In 1995 Sahar Hashemi together with her brother Bobby founded Coffee Republic, and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with a turnover of £30m. Giving up highly professional jobs, she, a lawyer in London and he an investment banker in New York, they staked everything on a dream - and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with ‘triple half-caf lattes’.
Neither had any previous knowledge about retail or indeed coffee. But Sahar had developed a passion for the skinny lattes and fat free muffins she had seen in New York. How they came to build a international coffee chain is a fascinating and inspirational tale of the ups and downs of following your dream. From the first conversation when the seed of the idea was planted, to getting a DTI Small Firms Loan Guarantee, finding a name and opening the first store, it is a personal story about two people who stopped ‘thinking about it’ and ‘did it’.
Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and has written a book called Anyone Can Do It - Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen table which tackles some of the fears and answers some of the elusive questions about what it really takes to become an entrepreneur.
Published in January 2003, Anyone Can Do It has reached #1 on the Amazon business chart. It is ‘suggested reading’ for the London Business School entrepreneurship course and Chapter 1 has been included as part of the syllabus of the Entrepreneurship Summer School. The book has also been endorsed by the DTI, Prince’s Trust and IoD and has received wide press coverage as well as being translated into 6 languages. Her second book, Switched On, was published in May 2010 and covers 8 practical habits, for example getting into your customers shoes, getting out of the office and taking 100% of yourself to work. Sahar also has an ‘Ask Sahar’ column in Director Magazine where readers every month ask her questions about innovation, customer service and the entrepreneurial minds in the workplace.
Sahar has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Britain 2003 by the Daily Mail. Sahar has made the cover of Management Today, Director and Business 550 magazines. Her media appearances include CNN Business Breakfast, BBC2, Radio 4, LBC, Radio 5 and BBC London amongst many others.
She is a speaker ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and has spoken as keynote speaker at various high profile events including the IoD Women’s 2002 Summit, Wall Street Journal Europe Women In Business Summit and Enterprise 100. Sahar lectures at the London Business School Entrepreneurship summer school.
Speaking Testimonials
‘her energy and “just do it” attitude go down very well at conferences’
RICS Engl & Wales
‘Sahar was very passionate about her story and it’s a great story’
Network East Pennines
‘your energising talk on the necessity of passion to drive business growth was inspiring for everyone’
Infosys
‘outstanding presentation by Sahar and Bobby. Very inspirational and motivating. A great choice of speakers and an example to us all’...IoD How to write a winning business plan conference’
‘Sahar’s presentation is excellent. It’s from the heart, very passionate and truthful. Very entertaining! She proved to be extremely popular with the audience’
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
‘Months later audience are still talking about the night they heard Sahar speak. She is totally inspirational, has laser sharp focus and provides real life strategies for success. We had a waiting list of over 100! Sahar is a top speaker and audiences just adore her.’
Aurora Conference at Pricewaterhouse Coopers
‘Your presentation was simple but relevant and also inspirational. You are both outstanding examples of the entrepreneurial spirit, which is now becoming very much part of the UK business environment
.LBS Enterprise 100
Neither had any previous knowledge about retail or indeed coffee. But Sahar had developed a passion for the skinny lattes and fat free muffins she had seen in New York. How they came to build a international coffee chain is a fascinating and inspirational tale of the ups and downs of following your dream. From the first conversation when the seed of the idea was planted, to getting a DTI Small Firms Loan Guarantee, finding a name and opening the first store, it is a personal story about two people who stopped ‘thinking about it’ and ‘did it’.
Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and has written a book called Anyone Can Do It - Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen table which tackles some of the fears and answers some of the elusive questions about what it really takes to become an entrepreneur.
Published in January 2003, Anyone Can Do It has reached #1 on the Amazon business chart. It is ‘suggested reading’ for the London Business School entrepreneurship course and Chapter 1 has been included as part of the syllabus of the Entrepreneurship Summer School. The book has also been endorsed by the DTI, Prince’s Trust and IoD and has received wide press coverage as well as being translated into 6 languages. Her second book, Switched On, was published in May 2010 and covers 8 practical habits, for example getting into your customers shoes, getting out of the office and taking 100% of yourself to work. Sahar also has an ‘Ask Sahar’ column in Director Magazine where readers every month ask her questions about innovation, customer service and the entrepreneurial minds in the workplace.
Sahar has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Britain 2003 by the Daily Mail. Sahar has made the cover of Management Today, Director and Business 550 magazines. Her media appearances include CNN Business Breakfast, BBC2, Radio 4, LBC, Radio 5 and BBC London amongst many others.
She is a speaker ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and has spoken as keynote speaker at various high profile events including the IoD Women’s 2002 Summit, Wall Street Journal Europe Women In Business Summit and Enterprise 100. Sahar lectures at the London Business School Entrepreneurship summer school.
Speaking Testimonials
‘her energy and “just do it” attitude go down very well at conferences’
RICS Engl & Wales
‘Sahar was very passionate about her story and it’s a great story’
Network East Pennines
‘your energising talk on the necessity of passion to drive business growth was inspiring for everyone’
Infosys
‘outstanding presentation by Sahar and Bobby. Very inspirational and motivating. A great choice of speakers and an example to us all’...IoD How to write a winning business plan conference’
‘Sahar’s presentation is excellent. It’s from the heart, very passionate and truthful. Very entertaining! She proved to be extremely popular with the audience’
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
‘Months later audience are still talking about the night they heard Sahar speak. She is totally inspirational, has laser sharp focus and provides real life strategies for success. We had a waiting list of over 100! Sahar is a top speaker and audiences just adore her.’
Aurora Conference at Pricewaterhouse Coopers
‘Your presentation was simple but relevant and also inspirational. You are both outstanding examples of the entrepreneurial spirit, which is now becoming very much part of the UK business environment
.LBS Enterprise 100
A passionate speaker, Sahar inspires her audiences leaving them mesmerised with a ‘vitamin shot’ and ‘kick-start’. She motivates people to stop ‘thinking about’ that great idea they have and just ‘get on with it’. She knows because she stopped ‘thinking about it’ and achieved her goals learning a lot along the way.
Speeches for Corporate Organisations
*The step by step guide to turn your idea into a reality
*How to think and behave like an entrepreneur in a big company
*How to make your organisation entrepreneurial
*So You don’t think you can be an entrepreneur?
*Anyone Can learn to behave like an entrepreneur
*Customer Experience: ‘Be your own first customer’
*The importance of PASSION- bring it back into your organisation
*How to build a BRAND from scratch when you are clueless
*How to leap outside the comfort zone
*PASSION and PERSISTENCE is all you need
*The step by step guide to turn your idea into a reality
*How to think and behave like an entrepreneur in a big company
*How to make your organisation entrepreneurial
*So You don’t think you can be an entrepreneur?
*Anyone Can learn to behave like an entrepreneur
*Customer Experience: ‘Be your own first customer’
*The importance of PASSION- bring it back into your organisation
*How to build a BRAND from scratch when you are clueless
*How to leap outside the comfort zone
*PASSION and PERSISTENCE is all you need
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