Hear it straight from the mouths of Egypt’s women business leaders: Among the privileges of this job is the chance to speak with leaders of all backgrounds to get their perspective on life and work here in Egypt. In honor of International Women’s Day, we thought it would be appropriate to get a refresher on the insights some of these women business leaders shared with us on Making It.

Juggling family and business: Our first ever guests in the studio were Abeer El Sisi and her husband Karim El Sahy who together co-founded AI digital assistant Elves. Joining us on the eve of giving birth to her third child, Abeer spoke with us on what it takes to work with your spouse and the importance of the division of labor both at home and at the office. Abeer manages the eponymous “elves” who are the go-between of the user and the AI engine that drives the service. She spoke with us on building such a team and the importance of building a unified corporate culture (listen, runtime: 29:13).

Succession in a male-dominated industry: Jeweler Azza Fahmy has been celebrated for rising up in an industry dominated by men, and her two daughters who have joined the company are planning to carry that legacy forward. Azza Fahmy CEO Fatma Ghali — who spearheaded the expansion of the brand outside of Egypt — sat down with us on how ultimately the market will judge on creativity and innovation more than gender. “I’ve never felt challenged being a woman. I have challenges as a business, but I’ve never gone into a meeting thinking I’m at a disadvantage because I’m a woman,” Ghali told us (listen, runtime: 29:27).

Pricing art to the masses: TAM Gallery Co-Founder Lina Mowafy started her business an online gallery that aimed to give new artists a chance to break into the Egyptian art world. Fast forward less than a decade later, and the online gallery is now complemented by a physical art space in 6 of October City as well as TAM Corporate that integrates art into public spaces. But beyond giving exposure to up and coming artists, Mowafy has the hard job of putting a price on art — which beyond being culturally significant is a major asset class in its own right. You’ll catch some good art investing tips here (listen, runtime: 29:19).

Creating a household name: Another duo, Nola Founder Laila Sedky and her brother Adel Sedky, the CEO, created one of the most recognizable brands in the confectionary business. Laila and Adel understand the business of selling happiness. Their tenure at Nola saw them grow the brand beyond the flagship store in Zamalek and their ambition grow to wanting to take it abroad. From leading the local cupcake craze to making pivotal decisions on the sustainability of their brand and the subsequent reorienting of their customers, all while dishing out fresh and exciting takes on classic Egyptian desserts, Laila and Adel are experts at marketing and operations, looking beyond trends, and separating between work and family (listen, runtime: 38:51).

The natural advantages of a woman entrepreneur: TPay Mobile CEO Sahar Salama introduced cutting edge technologies into Egypt’s fintech scene by creating a payment solution through telecom operators. During our sitdown, Salama brought up a study that says that women entrepreneurs have a higher success rate than their male counterparts, which she argues has to do with how women function as the activities they do in a day-to-day business shows complex processing and execution capabilities. “This nature, if coupled with experience and education…makes women always do things differently” (listen, runtime: 30:52).

Women in STEM have gone from a trickle to a stream: Managing Director of SAP Egypt and Frontier Markets Hoda Mansour has achieved three-digit-growth for the enterprise software developer in the country and has proved the business’s resilience throughout the covid-19 pandemic. Mansour has long been an advocate for women joining STEM fields saying that while she was in the minority while studying in university “but so what?” She told us that she’s been seeing more women enter the sector and at the time of the interview, SAP Egypt had more women than men at the company. Mansour was twice recognized by Forbes as one of the most influential businesswomen in the Middle East in 2018 and 2020, and recently ranked #26 in Forbes’ Middle East’s Power Businesswomen 2021 list (listen, runtime: 37:10).

One of our own in Silicon Valley: We talked to software superstar Nancy Zayed co-founder of MagicCube along with her husband Hisham Shawki on rising in the hub of tech innovations. And what a rise it was: Zayed’s 10-year tenure at Apple saw her secure the company’s second Emmy for her work on Final Cut. And she happened to have met Steve Jobs. Not resting on her laurels, she created with Shawki MagicCube — a company that aims to eliminate the redundancy of hardware-based security devices. The company has managed to secure investments last year from Visa and CVentures (listen, runtime: 42:18).

Zayed gives her take on gender equality in a Q&A on MagicCube’s website.

Consolidating healthcare in the time of covid: Integrated Diagnostics Holding CEO Hend El Sherbini transformed her mother’s testing facility MK Lab in Egypt into a regional diagnostics powerhouse with local players Al Mokhtabar and Al Borg under its belt as well as other facilities across Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria and Jordan. El Sherbini speaks to the merits of institutionalizing her family business and highlights the role consolidation plays in enabling affordable healthcare. Especially in light of the covid-19 pandemic. Today, the London Stock Exchange-listed diagnostics giant is working towards a listing on the Egyptian Stock Exchange that could take place later this year. El Sherbini recently ranked #25 in Forbes’ Middle East’s Power Businesswomen 2021 list (listen, runtime: 42:58).

Making It is also available on: Our Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Omny | Anghami.