We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Layla Khafaga. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Layla below.
Layla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
In the beginning stages of developing and growing my business, going back to a regular job was a constant thought. Even now, three years into this adventure, I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about it weekly or even daily. I always thought I worked hard when I was in the corporate world. Little did I know, being a business owner means you are always on”. Whether I’m physically in the kitchen, or just mentally running through the constant ideas in my mind, owning a business is a 24/7 commitment. Sometimes I think going back to a regular job would be easier, simpler, even quieter. There is a lot of comfort in having a steady paycheck and not having the weight of an entire company resting on your shoulders. Those aspects of a regular job sound amazing. But, then I think of the unnecessary meetings, the bureaucracy, and worst yet, how much red tape you have to go through before even getting an idea off the ground. What makes me come back to why I started my business is knowing that I am putting in all of this effort for something bigger than me. What my business delivers is something that I can be proud of, something that reaches and impacts a greater audience, and it is a legacy that I can leave for my family. Creating something out of nothing and seeing your crazy business owner ideas come to life can’t be replaced by a “secure” job. Every day you doubt yourself and question “Why am I doing this?”, but when you have even one win, all the doubt goes away!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a first generation Palestinian American. Growing up, my Mom made sure we knew everything about our heritage. Like many cultures around the world, food is our Love Language. The way my mother hosted and invited everyone into our home and showered them with love through her food was inspiring. I took everything my Mom taught me about food and sweets and created Meezan Kitchen’s offerings of elevated Middle Eastern pastries. Meezan has expanded the reach of love-infused food to our customers across America. We are inviting our customers into our culture and tradition; to feel generosity and heart in every product. However, getting to where we are today has been a labor of love and determination. In 2020, I informed my prior employer that I was leaving to start Meezan Kitchen. Little did I know that COVID was right around the corner. I knew the retail landscape was forever changing, so I stuck with my plan and continued on my business journey. I leaned into my professional experience of 15 years in Leadership, Banking, and People Development and flexed with every obstacle we faced. And although I own a cultural pastry company, even my degree in Mathematics has helped get me out of hot water at times. Everything I have experienced, from my upbringing in a Palestinian household to a career in the corporate world, has contributed to me dedicating my heart and soul to Meezan.
Any advice for managing a team?
It’s cliche but it works – lead by example! There are a few other pillars of leadership I follow: First, do not see yourself as a manager or above your employees – you need them more than they need you. Second, show them they are appreciated by hearing their ideas and giving them responsibility. Leading people is similar to the experience of allowing children learn and grow on their own. As parents, there is so much pressure to stay in control, to show and teach kids everything. In reality, when we stop and actually see children as people, we learn so much more from them than they can us. Third, position your team members in roles where they can thrive. When you have the right people in the right roles, development and growth naturally follows. The organic success that comes from these leadership guidelines creates a domino effect. The more we respect and appreciate our team, the more confident they will become to take initiative. The more support we give them to accomplish self-driven success, the higher the team buy-in and morale. Effective team management does not come from fancy tricks or strategies. Be honest and sincere and your team will know they are being led, not managed.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
Yes! We are proud to say that every aspect of our products is 100% produced by Meezan Kitchen, and my goal is to keep it that way. What I have learned about the CPG/Food manufacturing world has been overwhelming and shocking. Logistically, there are so many moving parts with distributors, brokers, warehouses, retailers, and wholesalers. With all these hands involved, it’s very challenging to ensure the level of quality and customer experience Meezan strives for. For instance, one distributor I spoke with said they require any product they store to be shelf stable (cannot expire) for at least 1 year! They impose this requirement because the product might sit in their warehouse for that long. We want our customers to experience clean, delicious treats they can easily trace the journey of; not eating something that’s been hanging out in some warehouse for 12 months. After this, I realized I needed to pivot and refocus my goal for our products.
Researching food production options made me face some other realities, too. One, we needed to go back to being simple and cost effective. The more unnecessary ingredients I add, the more my cost increases and the quality of our products decreases, hurting both our customers and the business. Two, I learned I needed to slow down the roll-out of new products. We make everything fresh in our kitchen (even our ghee, caramel, jams, etc) and within 2 years of being in business, I had created 5 new products and trademark registered 2. Although that was exhilarating and validating, burn-out was knocking at the kitchen door. We’re still working to find the right rhythm for the business, but we’ve slowed down a bit and we’re savoring the process and output more. If I could go back and tell my younger self about production, I would say to stick to one product and build a reputation on that one product. Then, slowly start introducing all the other great ideas. Don’t lose your ideas, just put them in a secret little notebook.
Another incredibly impactful piece to the puzzle of production is sales and marketing. In a world where everyone can access anything with a swipe of a finger, in full transparency, venturing out into social media was a frontier of uncertainty for me. Although personally I still don’t have much of a social media presence, Meezan Kitchen is fully immersed in that realm to market these great, fresh and delicious products. And while I’m still new to the concept of sharing myself with the digital world, I recognize that this is my biggest opportunity right now to carve out my niche. Funny story – I had been offered an incredible opportunity to host my first pop-up at a friend’s cafe in March 2020. I was so excited for the chance to officially sell my sweets that I didn’t think about anything other than what I was going to bake and what my table design would be. Off the bat, my first three customers asked what my “handle” was – I had no idea what they were talking about. One of the customers, who was actually a business consultant, told me I needed to create an Instagram account “NOW!”. At this point, I didn’t even have my own personal social media accounts! Listening to the message loud and clear, I set up an IG account in between customers. Little did I know the edge social media would give me on marketing and sales. I am NO social media expert and certainly no sales guru, but wow, I’ve come a long way since that day 3 years ago.
In our culture, Meezan means “balance”. Meezan Kitchen has opened my eyes to new worlds I had never imagined I’d see, taken me down paths I had never been on. My corporate career was challenging and validating, but nothing comes close to my experiences with our Meezan company and team. Through these ups and downs, however, I’m comforted in knowing the newness of Meezan is deeply rooted in generational traditions of love, family, and food. Meezan, balance, is what it’s all about.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.meezanin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meezan_kitchen/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/meezankitchen
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laylaakhafaga/