Pooja Bavishi Age, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Name Earned	Queen of Ice and Spice
Profession(s)	• Entrepreneur • Author
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 6" (168 cm)
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Work Experience	• Malai, New York (2015 - Present) • Food Network (2013) • Pooja Bavishi Collections, Washington D.C.–Baltimore Area (2010-2014) • Ashoka (2010) • Equal Rights Center, Washington, D.C. (2006-2008) • Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Gujarat (2004) • Carolina STRIDES, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (2003-2005)
Recognition(s)	2018: Named a Tory Burch Fellow 2020: Recognised as one of Inc. magazine's Female Founders 100 (October)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	2 March 1984 (Friday)
Age (as of 2025)	42 Years
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Nationality	American
Hometown	Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
College/University	• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA • The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England • New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, New York, United States
Food Habit	Vegetarian
Educational Qualification(s)	• Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Public Policy Analysis and Cultural Studies from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Master of Science (MSc) from LSE • Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the NYU Stern School of Business
Social Media	• Instagram • Facebook • LinkedIn • Official Website
Family
Parents	Father- Kumar Bavishi (textile business owner) Mother- Chhaya Bavishi (textile business owner)
Siblings	Brother- None Sister- Ami Bavishi
Grandparents	Grandmother (Deceased)
Favourites
Ice Cream	Orange Fennel from 'Malai'
Restaurant	'Shuka' in New York

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pooja Bavishi

• Pooja Bavishi grew up in North Carolina.

• She comes from a Gujarati Jain family. Her parents immigrated from Gujarat to North Carolina.

• She grew up watching her parents run textile business, which helped her understand both the struggles and rewards of entrepreneurship from a young age.

• As a child, Pooja enjoyed simple family activities during her trips to India, like making malai from boiled milk, drying fruits on rooftops, and rolling rotis together with her family.
  

  Pooja Bavishi rolling rotis as a kid

• Pooja has loved desserts, especially ice cream, since childhood, and she still remembers enjoying treats like sopapillas and fried ice cream at Chi-Chi’s.
  

  Pooja Bavishi having a dessert

• Bavishi found food to be the strongest ways she connected with her culture as a first-generation Indian-American during her childhood.

• Pooja worked as an executive assistant at Carolina STRIDES in Chapel Hill from 2003 to 2004. She worked as an executive director there from 2004 to 2005.

• Pooja interned at Self-Help Credit Union in 2004. That same year, she worked as a Burch Fellow at Self-Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

• In 2006, Pooja joined Equal Rights Center in Washington, D.C. as a project assistant. In 2007, she began working as a project coordinator and served in this position until 2008.

• In 2010, she briefly worked as operations and culture manager at Ashoka.

• Pooja founded and led ‘Pooja Bavishi Collections’ as CEO in the Washington DC-Baltimore area from 2010 to 2014.

• In 2013, she spent four months working in the new business development team at Food Network.

• In 2015, Pooja started an ice cream company named ‘Malai.’ The idea came after she served homemade ginger-star anise ice cream to friends at a dinner part, and they loved the unusual flavour combination.

• Her brand Malai became known for using Indian flavours like cardamom, rose, nutmeg, and saffon in ice cream. She wanted to make these familiar flavours more popular in the American market.
  

  Pooja Bavishi preparing ice cream at Malai

• She began selling Malai ice creams just three weeks after graduating from the NYU Stern School of Business. Initially, she made ice cream in her Manhattan apartment and sold it at weekend pop-ups and markets.
  

  Pooja Baishi during the early days of establishing Malai

• Pooja decided to keep all Malai products eggless because her parents are Gujarati and Jain, and many people in their community follow a vegetarian diet and do not eat eggs.

• Pooja later received major attention after a food writer from The New York Times, who was also her customer, praised her work.

• In 2017, Pooja received a small investment from friends and family and used it to open pop-ups and temporary food stalls across New York. At that time, her main focus was expanding the business, not earning profits.

• In March 2020, Pooja competed in Food Network’s Chopped Sweets competition and won.
  

  Pooja Bavishi, after being announced the winner of Food Network’s Chopped Sweets competition

• Over time, Malai expanded into a wholesale and e-commerce business with physical stores in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

• In 2025, the company earned around $2.8 million in annual sales. The business was profitable in both 2024 and 2025.

• Her family’s textile business also creates merchandise for the brand Malai.
  

  Merchandise created for Malai

• Her all-time favourite flavour at Malai is Orange Fennel, which was also one of the first flavours she created. She especially enjoys it with chocolate cardamom fudge on top.

• One of Pooja’s favourite restaurants is Shuka by Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja. She especially enjoys dishes like sweet potato skordalia, malawach, and olive oil cake there.

• On 8 April 2025, Pooja’s first cookbook ‘Malai: Frozen Desserts Inspired by South Asian Flavors’ was published.
  

  Pooja Bavishi at the launch of her cookbook ‘Malai: Frozen Desserts Inspired by South Asian Flavors’

• Pooja consumes alcohol occasionally.