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AN AMBITIOUS and kind-hearted 11-year-old boy has launched his own line of refreshing fruity drinks to kickstart his dreams of owning a business and spent the weekend quenching people’s thirst with his marvel-lous ‘potion’ in a bid to give back to the community.
Essa Shiraz, a student of the AbdulRahman Kanoo International School, distributed iftar food parcels to the needy in Manama along with his family on Friday, and then on Saturday, he put those stuck in traffic under his spell by offering his beverages - called Isa’s Potions - to help them to break their fast.
The Bahraini-British boy living in Hamala firmly believes Ramadan is all about giving and being kind to everyone around.
“My parents always do a lot of charity work and include me and my sister Hawaa Noor,” he told GulfWeekly.
“We often distribute food parcels on a weekly basis and now that I have created Isa’s Potions, I’d like to give this to people in need.
“I hope to become a well-established entrepreneur who gives back to people. I’ve always told my parents that it’s my dream to be successful and to help those in need. My parents are my role models and I also want to give them the world they are giving us.”
Essa took inspiration to start his own business from his mum Neelam Ali, who runs her own English Language programme in North Sehla Youth Centre, and father Shiraz Mahmood who works for the Interior Ministry…and his eight-year-old little sister joined his business bandwagon too.
“I told my folks that I want to start a business and they said if I work for it, they would invest and support me,” said the bright boy. “I didn’t know what to do and kept asking my parents, who told me to do my research, to think about what I want to start with and make a business plan.
“My sister joined me and we started researching together and created a draft for Isa Potions. I presented it to my parents and they were very proud.”
After the plan was completed, the children came up with the ingredients needed to make the drinks, including mango, pomegranate, berries and more.
“We had many trials and selected the best five,” explained Essa.
“I’m a die-hard Marvel fan and so I told my parents I’d like to change the theme and started working on a menu related to Marvel characters. My sister helps me with making the drinks, labelling the bottles and distributing them. We even sit together to sketch ideas.”
It wasn’t long before Essa and his sister showcased their collection of mojitos at a three-day exhibition.
“People were amazed by his work,” said his mum.
“He encourages children to divert their attention to things that will help improve their future. He also received such great feedback from people and we believe we should use his platform to empower youth and parents to support their children.
“When he came to us seeking help to start a business, we promised to invest in it to instil entrepreneurship skills in him.
“He showed his business plan and we were overwhelmed as he had worked on the statistics himself and took it further by helping his plan come to life.
“We are proud of Essa and believe he has a bright future ahead of him.”
For details, follow @isa_potions on Instagram.
