“It was hard to either speak through a label on a shelf or through our partners and so I wanted to have that direct voice to the consumer and that would only come if I began a finished product company — so that's what I did,” explained Ishaq.
That was in late 2008 and she hasn’t looked back since. Now, as CEO of Modere, Ishaq heads a global enterprise that has exceeded growth projections and is in a position for continued growth.
In fact, Modere was ranked third on The Women Presidents’ Organization’s (WPO) annual list of the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Led Companies in 2020. Ishaq said this year she hopes to claim the top spot.
Last year Ishaq was also named NutraIngredients-USA’s NutraChampion, telling us at the time, “The irony to this lifetime achievement award is that I truly feel like I’ve only just begun on my future goals.”
While she is grateful for the accolades, Ishaq doesn't measure her success by how many awards she receives, telling us her idea of success is paying it forward.
“Success for me is defined by whether or not I'm able to use the power of business and capital and capitalism to do good for the world and one of the things I consider to be good is to be an example and to be someone who can inspire other women and people of color, and women of color to be able to approach their career in such a way that they believe that it's possible to achieve greater heights, to take risks, and know that things do come to fruition and to keep going.”