« When you see a successful person, it should motivate you. »

"I'm Donia. I'm 29 years old. I come from Val d'Oise. And along with Loubna and Youssef, I co-founded Meet My Mama, an impact company that unlocks women's culinary talent, in 2017.

I've always wanted to make an impact. I think that became a reality after my mum died. That's when I realised I wanted to be useful. Mum was a very kind person, and I always wanted to be just as kind. I really wanted to make an impact, be useful, and I always thought I had a mission. It's a bit weird to say, but I had a mission on Earth.

As far back as my internship, I couldn't really find my place in the company, and I knew full well that I wouldn't thrive in a company. And back then, I also already had a desire to be free and to actually be my own boss. When you start a business, it's still reserved to the "elite", to people with money. I already wasn't speaking much to my family in Algeria, and my family in France didn't really understand because to them, I had done a Sciences Po degree, so I had to be something important like a lawyer or work in government or something, whereas they had "struggled",so we could be secure.

They were a bit like, "Wait. I don't get it. You're giving up a great career to start a business. Not only that, but it's in cooking. And not only that, but it's to support others". They were like, "Support yourself first. Grow and then you'll see what you want to do with others". Always be careful not to... exactly. Don't go over the hotplate.

Today, 90% of chefs are male. But when you talk to these top chefs, it was their mum, grandmother or aunt who inspired them. So, we wanted to finally feminise the sector. When you first meet a mum, she finds it very hard to say she's a chef. The aim is really to inspire and introduce new role models that you wouldn't necessarily see because mums, that's also why we set up Meet My Mama, we weren't seeing or hearing them. We like talking about soft power, which is what we do when mums go into companies, speak out and tell their stories. I'm not about victimisation or negativity. We really don't like that. Personally, I don't like that. So, it goes against that, but it's also more about providing the tools and using that soft power.

Thanks to cooking, input from the mums and our individual career paths, we're able to change the prejudice and attitudes. I love challenges and problems. It motivates me to go,"Is there a problem? Solved." I'm not going to spend fifteen years focusing on a problem. I try to practise self-motivation each day and try to motivate everyone, and perhaps I'm always the optimist. For some people, that can be a bit... not annoying but... They don't always understand because, even when there are big issues, I really don't get stressed at work. When you set up a business, you know it's the challenges that will make you grow, and one big challenge has been COVID. We didn't know if tomorrow we could pay everyone or if tomorrow the business could run, so it was actually quite sad. Our mission was still there. Our vision was still there.The teams were there. The mums were there. We had to keep going and not give up. In any case, we weren't allowed to stop. So, as soon as you know you can't stop, you have to find solutions, learn new ways of managing remotely, train mums remotely, try to find the best solutions to make it work. 

When I was in college, in high school, my vision of success was working in skyscrapers, because I watched a lot of US series, so that's what success was to me, to work in the Parisian business district. I finally realised that success wasn't just being in a big company, rather having a job that aligns with your values. When you see a successful person, it should motivate you. You shouldn't go, "They did it. I can't." Instead, you have to think, "If they did it, I can do it too. It's inspiring. How did they do it? I'll ask them for advice."

It's easy to give up when it's not going well or there's an issue, but after, you can soon get your motivation back when you see it works for others. Look at what we've done in five years. It's obviously a big source of motivation.

In the end, we've managed to let about thirty women live their passion for cooking. We've taken these women to places and events they'd have never gone to, like the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre Museum, and organised events for presidents.Recruiting people too. Five years ago, there were three of us. Now, there's 20. It's incredible, and it's made us really proud of how far we've come."