by Mariko Lamb - January 11, 2012
After earning her MBA, Harvard Business School graduate Bibi Kasrai decided she wanted a change of pace. She was working as an executive for a nonprofit organization, but her real passion lied in teaching others how to cook healthy and delicious meals. So Kasrai did what many only dream of: she made use of her business skills, and embarked on starting her very own cooking school.
Source: http://www.sdnews.com/view/full_story/17079965/article-Harvard-Cookin%E2%80%99-Girl-offers-serving-of-nutritional-wisdom?instance=business
A local woman is combining her passion for baking and cooking with her mission to teach kids to eat healthy.
Source: NBC San Diego
by Sarah Auerbach
After years in high-tech marketing and non-profit fundraising, Bibi Kasrai (MBA ’96) found a way to blend her talent for business with her passion for cooking. She left the corporate world to start Harvard Cookie Girl, an afterschool enrichment program that teaches kids in kindergarten through fifth grade how to make homemade baked goods. In the process, Kasrai helps kids learn math and measurement, reading and following recipes, the science of ingredients, the importance of hygiene, and the value of nutrition. As the La Jolla Light noted (November 11, 2010), Kasrai’s program is now in more than 30 schools and community centers in San Diego County.
Most recently, Kasrai has partnered with SieMatic of Germany, Subzero, Thermador, and Bosch to build her newest venture, The Harvard Cookie Girl Studio in San Diego. The three-kitchen studio can accommodate both adults and kids. Kasrai’s classes include Corporate Team Building, Girl’s Night Out, and Pre-College Cooking Lessons. Kasrai, who also blogs as the Harvard Cookine Girl, also plans a Chef Series, with top chefs demonstrating their culinary skills, and a supper club. Down the road, she dreams of expanding to other cities nationwide.
In a recent phone interview, Kasrai talked about her career change and how she named her company.
“After HBS you have a sense that the world is yours, and the big salaries are yours now. I was caught in that rat race, and I was making really, really good money. People thought I was possessed when I said I wanted to do this. It’s not a big money-making venture yet. For the first few months [after starting Cookie Girl], reading Class Notes in the Bulletin was depressing. I thought, ‘What a loser I am!’ And then I realized, ‘Who says they’re happier than I am?’ And I really am very happy doing what I’m doing.
“When I delivered my first batch of my healthy cookies to a customer’s door, my ring was answered by a captain of the industry who knew me in my last incarnation as the Harvard girl who went into charity. When he saw me delivering cookies to his wife, he called out ‘Honey, the Harvard cookie girl is here!’ I liked the joke and named my company that.”
Source: http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/alumni-news/story-kasrai.html
As a young girl growing up in Iran, Bibi Kasrai was banned from the kitchen as her mom and dad encouraged their intellectual dynamo to strive for an MBA degree rather than an MRS. degree with a minor in domestic goddess.
This week’s featured merchant is the Harvard Cookie Girl, the brand new studio that has opened at the top of Girard Avenue in La Jolla.
“Enriching young minds through healthy eating, one small tummy at a time,” is the mission statement of Bibi Kasrai, CEO and founder of The Harvard Cookie Girl, LLC. The San-Diego-based company was conceived in 2009 after Kasrai decided to leave her corporate executive position to combine her passion for cooking and baking with teaching children to prepare and consume healthier snacks. Kasrai will celebrate the grand opening of her cooking studio, featuring three SieMatic kitchens, at 7441 Girard Avenue in La Jolla, California during the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival on October 9th and 10th.
Bibi Kasrai’s Harvard Cookie Girl is fast becoming a household name. If you haven’t heard the story of how this Harvard MBA and “gourmet chef who has a sweet tooth” left her career as a nonprofit executive to pursue her passion for food—healthy food, that is; sweet, healthy cookies, to be precise; no, there’s more, teaching kids how to make and enjoy healthy food—this is your chance to catch up. Have dessert first. Read our Q&A with Bibi here.
30 August 2010
Iranian-American woman goes from Harvard degree to Harvard Cookie Girl
San Diego, CA – Iranian American Bibi Kasrai's creative ways to battle obesity and promote respect for one's body are making waves in this coastal Southern California city. Her company, Harvard Cookie Girl, LLC (HCG), has not only been sought out by parents, kids and schools but by Nickelodeon as well. A former corporate executive, she relinquished her position and years of experience in favor of pursuing her passion for the benefit of her community.