When Anisa Khan volunteered to be the project manager in the first episode of the latest series of The Apprentice there were more than a few raised eyebrows.
Statistically half the candidates that have been fired by Lord Sugar in week one have been project managers but that didn’t deter the 26-year-old British-Bangladeshi entrepreneur from volunteering.
Despite losing the first task selling tours in Austria she stepped up to be project manager again in week two, leading her team to victory in a task to create a virtual popstar.
“I always knew that no matter what, I wanted to make sure I stood out and showed that I was doing my best because obviously you don’t know how long you will actually be there for,” she told BusinessCloud.
However, her bold approach has come as no surprise to those who know her.
She set up her business – Bombay Pizza – during Covid; lived in Japan for a year to teach English; and became an international Kabaddi player within two years of taking up the sport.
“I guess I’m very stubborn and I go for my goals,” she joked.
Khan is unapologetic when she says her current goal is to build her brand around her business Bombay Pizza.
Her social media followers may have noticed she uses the word ‘slice’ in all her usernames (@SliceofAnisa on Instagram and @SliceofAnisaa on TikTok) and it’s not a coincidence.
“Ultimately, my business is what’s most important to me,” she said. “I’m not on the show because I want to be an influencer and I want brands to send me makeup products.
“I’m very much about my business and when someone searches for me, I want there to be no doubt that I have a pizza business.
“If you look at my TikToks, even when I do something like a viral pickup or some sort of sound, you’ll always find a pizza somewhere. It’ll be in front of me or be in my hand, or I’ll have a menu in my hand. There’s always some sort of pizza-related subject involved.
“I think that’s important for me, because especially in today’s day and age, personal branding is so massive and social media is so massive that, in order to be successful in business in the modern age, personal branding is important.”
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The former analyst at Accenture is currently battling it out with the remaining 12 candidates to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment for her business Bombay Pizza, which is already turning over six figures.
She admitted that she never intended to take on the poisoned chalice of being project manager in week one when historically so many leaders have been fired.
“No one wanted to do it and it got to the point where it was ridiculous no one was stepping up,” she said.
“You can make a mistake at any time and you could get fired, so my perspective was, as long as I’m there, I want to make sure I am doing my best and that I show myself as best as possible.
“I know I am a strong leader so I thought, let me just step up and just do it because the job needs to get done.”
Khan has always been a fast learner. While studying at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) she started to play the contact sport of Kabaddi – and within two years was an international.
She explained: “It’s a bit like indoor tag rugby and my family was against me playing it because they’re like, ‘as a woman, you shouldn’t be playing that kind of sport’.
“I got on to the England team. I take things as far as I can.”
During Covid she founded her pizza business, putting her personal stamp on the industry with her bold Indian-Italian fusion flavours.
In 2022 she moved half-way across the globe and ran her burgeoning pizza business remotely.
“I was an English teacher in Japan,” she said. “Every decision I make is a rational one.”
Khan said the key to success on the TV show is thinking fast.
She explained: “With the timing of the tasks, you have to be quick, you have to be swift.
“The key is adaptability as well. When things go wrong you have to adapt, make quick decisions and move forward. I think that’s a key thing to do while on The Apprentice as well as in the business world.”