Amr Mansi, founder and CEO of ievents: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Amr Mansi (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of Cairo-based event management firm ievents. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I’m Amr Mansi. I started my career on the squash court — making the world top 50 back in 2010 — but these days, I’ve traded the racket for a few different business hats. I’m currently running ievents, and I also co-founded the El Gouna Film Festival, which takes up a big part of my heart and time. I’m also really passionate about the ecosystem here, which is why I founded the Egypt Entrepreneur Awards (think of them as the Oscars for entrepreneurs) and helped bring Shark Tank to Egypt through Innovative Media Productions.

But even with these responsibilities, I haven’t fully graduated from day-to-day operations just yet. My time is divided between strategy and hands-on work for El Gouna Film Festival, the Entrepreneur Awards, Innovative Media Productions, and ievents. My days are a constant mix of managing live events, putting out fires that need immediate attention, and brainstorming new ideas. I also try hard to protect my mornings — that’s really the only time I have to think strategically.

The origin story behind ievents was completely by coincidence. I entered the events world because I wanted to do something for my sport — and for Egypt. I wanted to create a squash tournament, and to do that, I had to register a company. That’s how ievents was born, simply as the way to launch that first tournament.

Five or six years later, after the event had become one of the biggest in the world, I started thinking about expanding. We launched another tournament at the Alexandria Library, and then revived the Al Ahram International tournament — the one many people remember from the Ahmed Barada days. Then came the chance to work on the El Gouna Film Festival. I honestly never planned to build an events company; it just happened step by step. I was figuring it out as I went, improvising, and just following the doors that kept opening for us.

After six years, I realized I had fallen in love with the industry — because I could see the impact. Squash has always been my game, and I felt it never got the recognition it deserved. I wanted to put it under the spotlight by showcasing the players, and I believe that happened in Egypt.

Today, nearly every top squash player has major sponsorships from banks and multinationals, and the local tournament scene is thriving. I remember when the head of the Olympic Committee happened to attend Al Ahram International before squash was admitted into the Olympics — I’m not saying it was the only factor, but I’m sure seeing the sport presented in that way made a difference.

Our business model isn’t built around solving a problem as much as it is about supporting ecosystems and communities. With squash, for example, what we really wanted to create was inspiration. I actually still keep a photo of a young boy who volunteered to help us with the tournament draw back in 2010. Fifteen years later, that same kid is ranked in the world’s top 10. That’s the kind of journey we want to support.

The same thing happened with the El Gouna Film Festival. This year alone, the number of accredited participants jumped from the usual 200-300 to more than 7.5k people attending workshops, pitching for funding, networking, and even finalizing films during the festival. It created a real movement for Egyptian and regional cinema.

And the same philosophy drives the Egypt Entrepreneur Awards and Shark Tank. I’ve always believed that every successful person has a story — a tough, inspiring journey that people rarely see. I wanted to put these entrepreneurs on a stage, celebrate what they’ve achieved, and give them a platform to inspire new generations.

What I’m seeing right now — and what I’m most excited about — is the shift toward hosting cultural events at heritage sites. Everyone is looking for that blend of history and modern storytelling — from fashion brands eyeing museums to global names looking to have events at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

I’m an early riser — I’m usually up just before 6pm, and I take a few quiet minutes to myself before hitting the gym. I train for about an hour, then go back home for breakfast with my kids and spend a bit of time with them before the workday starts. I always try to finish by 6pm, but I rarely manage it. Most days, I’m not heading home until around 8pm.

The one constant in my day is sports. It’s the one time of day I’m guaranteed some headspace. With the constant notifications and the pressure of the job, it’s rare to find a quiet moment. That hour in the gym is my sanctuary to reset and clear my mind.

Sports also taught me how to stay focused and organized. Squash specifically is a sport that needs very, very high focus. Just like when you get tired while running, you learn how to take your breath again, refocus, and put a new strategy in place — and that’s exactly how I handle challenges now.

Work-life balance is something everyone talks about, but for me it was almost impossible to achieve — at least up until this year. I have to admit, until this year, I was failing at achieving a work-life balance. I was effectively working 24 hours a day with no real downtime. It wasn’t until the start of 2025 that I finally started trying to carve out a better time for myself and my family.

There are two books that I always say changed my life. The first is The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma, which is about structuring your morning to maximize productivity and personal growth. The second is Success Habits by Napoleon Hill. It’s a bit lesser-known, but it’s a powerful read that really breaks down the mindset you need to succeed.

As for what’s next for our business, the future is all about scaling what we’ve built. I’m now focusing on taking the Egypt Entrepreneur Awards to the region — starting with Saudi Arabia. With the El Gouna Film Festival, the priority is to build on this year’s success and push more on the international front. At ievents, we’re cooking up some new concepts, and I’m currently bringing in a fresh leadership team to help take the company to the next level. And with Innovative Media Productions, we’re starting two or three new formats that we’ll be announcing soon.

The best advice I ever got was to stay focused so you don’t become a victim of your own success. It’s easy to get distracted by new leads, but I’ve learned that you have to stick to what you do best — that’s where you’ll actually make the biggest impact.

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