AYESHA
PAKRAVAN
CHALLENGE | MOTIVATE | REINVENT
AYESHA
PAKRAVAN
AYESHA
PAKRAVAN
CHALLENGE | MOTIVATE | REINVENT
AYESHA
PAKRAVAN
CHALLENGE | MOTIVATE | REINVENT
The Pandemic Pivoter
In 2019, Ayesha pivoted her career from selling property to making party platters. When
the pandemic hit and her catering business came to a standstill, she started a social
venture serving up free meals to people in need. Here’s how she did it.
AYESHA'S STORY
After four years working at estate agency Knight Frank, Ayesha Pakravan quit her job as a lettings negotiator to start an entirely different career – as a food entrepreneur.
“I tried not to dwell on all the things that could go wrong. I didn’t want to think myself out of it.”
Ayesha, who grew up in Dubai and studied media at the University of Leeds, discovered she had a flair for cooking in her early 20s. “I would read recipe books cover-to-cover, like novels,” she says. In 2019, she decided to turn her passion into her profession. She spent three months training as a chef in the evenings at Leiths School of Food and Wine, then put together a business plan for her own catering company, The Plattery, providing grazing tables, platters and picnic boxes for private parties and corporate events.
She applied for a £10,000 loan from Virgin StartUp and, on the day the funds hit her account, she handed in her notice at Knight Frank. “I had £5,000 of personal savings as a buffer but I tried not to dwell on all the things that could go wrong,” she says. “I didn’t want to think myself out of it.”
“Vital Meals was originally just intended as a short-term charitable venture but I can’t turn my back on it now.”
The Plattery took off. Within six months, Ayesha had catered for the likes of Facebook and London Fashion Week and made 60 metres of sausage roll: “That’s taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa,” she jokes.
Then, in March 2020, the pandemic hit. Parties and events were cancelled, and Ayesha’s thriving business ground to a halt. Reluctant to sit at home doing nothing, Ayesha decided to start a social initiative called Vital Meals, using her skills – and her fully-stocked registered kitchen – to help vulnerable people who were struggling to cook for themselves.
“I posted on mutual aid groups in South London asking if anyone needed free food,” she says. “Within a couple of hours, someone contacted me saying: ‘I’m stuck in South Africa and my grandfather, Pat, can’t get to the shops for food. Can you help?’ Pat was my first customer.”
By mid-April, Ayesha was making 100 meals a day and delivering them to the local community in her Volkswagen Fox. To cope with the demand, she moved to a community kitchen in Clapham and brought in a team of volunteer chefs and drivers. By the end of the year, Vital Meals had provided 20,000 free meals to people in need, including NHS staff and key workers, and Ayesha was recognised on the New Years Honours List 2021 for her services during the pandemic.
“I’ll do whatever I can to keep this running, for as long as it’s needed.”
Ayesha currently splits her time between Vital Meals and The Plattery, which now offers home-delivered DIY boxes and platters. “Vital Meals was originally just intended as a short-term charitable venture but I can’t turn my back on it now,” she says. “All of The Plattery’s profits are funnelled into Vital Meals and we’re raising donations on GoFundMe. I’ll do whatever I can to keep this running, for as long as it’s needed.”
Ayesha counts her mother, former BBC television presenter Shahnaz Pakravan, and her aunt, Sisters Beauty Lounge founder Shirin Abdulrazak, as her biggest influences. “I was really lucky to grow up in a family of strong, entrepreneurial women,” she says. “They taught me to ask lots of questions, be brave – and just go for it.”
The Pandemic Pivoter
In 2019, Ayesha pivoted her career from selling
property to making party platters. When the
pandemic hit and her catering business came to a
standstill, she started a social venture serving up
free meals to people in need. Here’s how she did it.
After four years working at estate agency Knight Frank, Ayesha Pakravan quit her job as a lettings negotiator to start an entirely different career – as a food entrepreneur.
“I tried not to dwell on all the things that could go wrong. I didn’t want to think myself out of it.”
Ayesha, who grew up in Dubai and studied media at the University of Leeds, discovered she had a flair for cooking in her early 20s. “I would read recipe books cover-to-cover, like novels,” she says. In 2019, she decided to turn her passion into her profession. She spent three months training as a chef in the evenings at Leiths School of Food and Wine, then put together a business plan for her own catering company, The Plattery, providing grazing tables, platters and picnic boxes for private parties and corporate events.
She applied for a £10,000 loan from Virgin StartUp and, on the day the funds hit her account, she handed in her notice at Knight Frank. “I had £5,000 of personal savings as a buffer but I tried not to dwell on all the things that could go wrong,” she says. “I didn’t want to think myself out of it.”
“Vital Meals was originally just intended as a short-term charitable venture but I can’t turn my back on it now.”
The Plattery took off. Within six months, Ayesha had catered for the likes of Facebook and London Fashion Week and made 60 metres of sausage roll: “That’s taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa,” she jokes.
Then, in March 2020, the pandemic hit. Parties and events were cancelled, and Ayesha’s thriving business ground to a halt. Reluctant to sit at home doing nothing, Ayesha decided to start a social initiative called Vital Meals, using her skills – and her fully-stocked registered kitchen – to help vulnerable people who were struggling to cook for themselves.
“I posted on mutual aid groups in South London asking if anyone needed free food,” she says. “Within a couple of hours, someone contacted me saying: ‘I’m stuck in South Africa and my grandfather, Pat, can’t get to the shops for food. Can you help?’ Pat was my first customer.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to keep this running, for as long as it’s needed.”
By mid-April, Ayesha was making 100 meals a day and delivering them to the local community in her Volkswagen Fox. To cope with the demand, she moved to a community kitchen in Clapham and brought in a team of volunteer chefs and drivers. By the end of the year, Vital Meals had provided 20,000 free meals to people in need, including NHS staff and key workers, and Ayesha was recognised on the New Years Honours List 2021 for her services during the pandemic.
Ayesha currently splits her time between Vital Meals and The Plattery, which now offers home-delivered DIY boxes and platters. “Vital Meals was originally just intended as a short-term charitable venture but I can’t turn my back on it now,” she says. “All of The Plattery’s profits are funnelled into Vital Meals and we’re raising donations on GoFundMe. I’ll do whatever I can to keep this running, for as long as it’s needed.”
Ayesha counts her mother, former BBC television presenter Shahnaz Pakravan, and her aunt, Sisters Beauty Lounge founder Shirin Abdulrazak, as her biggest influences. “I was really lucky to grow up in a family of strong, entrepreneurial women,” she says. “They taught me to ask lots of questions, be brave – and just go for it.”
TOP TIPS
AMAZING IF
Looking to reinvent your own career? Amazing If co-founder Helen Tupper offers practical tips on how to turn your pivot possibilities into probabilities.
TOP TIPS
AMAZING IF
Looking to reinvent your own career? Amazing If co-founder Helen Tupper offers practical tips on how to turn your pivot possibilities into probabilities.
TOP TIPS
AMAZING IF
Looking to reinvent your own career? Amazing If co-founder Helen Tupper offers practical tips on how to turn your pivot possibilities into probabilities.
You have to look back
over your career before
you can move forwards
Put talents
before titles
Invest in your network
and turn your knowledge
gaps into growth
You have to look back
over your career before
you can move forwards
Put talents
before titles
Invest in your network
and turn your knowledge
gaps into growth
You have to look back over
your career before you can
move forwards
Put talents
before titles
Invest in your network
and turn your knowledge
gaps into growth
REINVENTION – STYLE EDIT
Go for versatile, mix-and-match wardrobe staples, which you can restyle to suit any occasion or mood.
Make “style pivots” throughout the day and still feel polished and put together.
REINVENTION – STYLE EDIT
Go for versatile, mix-and-match wardrobe
staples, which you can restyle
to suit any occasion or mood.
Make “style pivots” throughout the day
and still feel polished and put together.
HOW TO
Motivate
As the boss of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell is steering the charity through one of the toughest years in its 100-year history. Read her story of resilient leadership and get tips on how to boost your motivation.
HOW TO
Challenge
From leading the campaign to abolish the tampon tax in the UK to tackling sex and relationship taboos in schools, read how Laura Coryton is taking action through activism – and discover how you, too, can become a challenger.
HOW TO
Motivate
As the boss of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell is steering the charity through one of the toughest years in its 100-year history. Read her story of resilient leadership and get tips on how to boost your motivation.
HOW TO
Challenge
From leading the campaign to abolish the tampon tax in the UK to tackling sex and relationship taboos in schools, read how Laura Coryton is taking action through activism – and discover how you, too, can become a challenger.
HOW TO
Motivate
As the boss of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell
is steering the charity through one of
the toughest years in its 100-year history.
Read her story of resilient leadership and get
tips on how to boost your motivation.
HOW TO
Challenge
From leading the campaign to abolish the tampon
tax in the UK to tackling sex and relationship
taboos in schools, read how Laura Coryton is
taking action through activism – and discover
how you, too, can become a challenger.
CHALLENGE | MOTIVATE | REINVENT
In association with Amazing If & Smart Works
Smart Works Charity, registered charity number: 1080609
CHALLENGE | MOTIVATE | REINVENT
In association with Amazing If & Smart Works
Smart Works Charity, registered charity number: 1080609