It’s Always Worth A Tri!
Ayman Hakky, TriFactory
With hardships come great opportunities! Being unable to pursue more in his passionate sport, Ayman Hakky _Founder and Managing Director of The TriFactory sports management company specializing in triathlon and endurance sports_ had to find an alternative and this is how the first brick of TriFactory was laid…
How did the idea of The TriFactory come about?
Being a former water polo player, soccer fanatic and sports enthusiast, it was hard for me to stop playing sports when I got my knee injured. Instead, I had to find an alternative. It wasn’t until I was on an assignment with British Petroleum (BP) in 2011 that I got introduced to triathlon (the athletic contest consisting of three different events; typically swimming, cycling, and long-distance running). Following my return to Egypt, I decided to form a group to train together for races so I founded Train For Aim. The group then expanded and we organized the first triathlon in Gouna in the summer of 2014, followed by the Sahl Hasheesh Triathlon in December of the same year. In 2015, I decided to actually establish a company and this is when The TriFactory was established. Today, The TriFactory has a full-fledged management team organizing a number of big events every year.
What are Trifactory projects that you’re most proud of?
The annual Sahl Hasheesh Triathlon (Egypt’s biggest triathlon event), Aswan42 (the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation Marathon), and other events including The Relay Run, The Beach Run Series, the Aquathlon, and the annual ItsWorthATri running campaign. In 2016, The TriFactory trained and led Egypt’s first ever full IRONMAN team to success in IRONMAN Barcelona. This was the culmination of Mission Ironman – a nationwide campaign to train amateur Egyptian triathletes for competition in Europe’s biggest IRONMAN race.
How did you proceed with this sports career getaway of yours?
When I felt it was time to take the training group to a higher level, I came to a realization that in order for this business to grow I must be fully dedicated to it and to recruit a team. This was impossible with a full-time job, and this is when I came to the decision to quit my job at BP and be fully devoted to grow The TriFactory.
Tell us more about the obstacles that met you and how did you survive them?
The hardest part was the transition from ‘Train For Aim’ to ‘The TriFactory’. It’s very risky especially that I and my partner, Mahmoud Abdel Hakim, had to start all over again with a new name after we have been around for three years under a different entity.
Piece of advice to those who wanna have their own getaway career!
Find your passion and go after it.