OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Farah El Charkawy (LinkedIn), Fôu ’s co-founder and executive pastry chef.

My name is Farah El Charkawy and I’m the co-founder and executive chef of Fôu, which is an online pastry boutique specializing in crafting artisanal French pastries. Before Fôu, I was a lawyer: I graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in law from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Cairo University, then I went on to earn my masters degree from Toulouse 1 Capitole in 2013. Afterwards I worked as an arbitration lawyer at Zulficar and Partners Law Firm, which I joined in 2014.

I have been passionate about pastries since I took my first culinary course in 2014, and since then, I’ve wanted to have my own pastry shop and pursue a career in this field, giving it my full attention and time to eventually establish my own pastry business. In 2019, I left the law world and traveled to France to study French pastry art at Alain Ducasse's school (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie). Then, I did some training in Paris with a well-known chef in France, Christophe Michalak, and another famous chef in Dubai, Karim Bourgi.

The best part of my job is brainstorming and building up my recipes. It’s a creative process: Flavors are imagined, research is conducted, and (many) pastry books are read. I could travel for inspiration as well. New destinations allow me to taste as many products as possible and inspire me more. I also love to put plans for marketing and developing my brand.

Standing on my feet for long periods of time — almost 14 hours per workday — is one of the worst parts of my job. Another downside is that my mind is fully consumed with work — even if I’m not physically present at the factory or even on my days off — I just can't stop thinking about recipes, flavors, food, and concepts.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and be patient and courageous is the advice I could give someone who is thinking of starting their own business. People sometimes feel upset when things do not go well with them. But, goals take time to be achieved — just don’t give up quickly, and learn from your mistakes.

The two most important KPIs that I look at every day are my products’ sale rate and the optimum cost spent on raw materials, as prices fluctuate from one day to another.

I choose to turn to my friends, my business partner s, and colleagues in the industry when I face an obstacle: It really depends on the type of problem and the situation.

Being a founder of a startup is not a lonely journey ; in fact, I have been fortunate to have an amazing team that makes everyday operations achievable. This companionship comes despite losing out on a lot of social activities such as going out with friends, playing sports, and traveling when I started working on my business.

Most importantly, I am grateful for Marianne Smaika, and Sherif and Karim Bichara, my partners who trusted and supported me blindly, and invested EGP 5 mn into Fôu.

My company’s long-term plan is to establish a mother company with a focus on F&B activities. I dream that Fôu will not only be about selling French-style pastries — I see its potential to offer different related products such as cutlery and tableware.

If I were to leave Fôu tomorrow, I would s ell it to a company that would respect the nature of my business and its philosophy. I would definitely prefer to stay on as a partner, rather than sell it off entirely, but if I had to, I would be an advisor or a consultant for the brand.

My family was completely shocked by my decision to let go of my stable law career. Despite their general support for all my decisions, never influencing my choices or my actions, they were wary of my career shift. They believed that I was ruining my future by giving up on being a lawyer, and that I would not excel on this path. Nevertheless, they encouraged me to do what I wanted to do, even if they did not agree with me. I believe that they are now very proud of what I’ve achieved.

The last great thing I read was a novel called The Course of Love by Alain de Botton. It addresses the concept of love and marriage from a very mature and realistic perspective. I find that it gives great lessons on forgiveness, acceptance, and allows one to understand human relationships differently.

I always get my inspiration from traveling to new places. My mind digests new ideas from visual stimuli and gets revived. Trying new food and experiencing different flavors is another ingredient for inspiration.

If I am ever lucky enough to have some down time, I always spend it with my friends. Other times, I escape to the beach, and, of course, nothing beats some retail therapy.

From the startups out there, I think Cairopolitan is killing it, withtheir original, unique, and creative products.

If I couldn't build the business that I’m building now, I would study the art of perfumery. This art is something that impresses me and I deeply believe that understanding the chemistry behind scents would help me come up with creative flavors for desserts. Another scenario would be traveling — living the simple and carefree life of a student — enjoying myself and learning something interesting.

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