I was always somehow linked to food, whether it be stacking shelves, completing stock takes, Mr. Patel teaching me how to order at cash and carry or advising the consumer on which vegetables were in season.  This started at the age of 13 years old, where I worked after school and at weekends stacking shelves and fridges with tinned and fresh produce, in the local Spar convenience store. Later to also have my ‘favourite’ part-time job where my main function was to ‘rotate the vegetables’.   So we can safely say, I have worked myself up.  Also, known as a bit of an Arthur Daley at school, as you would often find me behind the gym at break time, selling Mints and Chewing gums to make a few pence.  (for those not familiar with 1980’s British TV – Arthur Daley was a likable salesman in a popular TV series)

Advertising Sales & Marketing for 27yrs is the career I flew off into,  mainly selling but some buying & management across Print, TV, Radio, Digital (when it arrived), Outdoor, Events, Data, Experiential across many different industries from back street car scrap yard dealers to International Motor Dealers ,  Business Opportunities, Home, Finance, Food, Retail, Entertainment, too many to mention. My work over these years, I am proud to say saw me win many awards of recognition for my work.  I preferred the holidays.

With always a part-time job in the evening between the age of 17 and 28yrs old,  mainly in bars and pubs,  serving pints and food to the people of Croydon in South London.  So we could say, I have always been somewhat of a workaholic.  Played very hard, but worked very hard too.

Arriving in the Middle East (Dubai) in 2013, I was thrown into the world of Trade and Export, with Dubai being the trading up of the Middle East.  This was a world I had no idea about, certainly not the Middle Eastern economy.  I had to learn fast,  which saw lots of evenings and weekend beach days reading about the Middle Eastern economy, with a focus on the UAE and its foreign trade partners in and out of the UAE.  I had lots of meetings with Trade Commissioners of countries across the Western world, Asia and GCC, advice from good, knowledgeable people within the industry.  It soon became apparent that it was the Food & Beverage industry that was the billion-dollar gold mine for the UAE and countries/brands wanting to trade here and sell their products.

Trade & Export ME took care of connecting people from across the globe by arranging massive Country Focus events where all countries involved could meet, network and educate each other on the benefits of working together.  Connecting countries and their brands such as Turkey, Pro Ecuador, Brazil, Canada followed later with brands such as The Pro Chef ME and BBC Good Food ME by New Zealand Trade, Oz Trade, Ireland, Peru and much more.     My work then stepped into understanding what the Exec Chefs here in the UAE want for their kitchens and menus, followed by the experience of working on the Foodie consumer side and understanding the ever-changing and latest foodie trends in the UAE market and making sure I found the right products to feed these trends.

A 1 year stint in the supply chain industry in Dubai, working for a very reputable distributor (there are not many I am told) allowed me to really get my teeth stuck into the whole process (some would use the word ‘headache’) from country – across seas – to the consumers' plate.  From working very closely with Exec Chefs of massive 4 and 5* hotel groups, cinemas, hypermarkets and coffee chains, to helping source the products from across the globe, sample and understand the tastes of each of the Exec Chefs I worked with, this was quite an eye-opening that set off a passion to bring in good quality and unique products to the market and make them success they should be.

All that was needed was, honest and upfront advice with realistic timelines given and to be fair on pricing, so all parties were happy.  Not greedy, but ALL happy and making their desired ROI.

Ymakan was born more out of the many frustrations that myself and Sarah Motwali (Co-Founder and CEO) had encountered when working with brands through their journey from their home country to the consumers' plate or shopping basket.  We witnessed many great brands that should have been a phenomenal sales success here, having to withdraw the products after spending fortunes on offices, salespeople, trips back and forth and much more.  Good brands working so hard to get their products into retailers, hotel groups via distributors and then NO ONE BUYING their amazing product.  The consumer didn’t know it was there?  It just sat on the shelf in hope that someone might spot it and read the unique benefits of that product, then go out and tell 1000’s of people.   Doesn’t quite work like that…… Marketing …. Yes, that thing that helps you sell your product on mass to people that are highly likely to want to try it??  Ping….