A visionary entrepreneur who has built three game-changing businesses, Sahar Hashemi turns ideas into brands and reignites entrepreneurial energy where it’s been lost. From revolutionizing coffee culture with Coffee Republic to building Buy Women Built into a powerful brand, she proves that momentum—not waiting for certainty—creates change. But in many organizations, that momentum is hard to find. Too... Read more
A visionary entrepreneur who has built three game-changing businesses, Sahar Hashemi turns ideas into brands and reignites entrepreneurial energy where it’s been lost. From revolutionizing coffee culture with Coffee Republic to building Buy Women Built into a powerful brand, she proves that momentum—not waiting for certainty—creates change.
But in many organizations, that momentum is hard to find. Too often, structures, processes, and habits built for a different era remain, even as customers, competitors, and industries evolve. The result? Ways of thinking and working that no longer match the speed of the world outside. Entrepreneurial energy—the very force that drives innovation, momentum, and bold action—gets buried. It is lost under layers of process, fear, and the comfort of certainty. Leaders hesitate. Decision-making slows. Over-cautiousness takes hold. Customer connection fades. And with it, so does growth.
Sahar Hashemi knows how to ignite entrepreneurial energy—because she’s done it again and again. She has turned ideas from scratch into brands that disrupt industries and shift consumer behaviour.
She transformed the UK from a nation of tea drinkers to coffee lovers when she co-founded Coffee Republic, the country’s first US-style coffee chain. She changed consumer habits again with Skinny Candy, bringing sugar-free treats into the mainstream.
And now, with Buy Women Built (BWB), she has not just built a brand but a movement—one that is redefining how consumers and retailers see women built brands.
What started as a single tweet during the pandemic is now a commercial movement, transforming how consumers see women-built brands. With a community of 2,000+ women-built businesses generating over £2.5 billion in turnover, BWB is shifting buying habits at scale. BWB launched the world’s first women-built “aisle” on Ocado, proving that visibility drives sales. Major retailers—including Whole Foods, QVC, Planet Organic, and TikTok Shop—have embraced BWB, integrating it into their stores and platforms.
Her pioneering book, Anyone Can Do It, was the first to strip away the myths of entrepreneurship and reveal its messy, real-world reality, inspiring thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide. It became the UK’s second highest-selling book on entrepreneurship. Her insights into how bureaucracy, perfectionism, and the need for certainty kill momentum led to Start-Up Forever, a Financial Times Book of the Month, and a playbook for leaders to keep the startup spark alive—before it gets buried.
Her contributions have been recognized globally: a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Pioneer to the Life of the Nation by Queen Elizabeth II, and an OBE for services to the economy and charity. She has been a member of the UK Secretary of State for Business’ Entrepreneurs Forum and co-chaired UK Government Scale Up Taskforce with the Minister For Business.
Sahar doesn’t give audiences theory. She reconnects them to what they already have—the energy, creativity, and courage buried under old habits, process, and fear. Through powerful storytelling and real-world experience, she reignites the urgency to move, the boldness to act, and the deep connection to customers that fuels innovation and impact.
She doesn’t just talk about entrepreneurial energy—she makes people feel it. And when they feel it, they act.