Amnah Maqsood
Amnah Maqsood started her entrepreneurial journey in May 2018 with a home-based business called Body by Butter, offering calorie counted meals on a subscription model. Despite initially focusing on weight loss, weight gain, and clean eating, the business unexpectedly became her primary source of income.
Amna's academic background is in economics and management, having studied at UCL and later completing a master's degree at Kinnaird. Although her education was not food-related, food has always been a significant part of her life. She developed a passion for cooking from watching her parents in the kitchen and would often experiment with cooking during Sunday meals. Building on the success of Body by Butter, Amna went on to establish two more companies: Xpress Cafe and Stevital, a natural sweetener replacement for sugar.
SUNDAY Sunday 3rd March
Extra Tarka! Preserving Culture Through Cuisine Moderator: Sonya Rehman Gulalai Khan, Founder, Pakistan Professional Women Forum Hiba Dar, Director Communications, Coca Cola Pakistan Ana Farooq, Founder of Arth Ayurveda
Location: Hall 3
Exploring the economic empowerment of women through traditional Pakistani cuisine, preserving cultural heritage, and shaping a nation's identity. The panel discussion at the WOW Festival ‘24 will highlight and detail how home chefs in Pakistan are leveraging their culinary skills to create economic opportunities and empower themselves.
What’s more, by tapping into our local recipes, these women are not only earning extra income but also preserving the cultural legacy of their region. This is no less than a culinary ‘movement’ which is not just about cooking; it's about empowerment and economic growth.
These women are gradually gaining business acumen, access to finance, and expanding their business networks. But how did this start? Was the Covid-19 lockdown the impetus for the birth and rapid growth in the home chef sector on local turf? This panel explores that and more.