She was inspired by her immigrant parents and transforming baby food
Shazi Visram saw a need for healthy baby food products and set out to change it.
By Layne Winn for ABC News
From creating baby food recipes in her kitchen at home to starting the No. 1 organic baby food company in the country, Shazi Visram does not seem to give up when she sets her mind on something.
Visram started Happy Family Organics in 2003 after having a conversation with one of her friends, who had recently given birth to twin babies at the time, and was having trouble finding healthy baby food options.
“I just fell in love with the category of doing something in baby food because for me that was the place to really make a difference is the start of life,” Visram told ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis on an episode of “No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis.”
Growing up with entrepreneurial parents, Visram watched them build a motel business from the ground up. Both of her parents are immigrants to the U.S. — her father hailing from Tanzania and her mother from Pakistan.
They moved to the United States when Visram was a little girl and purchased a motel in Fultondale, Alabama, with no knowledge of the hospitality business but a desire to succeed and create a stable life for their family.
“They were successful, and I watched them grow from one to two to three to five to other businesses, and I learned a lot along the way,” Visram said. “I would say I’ve got like a pre-MBA.”
Shazi recently launched Healthynest, a company that fosters healthy, neurological development in babies, a venture that she says is particularly important now.