Zhazira Lepess
Zhazira Lepess
Zhazira Lepess is an entrepreneur and blockchain enthusiast based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She is the CEO and Founder of ZAZA, a decentralized B2B social communication platform.
Early Life and Education
Lepess is originally from Aktobe in Kazakhstan. Her grandmother worked at a bakery and from an early age was inspired by her to start baking herself. She started baking cakes for her family at the age of 12 and by the time she was 15 she was hired to bake cakes for a number of events. At that time, Lepess created her brand, "Homemade Cakes by Zhazira", which became very popular in her home city. She sold her bakery business in 2003 in order to focus on her studies at Aktobe State University. Lepess would graduate college in 2005 with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics.
Career
Lepess explaining ZAZA on Planet Blockchain
In 2006, Lepess started Express Taxi, a professional taxi service in her home city of Aktobe, with her brother, Arsen.
The business started with 7 cars and by the time they sold the business in 2010 they had reached 38 cars in service.
In 2010, Lepess became the Head of Corporate Development at Halyk Bank, the largest commercial and retail bank in Kazakhstan.
She moved to Dubai in 2012 to become the Head of Business Development at F. Kamber Holdings which is a group of companies involved in Trading, Information Technology, Gold & Diamond, Entertainment, Shipping, Cleaning, Security and Defense.
In January 2017, Lepess launched ZAZA, a decentralized Business platform and B2B network powered by blockchain technology.
The purpose of ZAZA is to help companies’ improve business activity and create trustworthy connections.