About Sarika
United Nations official turned Multipassionate Entrepreneur
Yogi | Mama | SSI Official Sake Lecturer | Certified Sake Scholar | Sake Competition Judge | Master Sommelier of Sake | Doburoku Ambassador | Homebrewer | SSA Sake Pioneer | Certified Face Yoga Instructor | Certified Yoga Instructor (RYT-200)
Ciao! I’m Sarika
Lovely to meet you!
I'm a United Nations Official turned entrepreneur, on a mission to make positive social change through brightening people’s faces and spirits by sharing the beauty of Japanese Sake and Face Yoga. (And, I love to eat and drink!)
After living and working in 13 countries in 4 continents - Asia, Africa, Europe and North America - and starting a family, I founded my company, focusing on what makes me most HAPPY.
That’s sharing my love of Japanese Sake, while mindfully drinking Sake(!) with good people, and uplifting faces and emotions through Face Yoga. It’s been an honor to welcome over 10,000 students enrolled in my online courses globally🙏.
Did you know that our delicious 2000-year-old Japanese Sake is in a serious decline right now? We want to do something about that!
That’s why my hidden mission is to support our precious 2000-year-old craft, especially focusing on Women in Sake, by sharing Sake love with the world, through Sake Education, consultancies, and my upcoming Sake Balm! Even better when we pair it with Face Yoga!
Next, I would love to share theses joys with YOU to brighten our faces and spirit together!
Love! Sarika
Before Entrepreneurship!
It’s like my ‘past’ life at this point! That’s me when I was working with the United Nations (those pictures are work trips to India and Mexico).
I didn’t even know what entrepreneurship was at that time!
But now, very excited to be on this new entrepreneurship journey, but still with the same mission of gender equality and sustainability to bring positive social change.
This time, through Japanese Sake and Face Yoga to brighten people’s faces and spirits!
Sarika Bio Official version! |
Sarika Bio Official version! |
Sarika is a UN official turned Entrepreneur | Founder of Sarika International Limited, on a mission to share the beauty of Sake, in support of the declining 2000-year-old craft, focusing on sustainability and women in Sake. (SDG 5, 9,12).
She is appointed as Doburoku Ambassador in Japan, and has undertaken various Sake & Shochu education & collaborations including with the MIT Japan Program, Polish Vodka Museum, Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association, and Harvard Business School's Asian American Business Association.
She teaches online and offline, with over 10,000 students enrolled on her Udemy courses. Her Sake Certification Course in Japanese is hosted by the SSI, Japanese Sake education authority in Tokyo. She has been interviewed by Sake Times, the largest Sake Media, as well as various podcasts around the world.
Sarika was selected to be in the first cohort of the European Union’s first Women Entrepreneurs Fellowship 2022, and the London School of Economics Alumni Entrepreneurs Program in Lisbon.
Prior to entrepreneurship, she worked with the United Nations in Asia and Africa on gender equality and sustainable urban development for a decade (Vietnam, Kenya, Thailand), after completing her Master of Science at the London School of Economics, UK, and joining the United Nations through its Recruitment Exam.
She has travelled to over 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe; Lived in 13 countries in 4 continents. She is a mother of two, and married to an Irishman. She loves to eat and drink. She also loves and teaches Face Yoga too!
Gallery
Thank you so much to the amazing people for the precious opportunity to share my love for Sake, Face Yoga, and the planet!
Sake | Shochu Certifications
日本酒学講師 (No.000456) Official Lecturer | Certified Master Sake Sommelier, Sake Service Institute, Japan
Official Lecturer, Food & Beverage Specialists Organization (FBO), Tokyo, Japan
Appointed as Doburoku Ambassador (Official Website of Doburoku)
Judge, Féminalise World Wine Competition, Paris, 2023, 2022
Judge, Japan’s Women Sake Award 2023
2019 Graduate, Sake & Shochu Academy, Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association (JSS)
Certified Sake Scholar
Sake Pioneer, Sake Sommelier Association
国際利酒師 (No.116451) Certified International Sake Sommelier Kikisake-Shi (English)
日本酒利酒師 (No.031523) Certified Sake Sommelier Kikisake-Shi (Japanese)
Certified Sake Professional, Sake Education Council
日本酒品質鑑定士 Certified Sake Quality Evaluation Expert
焼酎利酒師 (No.030172) Certified Shochu Sommelier
焼酎品質鑑定士 Certified Shochu Quality Evaluation Expert
Certified in Wine Level 1, Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET)
