Up Close and Personal with some of our LGA Teams

We wanted to share more about the exceptional companies who are participating in our LGA Program, so we decided to send them a series of short questions to get their two cents about some aspects of life.

It’s time to get up close and personal with our teams! If you’re not familiar with them, click here to learn more about them! Plus, they’re hiring!


Agonist

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear or concern is the well-being of my close family.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Insistency and diligence. 

What is your motto?
We must become the change we wish to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi.

Which living person do you most admire? Tell us about him/her.
I mostly admire Pope Francis because he reflected what humanity should be: caring about people in need, with a sense of modesty.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
Yes, because my vision was always about achieving my own goals on a personal level and with my work team… sharing my experiences with others and helping people in need, which I am working on nowadays.


Barrïa

What is your greatest fear?
To lose others’ trust.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Authenticity.

What is your motto?
حيث المحبة نبض الحياة لا ينضب
With Love, the pulse of life is inexhaustible.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
Life’s journey surpasses our imagination!

What inspired you to start your business?
I read Mohammad Younis’ story on how he started Grameen to serve his community in a tangible way based on their real needs. I wanted to focus on the rural areas in my country to elaborate a business model that fits them in a sustainable way.

What is the thing you love the most about running a business?
Problem solving.

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you?
I love the design thinking process with its bottom-up strategy.

What does a great day at work look like?
When you achieve more than you planned.


Bíldìts

What is your greatest fear?
To hurt someone unintentionally. 

What is your most marked characteristic?
Energy and boldness.

What is your motto?
Be honest with yourself.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
No.

What inspired you to start your business?
Opening a toy company was a childhood dream of mine.

What is the thing you love the most about running a business?
Learning new things daily.

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you?
Mental health is important. Mental illness is a real illness. 

What does a great day at work look like?
Before the Christmas season. It’s when all our friends fill our workshop and spend a weekend over, helping us with the packaging of the kits.

Describe your business in one word.
Playful creativity.


eFlow

What is your greatest fear? 
My biggest fear is not having the ability to financially support my brothers and mom back in the USA, and that one day I may lose one of them or all of them. 

What is your most marked characteristic?
I am very positive and enthusiastic in pretty much everything I do.

What is your motto?
Wake up with an attitude of gratitude each day and work your butt off! 

Which living person do you most admire? Tell us about him/her.
My Mom – She taught me how to see the true beauty of this world and inspired me to always treat others kindly and with respect. She is also a marathon runner and yogi, and has inspired me to take better care of my body.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
No, because 3 years ago, I had to leave my life in the USA to be with my father here in Lebanon because he got brain cancer. I never imagined that I would be living and working here in Beirut, but things happen for a reason, and I am grateful and blessed to part of this startup and making a greater impact in this world.

What inspired you to start your business?
We saw a significant gap in the way organizations and schools were communicating vital education and awareness content to their beneficiaries and learners and wanted to improve their experience. We wanted to make an impact during COVID-19 and try to help as many learners and underserved communities as we can. 

What is the thing you love the most about running a business?
It’s the freedom we have to do what we want without having a big corporation telling us what to do and what not to do.  We can decide our future, and nobody else dictates which direction we will go except ourselves. 

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you?
That no deal is closed or finished until we receive the purchase order and the contract has been signed on both sides. I learned this after we had a client who we thought for sure was going to start with us but then backed out in the last minute.  “Don’t celebrate the win, unless it’s a win for sure.”

What does a great day at work look like?
A morning full of new client discovery calls which help us identify their challenges and sharing with them how amazing our platform is and how we can make a difference in their lives. The afternoon would be receiving a number of emails and messages from happy clients, and teachers who are having tremendous success communicating vital learning content to their beneficiaries and learners. I also like when I get phone calls and emails of clients who say how professional and responsive we are. 

Describe your business in one word.
Innovative.


L’Artisan Du Liban

What is your greatest fear? 
To be alone and useless.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Empathy.

What is your motto? 
If we can’t enjoy small things in life, we can’t enjoy anything else. Always treat others as you would like to be treated.

Which living person do you most admire? Tell us about him/her.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister. She is competent, compassionate, human, and strong. She embedded gender equality at its best.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
Yes, except for my relationship status.

What inspired you to start your business?
I haven’t started it. I joined in after 10 years of its start and have been here for the last 32 years. The social cause and the challenge of a sustainable socioeconomic initiative had attracted me and still do so today. 

What is the thing you love the most about running a business?
Meeting the expectations of the team, the beneficiaries and the clients.

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you?
It’s all about the people you work with; their dedication, their loyalty, their commitment. During a crisis, this is priceless!

What does a great day at work look like?
Interacting with craftsmen, women and clients: securing orders for the former and satisfying the latter.

Describe your business in one word.
Meaningful.


Mezzmix

What is your greatest fear? 
Fear of losing control.

What is your most marked characteristic? 
Loud. Did I say discreet? 

What is your motto? 
Eat well and sleep better.

Which living person do you most admire? Tell us about him/her. 
The Lebanese Entrepreneur (on a funnier note: Naim Halawe & Adel Karam).

Are you where you imagined you would be in life? 
At all. I thought I would, by today, have a less stressful life, and a team working behind me on any given venture.

What inspired you to start your business? 
The “enough” feeling after living in Iraq for 6 years.

What is the thing you love the most about running a business? 
Controlling. The non-stop movement. People mentioning the brand without knowing who is behind it.

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you? 
Contingency, contingency, contingency. In sales we trust. Data, data, data. 

What does a great day at work look like? 
Brilliant new ideas, discovering new concepts, learning.

Describe your business in one word. 
With Garlic We Conquer!


Potion Kitchen

What is your greatest fear?
The fear of not achieving my goals. 

What is your most marked characteristic?
Optimism and creativity.

What is your motto?
Where there is a dream, there is life.

Which living person do you most admire? Tell us about him/her.
No one specifically. I admire every free-spirited human that is on the quest to fight oppression, inequality, ignorance, stereotypes and to make the world a better place to live in.

Are you where you imagined you would be in life?
I am on my way.

What inspired you to start your business?
The desire of making a cosmetics brand was my childhood dream.

What is the thing you love the most about running a business?
The freedom to bring my ideas to life.

What’s one thing you learned recently that really stuck with you?
I learned to say no to things that don’t serve my vision for growth. 

What does a great day at work look like?
Productivity, empty inbox, good music, good coffee, new formulas, product development, packaging design and no problems in logistics. 

Describe your business in one word.
Passion. 


We should always remember that, behind all of your favorite businesses and brands, there are human beings that have dreams, struggles, highs and lows, strengths and a whole life we don’t know about!

We’d love it if you could check our LGA teams out and support them in any way you can: follow, like, share, refer, buy, and contribute to our local makers and businesses!

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