Welcome, friends, to another episode of Live2Inspire! My guest this week on Live2Inspire is Shelina Mawani, Co-Founder of Nana's Kitchen & Hot Sauce.
Growing up in a small town in Tanzania, big opportunities are far and few. Everyone is busy trying to make their own ends meet and making something of yourself requires another level of determination and unequivocal relentlessness.
From a young age, Shelina Mawani knew she wanted to make difference in the world. She began her working career, helping her father manage a series of local boutique hotels; soaking up her business acumen and learning valuable lessons, while she built a hospitality brand. In 1979, she landed herself the role of youngest Chairperson, for the Lioness Club, an internationally renowned organization dedicated to helping people in their communities through charitable causes.
In her first project, she was able to set up diagnostic camps for locals to create much needed awareness for Leprosy and also assisted in sending 8 children to England for heart murmur treatment, not available to them in Africa. This is where she first realized her successes in business would be the gateway to serving others and making her impact in the world. These same principles would continue to develop and build, then follow her to the complete opposite side of the world to Burnaby, BC; where she and her sister, Nasim, first opened their small family restaurant to celebrate the tastes of home they missed so much.
In 2000, this ambitious endeavour turned restaurant into a 1000sq samosa manufacturing facility, which has now grown to over 27,000sq, with room and plans to grow. Nana’s Kitchen today is a multi-million-dollar business producing over 25,000 handmade samosas every single day, shipping all over North America, landing in local grocery store deli sections and restaurants.
Understanding firsthand, the struggles that come with immigrating to a new country, Shelina makes sure she helps to create job opportunities for people who may not even know the English language. Employing a growing staff of 60 people, she has helped impact countless families as they integrate into their new communities far away from home. Her footprint in her new community and globally is immeasurable and she doesn’t cease to forget where she came from. Shelina is a philanthropist at heart as well as through her actions.
Rightfully deserved, Shelina has been honoured with countless recognitions over the years such as, 2014 BC Ethno Canadian Entrepreneur Award. 2015 Multicultural Business of the Year by BC Provincial Awards. 2016 Business Woman of the Year by Times of Canada, 2016 Best Export Business by Surrey Board of Trade, 2017 Shelina was invited to travel to India by the Women Economic Form and was awarded Woman of the Decade in Innovation and Enterprise. 2018 She then went onto becoming the only Canadian woman who was awarded the Bharat Saman Award, at The House of Lords in England. Her hard work has been highlighted in many TV programs, newspapers and magazines over the years. Some of her most recent and notable achievements is the Bank of Montreal recognized her by Celebrating Women for Community and Charity Giving. She has been listed as Top 15 Women Owned Business in BC.
To learn more and support Nana’s Kitchen & Hot Sauce visit: https://yournanaskitchen.com/
