For Waafiqa Osman, entrepreneurship has never been just about owning a business. It’s about creating opportunities, building experiences, inspiring others, and proving that with faith, courage and consistency, a woman can build something extraordinary, even when life doesn’t make the journey easy.

She is a dynamic entrepreneur, creative curator, mother and self-made hustler. For the past decade she has turned ideas into businesses and challenges into opportunities, and one quality has shaped the whole journey: resilience.

Motherhood and the Hustle

As a single mother, Waafiqa has spent the last ten years balancing motherhood with the demands of entrepreneurship.

Her children have been her greatest motivation. They are a constant reminder of why she keeps dreaming bigger, working harder and refusing to settle for ordinary.

Ice_scrolls: More Than Dessert

At the heart of her journey is Ice_scrolls, the handcrafted rolled ice cream brand she founded in 2017.

It started as an innovative dessert concept and grew into an experiential brand that brings people together. Customers watch their ice cream being made on a freezing-cold plate, rolled fresh and served with an ever-changing selection of decadent, imaginative flavours.

For Waafiqa, Ice_scrolls has always been about creating a moment: watching people stop, engage, smile and become part of the experience. It reflects her own philosophy:

Think differently, create boldly and make people remember you.

Design n Menu: Reinvention in a Crisis

During the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, while many businesses were shutting their doors, Waafiqa started a new one.

She founded Design n Menu, which grew out of an incredibly challenging time into another outlet for her creativity, covering:

• Catering
• Food experiences
• Events
• Connecting people and businesses

She didn’t let hard circumstances define her. She used them as a catalyst to reinvent herself.

Curator of Experiences

Today Waafiqa continues to curate events, build brands, create experiences and explore new opportunities. Her work has grown from food and catering into events, pop-ups, collaborations and entrepreneurial spaces where creativity and community meet.

A Woman Who Lifts Other Women

Perhaps her most meaningful role is as a woman who wants other women to believe in themselves.

For Waafiqa, women’s empowerment isn’t just something to talk about. She lives it. She believes women should never be afraid to:

• Start again
• Start small
• Change direction
• Pursue something that sets their soul on fire

No Overnight Success

Her story isn’t one of overnight success. It’s a story of late nights, sacrifice, motherhood, uncertainty, reinvention, faith and showing up again and again.

Ten years into her entrepreneurial hustle, Waafiqa Osman is

Still building.
Still dreaming.
Still creating.
Still empowering.

Most of all, she’s still proving that a woman can carry an entire vision in her heart and have the courage to make it real.

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Waafiqa Osman will be honoured at the Influential Awards 2026 – Cape Town Edition, Sunday 29 November 2026, Joseph Stone Auditorium, Athlone.