Pakistani Achievers - At Home & Abroad
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ghazi52
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Fatima Jinnah - a devoted sister
Fatima Jinnah: The Voice of the People
She had her hour of loneliness, her hour of despair and her long hour of distress and yet her courage never failed her. Her voice never faltered. Her spirit was never taken by weariness. She had the strength of those who live for the great principles, silent endurance of those whom the world needs.
And what were the great principles she had lived for and strived after? In a word, she stood for democratic norms and principles. She had strived all through the 1950s and the 1960s to get the people their inalienable democratic rights. She stood for justiceable fundamental rights, for a free press and for the rule of law.
Fatima Jinnah: The Voice of the People
She had her hour of loneliness, her hour of despair and her long hour of distress and yet her courage never failed her. Her voice never faltered. Her spirit was never taken by weariness. She had the strength of those who live for the great principles, silent endurance of those whom the world needs.
And what were the great principles she had lived for and strived after? In a word, she stood for democratic norms and principles. She had strived all through the 1950s and the 1960s to get the people their inalienable democratic rights. She stood for justiceable fundamental rights, for a free press and for the rule of law.
I have qualms about someone who is in charge of this position - Global Head, Private Banking for Citigroup
I thought he did not do a bad job as Finance Minister of Pakistan
Jokingjustice
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Heartening
ghazi52
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Obama invites Pakistani tech entrepreneur to address global summit
P@SHA President Jehan Ara who has been invited by The White House at 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistani tech entrepreneur Jehan Ara has been invited by The White House to speak at the 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California.
Jehan Ara, who is the president of P@SHA and leads its tech incubator The Nest I/O, has been sent a letter on behalf of US President Barrack Obama to attend the event, to be held from June 23 to 24, as a panelist.
Jehan Ara will speak at the discussion titled ‘Investing in South Asia: What’s next for Entrepreneruship in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh’.
Ara is vocal on many social issues such as freedom of speech and freedom on internet and has started a campaign named “Bolo Bhi” for that matter, besides being into entrepreneurship and technology.
“I am always looking for opportunities to share with the world what is happening in the tech sector of the country,” Ara said.
“I am thankful to them for inviting me for such a great event where more than a thousand people would be in attendance. I am happy because it would be really amazing to let the attendees know about recent developments and innovation in the Pakistan’s tech sector,” she said.
“When they hear about these happenings, they might be willing to invest in the start-up programmes as we are facing a shortfall of foreign investment,” the tech entrepreneur added.
Two months ago, Ara also spoke at the Columbia Univeristy, New York on the developments taking place in the tech sector.
P@SHA President Jehan Ara who has been invited by The White House at 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistani tech entrepreneur Jehan Ara has been invited by The White House to speak at the 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California.
Jehan Ara, who is the president of P@SHA and leads its tech incubator The Nest I/O, has been sent a letter on behalf of US President Barrack Obama to attend the event, to be held from June 23 to 24, as a panelist.
Jehan Ara will speak at the discussion titled ‘Investing in South Asia: What’s next for Entrepreneruship in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh’.
Ara is vocal on many social issues such as freedom of speech and freedom on internet and has started a campaign named “Bolo Bhi” for that matter, besides being into entrepreneurship and technology.
“I am always looking for opportunities to share with the world what is happening in the tech sector of the country,” Ara said.
“I am thankful to them for inviting me for such a great event where more than a thousand people would be in attendance. I am happy because it would be really amazing to let the attendees know about recent developments and innovation in the Pakistan’s tech sector,” she said.
“When they hear about these happenings, they might be willing to invest in the start-up programmes as we are facing a shortfall of foreign investment,” the tech entrepreneur added.
Two months ago, Ara also spoke at the Columbia Univeristy, New York on the developments taking place in the tech sector.
Challanger
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I have a video which describe list of Pakistanis who achieved at international level in 2015.
I'm a new user and I don't know if I am allowed to share video here or not?
Have you ever worked with Jehan Ara or listened to her? I worked with her team once to handle social media campaign of OPEN-LHR Anual event. (at that time OPEN LHR's CEO was Zafaryab Ali Khan who is also Member of P@ASHA)
anyhow, she is a great lady and did alot good for Pakistani IT industry.
Although I have huge differences with PML-N but I respect Dr. Umar Saif, he is the guy who make Govt. mind to invest in IT and Computerized land records.
I believe hating someone just because he is not with you or don't understand you is wrong.
I'm a new user and I don't know if I am allowed to share video here or not?
Obama invites Pakistani tech entrepreneur to address global summit
P@SHA President Jehan Ara who has been invited by The White House at 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistani tech entrepreneur Jehan Ara has been invited by The White House to speak at the 7th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, California.
Jehan Ara, who is the president of P@SHA and leads its tech incubator The Nest I/O, has been sent a letter on behalf of US President Barrack Obama to attend the event, to be held from June 23 to 24, as a panelist.
Jehan Ara will speak at the discussion titled ‘Investing in South Asia: What’s next for Entrepreneruship in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh’.
Ara is vocal on many social issues such as freedom of speech and freedom on internet and has started a campaign named “Bolo Bhi” for that matter, besides being into entrepreneurship and technology.
“I am always looking for opportunities to share with the world what is happening in the tech sector of the country,” Ara said.
“I am thankful to them for inviting me for such a great event where more than a thousand people would be in attendance. I am happy because it would be really amazing to let the attendees know about recent developments and innovation in the Pakistan’s tech sector,” she said.
“When they hear about these happenings, they might be willing to invest in the start-up programmes as we are facing a shortfall of foreign investment,” the tech entrepreneur added.
Two months ago, Ara also spoke at the Columbia Univeristy, New York on the developments taking place in the tech sector.
Have you ever worked with Jehan Ara or listened to her? I worked with her team once to handle social media campaign of OPEN-LHR Anual event. (at that time OPEN LHR's CEO was Zafaryab Ali Khan who is also Member of P@ASHA)
anyhow, she is a great lady and did alot good for Pakistani IT industry.
Although I have huge differences with PML-N but I respect Dr. Umar Saif, he is the guy who make Govt. mind to invest in IT and Computerized land records.
I believe hating someone just because he is not with you or don't understand you is wrong.
ghazi52
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Extraordinary Pakistanis: Imran Shaukat
By M Bilal Lakhani
“My mother works as a domestic servant,” shares Imran Shaukat, currently studying in his third year at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). Imran lives in Orangi town, Karachi. His father is a construction worker but was forced to quit his job because of an asthma problem. Imran’s mother currently works as a house help to support the family and children’s education. “My mother isn’t educated herself but it was her dream to see her children educated,” shares Imran. “She understands that in our society only educated men and women get respect. My life is now dedicated to making her dream come true.”
“I always wanted to get educated,” shared Imran’s mother. “I wanted to become a doctor and contribute to society, but my father didn’t want his daughters to go to school. Currently, I wash dishes but I want my children to have a better future.” This is a remarkable story about the power and resolve of one woman wanting to see her children educated and the universe conspiring together to make her dream come true. “I want to do my Masters from MIT or Stanford,” says Imran, who is currently pursuing his Bachelors in Computer Science. “Then, I’d like to open my own software house or company. I’ve learned that one should never lose hope in life. One should continue working hard and believe in oneself. If you have the will power, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Imran’s journey began at a school run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF). In the last 20 years, TCF has established over 1,000 purpose-built school units nationwide with an enrolment of 165,000 students. TCF was set up by a group of ordinary citizens just like us, but they wanted to bring about positive social change through education. And what a change they’re triggering by educating young boys and girls like Imran across Pakistan. “I passed my matric with 86 per cent marks. Later, I got a call from the TCF Alumni Development Programme (ADP) for a potential scholarship which could enable me to study at IBA. I’m now the team leader for TCF Alumni Development Programme at IBA. I believe it’s very important for us to give back to the community.”
The ADP tries to help TCF students find placements and funding for top tier universities like IBA, LUMS, NED, FAST-NU and Habib University. Here’s how their team works. First, the team collects data of TCF graduates. These graduates are then educated about the different top tier universities and their programmes. For example, the application process to a top university is in itself so complicated and the application fee so high that it becomes a barrier to the application. The ADP’s team of volunteers mentor the TCF alumni and guide them through the application process while convincing university management to drop the application fees for such underprivileged children. This is a cause all universities should support to give young men and women like Imran a chance at quality education.
While you wouldn’t be able to tell, thanks to his positivity and zest for life, Imran had to jump a lot of hurdles to get to where he is today. He worked as a welder and as a child, did a part-time job in a clinic because his mother always told her kids that they needed to acquire some skill (hunr). The more skills you have the better qualified you will be to do things, she used to tell them. This attitude towards learning came in handy when Imran joined IBA and experienced problems with English, especially compared to peers who came from ‘O’ and ‘A’ level backgrounds. “I don’t have a problem anymore,” he explains, with the humble assertiveness of a self-made man in the making. “I always focus on my work. If someone else can do something, why can’t I do it if I work hard enough? If we believe in something, there’s no reason it can’t happen.”
By M Bilal Lakhani
“My mother works as a domestic servant,” shares Imran Shaukat, currently studying in his third year at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). Imran lives in Orangi town, Karachi. His father is a construction worker but was forced to quit his job because of an asthma problem. Imran’s mother currently works as a house help to support the family and children’s education. “My mother isn’t educated herself but it was her dream to see her children educated,” shares Imran. “She understands that in our society only educated men and women get respect. My life is now dedicated to making her dream come true.”
“I always wanted to get educated,” shared Imran’s mother. “I wanted to become a doctor and contribute to society, but my father didn’t want his daughters to go to school. Currently, I wash dishes but I want my children to have a better future.” This is a remarkable story about the power and resolve of one woman wanting to see her children educated and the universe conspiring together to make her dream come true. “I want to do my Masters from MIT or Stanford,” says Imran, who is currently pursuing his Bachelors in Computer Science. “Then, I’d like to open my own software house or company. I’ve learned that one should never lose hope in life. One should continue working hard and believe in oneself. If you have the will power, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Imran’s journey began at a school run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF). In the last 20 years, TCF has established over 1,000 purpose-built school units nationwide with an enrolment of 165,000 students. TCF was set up by a group of ordinary citizens just like us, but they wanted to bring about positive social change through education. And what a change they’re triggering by educating young boys and girls like Imran across Pakistan. “I passed my matric with 86 per cent marks. Later, I got a call from the TCF Alumni Development Programme (ADP) for a potential scholarship which could enable me to study at IBA. I’m now the team leader for TCF Alumni Development Programme at IBA. I believe it’s very important for us to give back to the community.”
The ADP tries to help TCF students find placements and funding for top tier universities like IBA, LUMS, NED, FAST-NU and Habib University. Here’s how their team works. First, the team collects data of TCF graduates. These graduates are then educated about the different top tier universities and their programmes. For example, the application process to a top university is in itself so complicated and the application fee so high that it becomes a barrier to the application. The ADP’s team of volunteers mentor the TCF alumni and guide them through the application process while convincing university management to drop the application fees for such underprivileged children. This is a cause all universities should support to give young men and women like Imran a chance at quality education.
While you wouldn’t be able to tell, thanks to his positivity and zest for life, Imran had to jump a lot of hurdles to get to where he is today. He worked as a welder and as a child, did a part-time job in a clinic because his mother always told her kids that they needed to acquire some skill (hunr). The more skills you have the better qualified you will be to do things, she used to tell them. This attitude towards learning came in handy when Imran joined IBA and experienced problems with English, especially compared to peers who came from ‘O’ and ‘A’ level backgrounds. “I don’t have a problem anymore,” he explains, with the humble assertiveness of a self-made man in the making. “I always focus on my work. If someone else can do something, why can’t I do it if I work hard enough? If we believe in something, there’s no reason it can’t happen.”
ghazi52
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Dr Adib Rizvi honoured
KARACHI: The prestigious American College of Surgeons has conferred an honorary fellowship on Dr Adib Rizvi of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation for his services in the field of surgical sciences, public services and pioneering the transplant movement in Pakistan.
The fellowship was conferred on Dr Rizvi at the annual congress of the college held in Washington DC, according to information reaching here. This year honorary fellowships were awarded to five surgeons hailing from various parts of the world who have made extraordinary contributions to their respective branches of surgery. The globally renowned surgeons who received fellowships were from Australia, Colombia, France and Japan besides Dr Rizvi of Pakistan.
In its citation the college recounted the meritorious services rendered by Dr Adib Rizvi by setting up the SIUT in Karachi which not only provides free state of the art medical treatment to the people but is also one of the growing urological and transplant centers of the region. The citation also lauded the role Dr Rizvi has played in his country by bringing legislation to prohibit commercial transplantation.
The American College of Surgeons established in 1903 is the largest professional organisation of surgeons in the world with 80,000 members on its roll.
Also present at the ceremony was Prof Zafar Ullah Chaudhry, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
KARACHI: The prestigious American College of Surgeons has conferred an honorary fellowship on Dr Adib Rizvi of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation for his services in the field of surgical sciences, public services and pioneering the transplant movement in Pakistan.
The fellowship was conferred on Dr Rizvi at the annual congress of the college held in Washington DC, according to information reaching here. This year honorary fellowships were awarded to five surgeons hailing from various parts of the world who have made extraordinary contributions to their respective branches of surgery. The globally renowned surgeons who received fellowships were from Australia, Colombia, France and Japan besides Dr Rizvi of Pakistan.
In its citation the college recounted the meritorious services rendered by Dr Adib Rizvi by setting up the SIUT in Karachi which not only provides free state of the art medical treatment to the people but is also one of the growing urological and transplant centers of the region. The citation also lauded the role Dr Rizvi has played in his country by bringing legislation to prohibit commercial transplantation.
The American College of Surgeons established in 1903 is the largest professional organisation of surgeons in the world with 80,000 members on its roll.
Also present at the ceremony was Prof Zafar Ullah Chaudhry, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
ghazi52
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Two Pakistani women awarded Chirac Prize in Paris for conflict prevention
Gulalai Ismail delivers an acceptance speech after being awarded the Prize for Conflict Prevention for the work of her organisation 'Aware Girls' promoting women's issues and equality. —Reuters
Two young Pakistani women Gulalai Ismail and Saba Ismail, co-founder of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) "Aware Girls" were conferred with the prestigious Chirac Prize for “Conflict Prevention” in Paris.
They have been awarded in recognition of their contributions toward development of a culture of peace and non-violence through the action of women and youth in Pakistan, read a message received from Paris on Thursday .
The prize was awarded by the Former French Minister for Culture Christine Albanel in an impressive ceremony held in Quai Branly Museum, Paris.
The ceremony was attended amongst others by French President Francois Hollande, the Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin-ul-Haque, intellectuals, members of civil society, diplomats and media persons in large number.
Gulalai Ismail co-founder of NGO Aware Girls, after receiving the prize, said that their NGO with the help of young women was working successfully for empowerment of the women especially in the conflict zones to bring about qualitative changes in their way of life.
The French president while speaking on the occasion paid tributes to Aware Girls for empowerment of the women in the conflict zone.
He said that Aware Girls was giving the women the possibility to participate in and monitor elections, to provide education to women and economically empowering them by providing micro-credit.
The Ambassador congratulated the recipients on receiving the Chirac Prize and appreciated their work towards empowerment of women in the conflict prone areas.
The Chirac Foundation was launched by the former French President Jacques Chirac, who served two terms in office between 1995 and 2007.
French President Francois Hollande stands next to Gulalai Ismail, winner of the Prize for Conflict Prevention. —Rreuters
Since 2008, this foundation strives for peace through five advocacy programmes which include Conflict Prevention. The prize for conflict prevention has been awarded every year since 2009.
The Aware Girls is a young women led organisation, established in 2002 with the aim of strengthening leadership skills of young people especially young women and girls enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peace building.
Gulalai Ismail delivers an acceptance speech after being awarded the Prize for Conflict Prevention for the work of her organisation 'Aware Girls' promoting women's issues and equality. —Reuters
Two young Pakistani women Gulalai Ismail and Saba Ismail, co-founder of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) "Aware Girls" were conferred with the prestigious Chirac Prize for “Conflict Prevention” in Paris.
They have been awarded in recognition of their contributions toward development of a culture of peace and non-violence through the action of women and youth in Pakistan, read a message received from Paris on Thursday .
The prize was awarded by the Former French Minister for Culture Christine Albanel in an impressive ceremony held in Quai Branly Museum, Paris.
The ceremony was attended amongst others by French President Francois Hollande, the Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin-ul-Haque, intellectuals, members of civil society, diplomats and media persons in large number.
Gulalai Ismail co-founder of NGO Aware Girls, after receiving the prize, said that their NGO with the help of young women was working successfully for empowerment of the women especially in the conflict zones to bring about qualitative changes in their way of life.
The French president while speaking on the occasion paid tributes to Aware Girls for empowerment of the women in the conflict zone.
He said that Aware Girls was giving the women the possibility to participate in and monitor elections, to provide education to women and economically empowering them by providing micro-credit.
The Ambassador congratulated the recipients on receiving the Chirac Prize and appreciated their work towards empowerment of women in the conflict prone areas.
The Chirac Foundation was launched by the former French President Jacques Chirac, who served two terms in office between 1995 and 2007.
French President Francois Hollande stands next to Gulalai Ismail, winner of the Prize for Conflict Prevention. —Rreuters
Since 2008, this foundation strives for peace through five advocacy programmes which include Conflict Prevention. The prize for conflict prevention has been awarded every year since 2009.
The Aware Girls is a young women led organisation, established in 2002 with the aim of strengthening leadership skills of young people especially young women and girls enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peace building.
ghazi52
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Pakistani student to receive Queen's Young Leaders Award
Syed Faizan Hussain, one of the winners of Queen's Young Leader Award 2017, is a Pakistani student who used his knowledge in technology to create solutions within our community.
During his time with the Saylani Welfare Trust, Hussain mentored over 200 students from underprivileged backgrounds, according to his profile on the Queen's Leadership Award website.
Faizan Hussain.— Photo courtesy: Linkedin
He has also developed a number of startups, including Edu-Aid, an app that translates sign language into spoken language and OneHealth, a disease surveillance and tracking system which notifies health institutions about epidemic outbreaks.
The young entrepreneur is currently looking to develop Venture Dart, a technology consultant and outsourcing company for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Queen's Young Leaders is an annual award that recognises young leadership potential in people between the ages of 18-29 from the Commonwealth of Nations. The program was established by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in 2014.
Syed Faizan Hussain, one of the winners of Queen's Young Leader Award 2017, is a Pakistani student who used his knowledge in technology to create solutions within our community.
During his time with the Saylani Welfare Trust, Hussain mentored over 200 students from underprivileged backgrounds, according to his profile on the Queen's Leadership Award website.
Faizan Hussain.— Photo courtesy: Linkedin
He has also developed a number of startups, including Edu-Aid, an app that translates sign language into spoken language and OneHealth, a disease surveillance and tracking system which notifies health institutions about epidemic outbreaks.
The young entrepreneur is currently looking to develop Venture Dart, a technology consultant and outsourcing company for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Queen's Young Leaders is an annual award that recognises young leadership potential in people between the ages of 18-29 from the Commonwealth of Nations. The program was established by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in 2014.
faaiq Sheikh
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Interesting write up, we do have brilliant economists and bankers.
Young people like Faizan are our capital investment in our future. ! keep the good work up and make us proud.
Pakistani student to receive Queen's Young Leaders Award
Syed Faizan Hussain, one of the winners of Queen's Young Leader Award 2017, is a Pakistani student who used his knowledge in technology to create solutions within our community.
During his time with the Saylani Welfare Trust, Hussain mentored over 200 students from underprivileged backgrounds, according to his profile on the Queen's Leadership Award website.
Faizan Hussain.— Photo courtesy: Linkedin
He has also developed a number of startups, including Edu-Aid, an app that translates sign language into spoken language and OneHealth, a disease surveillance and tracking system which notifies health institutions about epidemic outbreaks.
The young entrepreneur is currently looking to develop Venture Dart, a technology consultant and outsourcing company for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Queen's Young Leaders is an annual award that recognises young leadership potential in people between the ages of 18-29 from the Commonwealth of Nations. The program was established by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in 2014.
Young people like Faizan are our capital investment in our future. ! keep the good work up and make us proud.
Arsala.nKhan
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This year we lost many big names and Edhi was one of them , he was true human 
ghazi52
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This Pakistani-born Entrepreneur Built a $600 Million Business from Scratch
https://www.ediblearrangements.com/About/tariq-farid-ceo-edible-arrangements/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariq_Farid
Tariq Farid
Tariq Farid is an American entrepreneur who is the owner and CEO of Edible Arrangements International Inc. In 2009 he was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the International Franchise Association.
The Pakistani startup ecosystem has, despite a lot of hype and excitement among the Pakistani entrepreneurs, still not produced enough successful startups. However, there are a number of Pakistani-born businessmen and entrepreneurs that have been widely successful creating million dollar businesses from scratch outside Pakistan.
Meet Tariq Farid, Founder of Edible Arrangements
Born in Pakistan in 1969, Tariq Farid is the owner and CEO of Edible Arrangements, a US-based franchising business that specializes in fresh fruit arrangements. His company, now worth more than half a billion dollars, has more than 1,200 stores all over the world.
“In 2016 alone, Edible Arrangements is expected to ship 10.8 million orders.”
Tariq’s journey started out with a moderately-sized flower shop in East Haven, a Town in Connecticut, United States, which he bought by borrowing $5,000 from his parents. Unlike many other mega-entrepreneurs, Tariq didn’t start out with a dream of making a million-dollar business.
At that time, he was just a 17-year old trying to make ends meet. That’s when he had an idea of making edible arrangements of fruit-filled bouquets and chocolates. This idea would go on to later transform his whole life.
“Being around flowers, I started thinking about the presentation of food in different displays and, at the time, no one was thinking about scaling or turning it into a big retail business,” said Tariq in an interview with Forbes.
When he first started pitching his idea to people, he was turned down by a lot of people and told it wouldn’t work. He was told that “people aren’t going to pay for this and it hasn’t been done before.” Not giving up, he decided to send an edible arrangement off to floral customers just to see their reaction. The response he got was simply amazing and reinforced his belief in his own idea.
“The customers asked, “when can I buy them?” I was inspired by the customers and when someone told me it’s not going to work.”
He opened the first Edible Arrangements store in 1999. Initially, it was incredibly hard. On their very first holiday, the festival of Easter, they had to make 28 arrangements and it took them 16-18 hours to carry that out. But after the orders had been sent out, more and more people started taking interest in them.
Building a Franchise
Even after orders had started flowing in, Tariq still had a relatively small business. The real break came when a customer reached out to ask if he could build one in the American state of Massachusetts. Tariq, initially doubtful, said he would consult his attorney and send the paperwork if needed.
In truth, he didn’t even have an attorney. So he put together a document and did all the research by himself. In doing this, he learned a lot of things about franchising which he normally wouldn’t have.
“When I spoke with franchisees I knew what every word meant and that was one reason we were very successful,” he elaborates. “When I got on the phone, I knew every aspect of the document we were signing and knew why it was there and the purpose of it.
That’s where it all changed for him and Edible Arrangements. Today, Edible Arrangements is worth over $600 million. In 2013, they hit $500 million in system-wide sales for the first time. Their sales expectations for last year alone were pegged at 10.8 million orders.
It has taken Tariq 17 years to take his company to where it stands today, and still, he keeps on planning to take it even further. He says that they are currently working with a number of big companies that want to use Edible Arrangements’ products for marketing or thanking clients. Moreover, they plan to add 75-100 stores per year.
Tariq has faced many challenges along the way but has successfully managed to deal with every one of them.
“Before, everything was a lot simpler, but now you have to build a web presence and a global presence. Along the way, things have gotten very complicated and very expensive.”
Tariq Farid is a big example of why you don’t need millions in funding to succeed or to be incubated at some big-name incubators or accelerators. It also shows how the only feedback about your idea that you need is from your consumers — the people actually using your products. A lot of people laughed off at his idea in the start, but that didn’t put him off.
https://www.ediblearrangements.com/About/tariq-farid-ceo-edible-arrangements/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariq_Farid
Tariq Farid
Tariq Farid is an American entrepreneur who is the owner and CEO of Edible Arrangements International Inc. In 2009 he was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the International Franchise Association.
The Pakistani startup ecosystem has, despite a lot of hype and excitement among the Pakistani entrepreneurs, still not produced enough successful startups. However, there are a number of Pakistani-born businessmen and entrepreneurs that have been widely successful creating million dollar businesses from scratch outside Pakistan.
Meet Tariq Farid, Founder of Edible Arrangements
Born in Pakistan in 1969, Tariq Farid is the owner and CEO of Edible Arrangements, a US-based franchising business that specializes in fresh fruit arrangements. His company, now worth more than half a billion dollars, has more than 1,200 stores all over the world.
“In 2016 alone, Edible Arrangements is expected to ship 10.8 million orders.”
Tariq’s journey started out with a moderately-sized flower shop in East Haven, a Town in Connecticut, United States, which he bought by borrowing $5,000 from his parents. Unlike many other mega-entrepreneurs, Tariq didn’t start out with a dream of making a million-dollar business.
At that time, he was just a 17-year old trying to make ends meet. That’s when he had an idea of making edible arrangements of fruit-filled bouquets and chocolates. This idea would go on to later transform his whole life.
“Being around flowers, I started thinking about the presentation of food in different displays and, at the time, no one was thinking about scaling or turning it into a big retail business,” said Tariq in an interview with Forbes.
When he first started pitching his idea to people, he was turned down by a lot of people and told it wouldn’t work. He was told that “people aren’t going to pay for this and it hasn’t been done before.” Not giving up, he decided to send an edible arrangement off to floral customers just to see their reaction. The response he got was simply amazing and reinforced his belief in his own idea.
“The customers asked, “when can I buy them?” I was inspired by the customers and when someone told me it’s not going to work.”
He opened the first Edible Arrangements store in 1999. Initially, it was incredibly hard. On their very first holiday, the festival of Easter, they had to make 28 arrangements and it took them 16-18 hours to carry that out. But after the orders had been sent out, more and more people started taking interest in them.
Building a Franchise
Even after orders had started flowing in, Tariq still had a relatively small business. The real break came when a customer reached out to ask if he could build one in the American state of Massachusetts. Tariq, initially doubtful, said he would consult his attorney and send the paperwork if needed.
In truth, he didn’t even have an attorney. So he put together a document and did all the research by himself. In doing this, he learned a lot of things about franchising which he normally wouldn’t have.
“When I spoke with franchisees I knew what every word meant and that was one reason we were very successful,” he elaborates. “When I got on the phone, I knew every aspect of the document we were signing and knew why it was there and the purpose of it.
That’s where it all changed for him and Edible Arrangements. Today, Edible Arrangements is worth over $600 million. In 2013, they hit $500 million in system-wide sales for the first time. Their sales expectations for last year alone were pegged at 10.8 million orders.
It has taken Tariq 17 years to take his company to where it stands today, and still, he keeps on planning to take it even further. He says that they are currently working with a number of big companies that want to use Edible Arrangements’ products for marketing or thanking clients. Moreover, they plan to add 75-100 stores per year.
Tariq has faced many challenges along the way but has successfully managed to deal with every one of them.
“Before, everything was a lot simpler, but now you have to build a web presence and a global presence. Along the way, things have gotten very complicated and very expensive.”
Tariq Farid is a big example of why you don’t need millions in funding to succeed or to be incubated at some big-name incubators or accelerators. It also shows how the only feedback about your idea that you need is from your consumers — the people actually using your products. A lot of people laughed off at his idea in the start, but that didn’t put him off.
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Dr Sania inches closer to heading World Health Organisation
ISLAMABAD: Internationally acclaimed for her transformational leadership role in the health sector, Dr. Sania Nishtar—Pakistan’s candidate for the post of Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO)—raised the country’s global profile Wednesday by making it to the final round of elections for the prestigious position. She secured 28 out of 34 votes.
Dr. Sania is amongst two other candidates to have been shortlisted during the first round of voting held in Geneva, where 34 members of the WHO Executive Board cast their votes to shortlist three candidates from among six.
The shortlisted candidates, which include David Nabarro from the United Kingdom and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia, will go into the second round of elections scheduled for May 2017, wherein the next DG of WHO will eventually be elected to replace WHO’s current director general Dr. Margaret Chan, who retires on June 30, 2017.
Dr. Sania, who is being seen as the hot favourite for the position, will be the first-ever Muslim woman and the first-ever woman from a developing country to head WHO, if elected in the final round.
The fact that Dr. Sania managed to secure 41 percent votes in the pre-polls as against 26 percent obtained by the second-highest contender, was the first evidence, backed by concrete data, of her very bright chances to head the apex health agency.
“My vision for the World Health Organisation is one in which WHO reclaims its primacy and earns the world’s trust as its lead health agency, and has the ability to foster and sustain partnerships to achieve the vision for health—universal attainment of the highest possible level of health and well-being,” Dr. Sania stated in her manifesto document, wherein she envisions 10 pledges for action to build further on WHO’s progress as the world’s only multilateral agency in health.
Dr. Sania is uniquely positioned to drive reform of the WHO as it grapples with health challenges of the 21st century. As a starting point, she has pledged the adoption of an accountability framework at WHO and in this connection has announced to make her own electoral campaign financing a matter of public record. One of her pledges talks about acceleration of the pace of reforms at WHO so that it transforms into an effective organisation, which achieves value for money and where robust evidence guides decision-making. Creating a performance-enabling environment, securing a budget that is proportionate to its scope of responsibility, and fostering a culture of partnerships to improve global health are a few other pledges that constitute her vision for WHO.
Dr. Sania is the founder president of the globally recognised NGO Heartfile, a powerful health policy voice in Pakistan and Heartfile Health Financing, an access-to-treatment initiative to support Universal Health Coverage in mixed health systems. She is a proven effective leader who delivers results. She is the recipient of the Global Innovation Award for her ability to think laterally, build partnerships, and exploit synergies for building systems.
Dr. Sania served as Federal Minister in the 2013 caretaker government of Pakistan with responsibility for Health, Science and Technology, Information Technology and Higher Education. During her term, she was instrumental in re-establishing the Ministry of Health. She has received Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her contributions.
At the global level, Dr. Sania is recognised and respected for her leadership and consensus-building role in global health. She has served on many international expert panels. She is deeply engaged in the international discourse on health and development as a thought leader and has attended over 200 major international conferences, consultations and policy fora over the last 15 years as invited expert, chair, resource person and keynote speaker.
ISLAMABAD: Internationally acclaimed for her transformational leadership role in the health sector, Dr. Sania Nishtar—Pakistan’s candidate for the post of Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO)—raised the country’s global profile Wednesday by making it to the final round of elections for the prestigious position. She secured 28 out of 34 votes.
Dr. Sania is amongst two other candidates to have been shortlisted during the first round of voting held in Geneva, where 34 members of the WHO Executive Board cast their votes to shortlist three candidates from among six.
The shortlisted candidates, which include David Nabarro from the United Kingdom and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia, will go into the second round of elections scheduled for May 2017, wherein the next DG of WHO will eventually be elected to replace WHO’s current director general Dr. Margaret Chan, who retires on June 30, 2017.
Dr. Sania, who is being seen as the hot favourite for the position, will be the first-ever Muslim woman and the first-ever woman from a developing country to head WHO, if elected in the final round.
The fact that Dr. Sania managed to secure 41 percent votes in the pre-polls as against 26 percent obtained by the second-highest contender, was the first evidence, backed by concrete data, of her very bright chances to head the apex health agency.
“My vision for the World Health Organisation is one in which WHO reclaims its primacy and earns the world’s trust as its lead health agency, and has the ability to foster and sustain partnerships to achieve the vision for health—universal attainment of the highest possible level of health and well-being,” Dr. Sania stated in her manifesto document, wherein she envisions 10 pledges for action to build further on WHO’s progress as the world’s only multilateral agency in health.
Dr. Sania is uniquely positioned to drive reform of the WHO as it grapples with health challenges of the 21st century. As a starting point, she has pledged the adoption of an accountability framework at WHO and in this connection has announced to make her own electoral campaign financing a matter of public record. One of her pledges talks about acceleration of the pace of reforms at WHO so that it transforms into an effective organisation, which achieves value for money and where robust evidence guides decision-making. Creating a performance-enabling environment, securing a budget that is proportionate to its scope of responsibility, and fostering a culture of partnerships to improve global health are a few other pledges that constitute her vision for WHO.
Dr. Sania is the founder president of the globally recognised NGO Heartfile, a powerful health policy voice in Pakistan and Heartfile Health Financing, an access-to-treatment initiative to support Universal Health Coverage in mixed health systems. She is a proven effective leader who delivers results. She is the recipient of the Global Innovation Award for her ability to think laterally, build partnerships, and exploit synergies for building systems.
Dr. Sania served as Federal Minister in the 2013 caretaker government of Pakistan with responsibility for Health, Science and Technology, Information Technology and Higher Education. During her term, she was instrumental in re-establishing the Ministry of Health. She has received Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her contributions.
At the global level, Dr. Sania is recognised and respected for her leadership and consensus-building role in global health. She has served on many international expert panels. She is deeply engaged in the international discourse on health and development as a thought leader and has attended over 200 major international conferences, consultations and policy fora over the last 15 years as invited expert, chair, resource person and keynote speaker.
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