How we met; Our journey in building a social impact business

Mint + Laurel cofounders; Rama Chakaki, Kinda Hibrawi, Mai Barazi

Listening to Guy Raz’s “How I built this”, I am always intrigued by how co-founders meet. My Mint+Laurel cofounders came together with a gentle nudge from the universe and the laws of attraction. 

Until 2013, I had lived in Dubai and worked largely with Palestinian nonprofits supporting youth. On a visit to the US, my brother Omar Offendum, suggested I join him at a benefit event for Syrian children. There I met Kinda Hibrawi. I had heard of her and seen her beautiful calligraphy and powerful imagery portraying Syrian youth, beauty, and resilience. In person, her lovely Aleppo Arabic accent, artistic style and passion for supporting youth impacted by conflict drew me. We had a three hour conversation planning an entrepreneurship mission to support Syrian youth in Turkey. While that collaboration did not materialize, years later, we came together in a hotel lobby in Southern California. We talked about our desire to share the Syrian culture and heritage with the US market. With her design background and my social impact business we made a good team. Kinda mentioned having discussed this with Mai and wanted it to be a 3 way partnership. 

Co-Founders on a photoshoot with model Carson in Manhattan Beach, CA

Mai had spent years working with refugees in Bangladesh, Yemen and Syria. Her passion was youth and women. She volunteers daily, contributes financially and holds more karma credits than anyone I know! She had reached out to me to join her nonprofit programs supporting Syrian youth. I appreciated her positive attitude, diligence in reaching her goals, and ability to problem solve and get things done.

Not long after that, the three of us met for the first time, on ZOOM to discuss our new business. The rest is history! Checkout our collective effort and great products on Mint+Laurel.