Sadika Fakir
Thursday 28 July
Sadika Fakir is no stranger to AEX viewers. She is a businesswoman, foodie and the Integrated Media and Digital Director at Tiger Brands, based in Johannesburg. Born and raised on the south coast of KZN, she still calls herself a ‘cane rat’ or a ‘farm girl’ at heart.
She credits her late father for her passion for entrepreneurship. “My dad was a pinnacle inspiration. He was an accountant… he found a gap in the market. I looked at this man, and he was the only accountant in the area at that time,” says Sadika.
Her father solved a need in the community. “Isn’t that the basis of business across the board? Whether it was 40 years ago or whether it’s today, you must solve for a problem,” she explains.
She got her passion for working with small businesses from her dad as well. “I get excited when someone comes to me and goes, ‘I have this idea’. Because this is what the world, and this country, needs.”
Sadika’s other passion is food. “An expression of my love is food,” she says.
According to Sadika, her husband, Hermanth, and her are not a typically romantic couple. “I don’t do flowers; I don’t do jewelry. I don’t even have a wedding band, it’s inked onto me,” she says gesturing towards the tattoed initials ‘HF’ on her ring finger.
But she believes “Nothing is more beautiful, or you’re not in a more vulnerable state, than sharing a meal with someone. You are talking about things, you are sharing memories, but you’re also indulging in a mix of cultures.”
“Our expression of food is an expression of creating beautiful memories around the table,” she adds.
She hasn’t always had this attitude towards food. Sadika has had struggles with her weight in the past. “I was put onto my first diet when I was 6 years old… I’ve tried every diet, fought with myself, fought with people, you name it, I have been on it,” she says.
“Something you have to realise is that obesity is a disease. It’s not just a physical thing, it’s an emotional thing. You’ve got to sort out what is inside,” explains Sadika.
After years of dieting, she decided to find an eating plan that worked for her. “You can’t buy it off the shelf,” she says. “Hermanth and I walked this journey together, we walked this journey of health and fitness.”
Follow Sadika on social media:
@sadikafakir / Sadika Fakir / @Sadika_Fakir