Sahar Hashemi

As well as entrepreneurship, Sahar also understands corporate behaviour to the core, evolving out of her early corporate law career, then seeing the transformation of culture when her start up grew into a big company, and this last decade speaking to over 400 large organisations. This combination of personal experience in both worlds gives her a unique and deep perspective into entrepreneurial behaviours, what blocks it in big organisations and what it takes to unleash it.

Sahar left her legal career in a top London law firm after five years to start Coffee Republic, the UK’s first US style coffee bar chain with her brother Bobby. In 5 years, they built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with 110 bars and a turnover of £30m.

She published a bestselling book about her journey, ‘Anyone Can Do It’, to demystify the idea that entrepreneurship is an innate personality trait, which has been translated into 6 languages and is the 2nd-highest selling book on entrepreneurship after Richard Branson. She then founded Skinny Candy, a brand of sugar free sweets which was sold to confectionery conglomerate Glisten PLC in 2007.

Her latest book ‘Start-Up Forever, How to Build A Start-Up Culture In A Big Company’, released in March 2019, was named The Financial Times Best Business Book of the Month.

Sahar is currently the force behind Buy Women Built, an incredibly fast growing movement to fill the £250bn gap in female entrepreneurship in the UK by bringing consumer recognition to women built brands. She got the idea during the first Covid lockdown and the community behind the movement has now grown to 1800 brands with a combined turnover of £2.5bn.

Sahar was nominated by Director magazine as one of its Top 10 Original Thinkers, alongside Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Jonathan Ive. She has been named “Pioneer to the life of the Nation” by Her Majesty The Queen and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She was listed in the Maseratti 100, a definitive list of Britain’s most successful philanthropists, investors, mentors and advisors.

In June 2012 Sahar was awarded an OBE for services to the UK economy and to charity. Sahar sits on the board of Curaden AG a Swiss dental company and is special advisor the UK arm to launch the brand in the UK. She also sits on the board of Scale Up Institute, Digital Boost and Change Please Coffee.

To book Motivational Speaker Sahar Hashemi, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com