,220

And I have a good background when it came to pastry because I had a longer time practicing with it, but I didn't have culinary experience when it comes to food.

#273 00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:47,060

So after having all my kids, I decided to go to culinary school.

#274 00:14:47,220 --> 00:14:47,700

Wow.

#275 00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:51,740

So I had a three month old and a two year old and then my two older kids.

#276 00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:55,300

I left Them with my mom and I went to London to study culinary school.

#277 00:14:56,100 --> 00:14:59,820

That for me was, I think, the hardest thing that I ever.

#278 00:14:59,820 --> 00:15:04,420

I have ever done because I had to juggle so many things at the same time.

#279 00:15:04,420 --> 00:15:05,780

I had to manage my kids.

#280 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:12,520

My mom, like, Khalas, she doesn't like, she's like, you guys finished and you finished homework and I have to deal with your kids and their homeworks.

#281 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,360

And I was like, okay, don't worry, I'll manage them.

#282 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:22,240

So managing them from afar, having two little ones as well at home and school, I don't know how I did it.

#283 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:23,040

Like, people ask me how.

#284 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,240

I have no idea how I did it.

#285 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,000

Were you living in a proximity, like closer to your family members or you were.

#286 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:29,040

No, I was in London.

#287 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,280

No, no, when you were, you were in London with your mom with you?

#288 00:15:33,670 --> 00:15:34,590

No, I was by myself.

#289 00:15:34,590 --> 00:15:35,990

It was just me and two babies.

#290 00:15:36,550 --> 00:15:39,070

Okay, so the two babies were with you in London.

#291 00:15:39,070 --> 00:15:39,390

Yes.

#292 00:15:39,390 --> 00:15:41,870

And the, the now teenagers, they stayed here.

#293 00:15:41,870 --> 00:15:42,790

They stayed with my mom.

#294 00:15:42,790 --> 00:15:44,390

But when they were here, they were.

#295 00:15:44,470 --> 00:15:45,910

Your house here, was it?

#296 00:15:46,310 --> 00:15:47,630

No, they stayed at my mom's.

#297 00:15:47,630 --> 00:15:48,510

They stayed up with my mom.

#298 00:15:48,510 --> 00:15:48,950

In her house?

#299 00:15:48,950 --> 00:15:50,590

Yeah, yeah, they stayed with my mom in her house.

#300 00:15:50,590 --> 00:15:52,150

So they can take care of them.

#301 00:15:52,790 --> 00:15:55,350

You know, actually there is something is counterintuitive.

#302 00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:55,710

Yeah.

#303 00:15:55,710 --> 00:16:06,120

But us from the Arabic culture, if you noticed, one kid is raised by the uncles, the grandmother, the grandfather, the whole family is contributing.

#304 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:06,760

Right.

#305 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,360

And I think we're so blessed, honestly, we are so blessed to have family close by and supportive.

#306 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:18,560

And if it wasn't for my parents telling me, go, do follow your dreams, you know, we will take care of your kids.

#307 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,760

And I'll be like, so remember when.

#308 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,760

I said, when you are from a conservative background.

#309 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:24,120

Yeah.

#310 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,800

It's easy for you to pursue your, your, your dreams and passions.

#311 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:41,220

Not only, not only in the, in your case, family, for example, your mom, she helped you to take care of the kids, even financially, you know, because it's got like family businesses, like this conservative culture.

#312 00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:46,420

It's really tuned to create good businessmen and business women and entrepreneurs.

#313 00:16:46,580 --> 00:16:47,540

That's what I believe.

#314 00:16:47,780 --> 00:16:49,540

Okay, so that was a challenge in London.

#315 00:16:49,540 --> 00:16:50,740

Huge challenge.

#316 00:16:50,980 --> 00:16:52,340

And how long you stayed there?

#317 00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:56,020

I stayed there for three months and then I came back and then I did another course.

#318 00:16:56,180 --> 00:16:56,900

So it was.

#319 00:16:57,010 --> 00:16:58,450

Yeah, I used to go back and forth.

#320 00:16:58,450 --> 00:16:58,850

Yeah.

#321 00:16:59,090 --> 00:17:05,730

All right, so now that we spoke about the, the difficulty in, in, in a family, what about the.

#322 00:17:05,730 --> 00:17:11,170

There is also some difficulties when it comes to relationship with your, with your spouse or those.

#323 00:17:11,170 --> 00:17:11,970

He was very.

#324 00:17:12,130 --> 00:17:13,249

No, he's very supportive.

#325 00:17:13,249 --> 00:17:14,170

He was very supportive.

#326 00:17:14,170 --> 00:17:15,570

So supportive from day one.

#327 00:17:15,730 --> 00:17:16,850

You know, that's a pattern.

#328 00:17:16,930 --> 00:17:17,490

I can't.

#329 00:17:17,490 --> 00:17:20,130

I couldn't have imagined doing this without him.

#330 00:17:20,370 --> 00:17:23,720

Like, when I first started from home, I have zero math skills.

#331 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,800

Like, absolutely zero math skills.

#332 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,400

No Excel, no accounting, nothing.

#333 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:28,360

Poor thing.

#334 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:29,400

He said he sat.

#335 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,040

He set up this Excel sheet for me.

#336 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,160

He's like, hint, input and output.

#337 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:34,040

That's it.

#338 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:35,280

You don't need to know anything else.

#339 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:36,000

I'm like, excellent.

#340 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:36,760

I can do that.

#341 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,640

So even that, he kind of made it easier for me.

#342 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:46,640

He was the one who kind of whispered in my ear, hint, put an apron, go start, stand and work in your shop, because if you don't, you're going to lose it.

#343 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,200

Yeah, it was his push.

#344 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,040

He pushed me to kind of put my face forward.

#345 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:57,080

I was so against being having my face out there in public, in magazines and.

#346 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,240

And stuff like that.

#347 00:17:58,240 --> 00:17:59,000

And he was the one.

#348 00:17:59,000 --> 00:17:59,680

No, go ahead.

#349 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:00,600

Go do the interview.

#350 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:01,920

I'm like, yeah, but I don't want my photo.

#351 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:02,680

He's like, why?

#352 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,360

I would tell him no.

#353 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:05,640

I want to keep my life private.

#354 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,160

I wanted my.

#355 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,600

Me as a face to say the face for the.

#356 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:10,360

For the kids.

#357 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,760

I didn't want to be recognized when I go outside.

#358 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,080

I still want to be your wife.

#359 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,760

And people don't know who is the face behind Home Bakery.

#360 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:24,210

And I remember him telling me, okay, who's gonna change your mind to do that face, that actual face interview?

#361 00:18:24,210 --> 00:18:33,050

And I was like, if CNN calls me one week later, I get an email from cnn, and I'm like, I have to do this now.

#362 00:18:33,210 --> 00:18:35,089

Okay, but did he plot it or he just.

#363 00:18:35,089 --> 00:18:37,970

No, no, it's like our podcast now.

#364 00:18:37,970 --> 00:18:39,050

It just happened.

#365 00:18:39,050 --> 00:18:41,050

And I was like, yeah, did I.

#366 00:18:41,130 --> 00:18:43,130

Did I, like, did I manifest this?

#367 00:18:43,130 --> 00:18:44,730

I was like, no, I did not manifest this.

#368 00:18:44,730 --> 00:18:46,250

No, it's a sign from God.

#369 00:18:46,250 --> 00:18:46,490

Yeah.

#370 00:18:46,490 --> 00:18:48,490

And then after that, Khalas, my face was out there.

#371 00:18:48,490 --> 00:18:49,130

You know what?

#372 00:18:49,850 --> 00:18:51,090

I want to touch on what you said.

#373 00:18:51,090 --> 00:18:56,570

Like, a lot of hijabi women, conservative hijabi women, they like, oh, I don't want to be in camera.

#374 00:18:56,570 --> 00:18:57,090

And I think.

#375 00:18:57,090 --> 00:18:58,090

I think that's a mistake.

#376 00:18:58,090 --> 00:18:58,730

I'll tell you why.

#377 00:18:59,370 --> 00:19:04,010

Now, social media and stories and TV and shows, they're very influential, right?

#378 00:19:04,010 --> 00:19:04,890

I know, I know.

#379 00:19:04,890 --> 00:19:16,050

So if you will sum up, how many women are influencing the females, Young female girls or the young girls versus how many hijabi women are doing is very small.

#380 00:19:16,050 --> 00:19:16,730

It's so small.

#381 00:19:16,730 --> 00:19:17,090

Right?

#382 00:19:17,090 --> 00:19:18,170

And then there is the.

#383 00:19:18,510 --> 00:19:35,310

The people who are Arab, but they don't Look Arab, and they claim that they're Arab and Muslim, but when you look at them, you're like, yeah, there's nothing that resembles anyone I know that is conservative, that is a hijabi, that is modest.

#384 00:19:35,710 --> 00:19:38,670

That doesn't exist when you're in the influential world.

#385 00:19:38,830 --> 00:19:40,270

So for me to kind of.

#386 00:19:41,790 --> 00:19:46,670

Maybe I'm just one small portion of it, you know, when I come out like this, I am.

#387 00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:50,830

I can be someone's sister, someone's mother, someone's.

#388 00:19:50,830 --> 00:19:53,750

Or themselves, because I'm like, this is someone that they can relate to.

#389 00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:55,630

This is someone they see on a daily basis.

#390 00:19:56,110 --> 00:19:58,350

So I'm happy to be this beacon of hope.

#391 00:19:58,350 --> 00:20:06,030

I hope that I can actually put some influence to someone that would be just great if I can do that, because I look like someone they know.

#392 00:20:06,110 --> 00:20:10,350

Because, you know, from a storytelling standpoint, it's bigger than just a brand that do.

#393 00:20:10,350 --> 00:20:12,210

Beautiful bakery.

#394 00:20:12,210 --> 00:20:12,850

It's bigger.

#395 00:20:12,850 --> 00:20:13,730

Way bigger than that.

#396 00:20:13,730 --> 00:20:14,330

It's a story.

#397 00:20:14,410 --> 00:20:15,650

Like, that's why.

#398 00:20:15,650 --> 00:20:16,010

The reason.

#399 00:20:16,010 --> 00:20:17,610

That's why he.

#400 00:20:17,610 --> 00:20:18,530

He came to your.

#401 00:20:18,530 --> 00:20:21,010

To your bakery, because he.

#402 00:20:21,010 --> 00:20:28,210

He wanted you to be an inspiration, especially for the young girls that have now maybe 13, 14, 15 years old.

#403 00:20:28,210 --> 00:20:31,250

They were like, okay, my mental image for my cell phone.

#404 00:20:31,250 --> 00:20:35,930

I'm gonna be at that age is with this look.

#405 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:36,930

You know what I mean?

#406 00:20:36,930 --> 00:20:37,570

I hope so.

#407 00:20:37,570 --> 00:20:38,890

Versus there is a lot of.

#408 00:20:39,130 --> 00:20:42,130

There's nothing wrong against women who don't do hijab.

#409 00:20:42,130 --> 00:20:43,290

It's normally.

#410 00:20:43,510 --> 00:20:46,430

But in our culture, as Muslims, as Arabs, this is.

#411 00:20:46,430 --> 00:20:47,910

This is what we want to preach, right?

#412 00:20:47,910 --> 00:20:48,310

Yes.

#413 00:20:48,470 --> 00:20:49,110

So I think.

#414 00:20:49,110 --> 00:20:51,550

I think we want to celebrate modesty.

#415 00:20:51,550 --> 00:20:52,270

Thank you so much.

#416 00:20:52,270 --> 00:21:03,070

You can be famous and you can be influential and still be modest and respect your values and who you are before anything else.

#417 00:21:03,070 --> 00:21:06,630

And this is what I preach to my daughter, because for me, it's all about modesty.

#418 00:21:06,630 --> 00:21:07,830

When I tell her if she want.

#419 00:21:07,830 --> 00:21:14,840

If she chooses to wear hijab or she chooses to wear abaya, for me, it's all about, you have to respect the abaya that you're wearing.

#420 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,880

You have to respect the shayla that you're wearing.

#421 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,560

And when you're ready for it, you can go ahead and wear it.

#422 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:25,880

But there is that item of respecting the modesty, respecting what this symbolizes at the end of the day.

#423 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:27,160

Thank you for that.

#424 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:28,920

I'm really, like.

#425 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,920

I'm really happy that we're talking about this subject because it's very dear to my.

#426 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:34,360

To my spirit.

#427 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,410

I really want to preach not only what's happening in the uae, but like, us as a.

#428 00:21:38,410 --> 00:21:40,770

As A nation in general, like history.

#429 00:21:41,170 --> 00:21:46,370

They deleted what we did, like maybe less than 1000 years ago.

#430 00:21:46,610 --> 00:21:50,450

All what we see now, like the camera, it's the guy who come up with this.

#431 00:21:50,450 --> 00:21:53,570

A lot of people, they don't know he's a Muslim Arab, his name is Kumara.

#432 00:21:53,650 --> 00:21:55,610

Refer to Kumara is close to camera.

#433 00:21:55,610 --> 00:21:59,890

Like he come up with the theory behind opticals and how you can catch an image.

#434 00:21:59,970 --> 00:22:04,090

Anyways, I think we can recreate that and we see that the UAE is like a beacon of that.

#435 00:22:04,090 --> 00:22:05,250

We can see, we can feel it.

#436 00:22:05,500 --> 00:22:06,020

You know what I mean?

#437 00:22:06,020 --> 00:22:09,980

So let's come back to Home Bakery, the place that I need to eat more from.

#438 00:22:11,340 --> 00:22:13,740

I'm lifting a lot of weight in the gym, so I can allow myself.

#439 00:22:14,620 --> 00:22:15,420

What's the plan?

#440 00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:17,620

You said that you have 10 stores right now.

#441 00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:23,700

Yes, for the last 10 years, you come up with 10 stores, which is an average of one store a year, which is crazy.

#442 00:22:23,700 --> 00:22:24,980

And it doesn't feel like that.

#443 00:22:24,980 --> 00:22:26,380

It feels like it's getting faster.

#444 00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:26,940

Yeah.

#445 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:28,140

What's the plan?

#446 00:22:28,140 --> 00:22:29,540

What was the plan where.

#447 00:22:29,540 --> 00:22:31,300

Where you see yourself after last few years?

#448 00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:32,260

Like two, three, four years?

#449 00:22:32,260 --> 00:22:37,570

I definitely see myself all over the GCC and maybe globally.

#450 00:22:37,570 --> 00:22:38,810

I definitely see that.

#451 00:22:38,810 --> 00:22:41,410

I definitely see a retail line.

#452 00:22:41,410 --> 00:22:44,050

I definitely see products on shelves.

#453 00:22:45,570 --> 00:22:50,770

We have been doing this on the side where we consult and help other people kind of open up their stores.

#454 00:22:50,930 --> 00:22:58,770

They kind of come to us for advice and we've been doing this with friends, family, whoever wants to open up, and we're very happy to still do that.

#455 00:22:59,010 --> 00:23:05,470

I just want to expand, expand on that consulting a little bit and see how can I make things easier for people who want to open up a store.

#456 00:23:05,470 --> 00:23:09,750

Because it wasn't easy being one of the first to kind of open.

#457 00:23:09,750 --> 00:23:11,950

It was not easy, but it does get easier.

#458 00:23:11,950 --> 00:23:18,950

But with what's happening with the world right now and real estate, it's just, it's soaring.

#459 00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:22,470

Everything is more and more expensive with every store.

#460 00:23:22,470 --> 00:23:28,630

Our prices have gone up, whether we buy equipment, whether we're hiring staff, whether you're renting.

#461 00:23:28,710 --> 00:23:38,500

So if I can take a portion of that away from the person who's opening their cafe, especially when it's a brand new one, you want to reduce their cost, you want them to do good as well at the end of the day.

#462 00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:45,900

So I'm trying to work on a plan for the future to kind of help people, to kind of make this a smoother transition.

#463 00:23:46,220 --> 00:23:46,860

Amazing.

#464 00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:51,580

I like the fact that you are also helping other people to do something that.

#465 00:23:52,220 --> 00:23:52,780

Why not?

#466 00:23:53,180 --> 00:23:53,740

Okay.

#467 00:23:54,460 --> 00:23:57,500

Do you think that you.

#468 00:23:57,580 --> 00:24:00,140

You are in the beginning of the journey, you reach the.

#469 00:24:00,300 --> 00:24:06,860

Because, you know, in any business, there is like that jump, you know, so you think you're gonna reach the.

#470 00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:09,020

The stable or you're still in the.

#471 00:24:09,100 --> 00:24:10,460

The rocket is still launching.

#472 00:24:10,860 --> 00:24:13,220

I think the rocket is still launching.

#473 00:24:13,220 --> 00:24:13,540

Wow.

#474 00:24:13,540 --> 00:24:14,140

I like that.

#475 00:24:14,460 --> 00:24:15,420

I think that we.

#476 00:24:15,660 --> 00:24:16,940

I love growing organically.

#477 00:24:16,940 --> 00:24:19,820

I don't want to go too fast where I can't control it myself.

#478 00:24:20,700 --> 00:24:22,540

I still, like I said, I'm still a mother.

#479 00:24:22,940 --> 00:24:25,620

Of course I have a house to kind of take over.

#480 00:24:25,700 --> 00:24:27,380

I do have my brother to help me.

#481 00:24:27,380 --> 00:24:30,420

We're all partners in this, so I have my support.

#482 00:24:30,980 --> 00:24:45,700

But I wanted us to grow in a way where it's something that we can control, something that we can still take care of and watch over and kind of still give our input and either macro or micromanage in a way.

#483 00:24:45,780 --> 00:24:47,260

So we're still in the beginning.

#484 00:24:47,260 --> 00:24:57,690

I still think we have a lot more growth potential for our future, but I definitely want to see us kind of reach that.

#485 00:24:57,930 --> 00:24:59,610

Okay, Amazing.

#486 00:25:00,090 --> 00:25:01,930

Let me pass it down to someone else now.

#487 00:25:01,930 --> 00:25:03,930

Yeah, Now I can rest hind.

#488 00:25:03,930 --> 00:25:05,610

It was amazing talking to you.

#489 00:25:06,970 --> 00:25:09,130

I'm happy to talk to a female leader.

#490 00:25:09,290 --> 00:25:09,850

Thank you.

#491 00:25:10,330 --> 00:25:11,770

I hope I will invite you again.

#492 00:25:11,770 --> 00:25:16,890

I'm trying to do panel talks, group discussions, because I like this type of podcast.

#493 00:25:16,890 --> 00:25:19,610

I do one on ones and in addition, I do a lot of group discussions.

#494 00:25:20,210 --> 00:25:27,170

So I'm planning maybe in the future to bring other female entrepreneurs where we're going to talk about it and any last words you want to say?

#495 00:25:27,410 --> 00:25:28,770

Thank you so much for having me.

#496 00:25:28,770 --> 00:25:30,450

I think this was a great opportunity.

#497 00:25:30,610 --> 00:25:31,330

Thank you so much.

#498 00:25:31,330 --> 00:25:31,690

Hint.

#499 00:25:31,690 --> 00:25:34,050

And the hint from Home Bakery, you've been checked.

#500 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:34,640

Thank you.

HindAlMulla_comp.mp4

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