As our Mintern Commander-In-Chief, Noorah Alfaddagh has been on the team since day one. She is super organized, trustworthy, creative and leads with her heart. She helped set up the M+L Instagram account, and is helping the team grow as a community and as a brand. Noorah was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Saudi Arabia. After graduating high school, she got a STEM scholarship, moved to California, and started studying Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Two years in, she switched her major to Communications. She is graduating next semester from Concordia University, Irvine with a BA in Communications. 

Chemical Engineering to Communication, tell me about that:

“When I started studying Chemical Engineering, I didn’t fall in love with it, but I thought it was normal to not like your major, so I just kept pushing through it. It was really hard as there's not much flexibility in engineering. I was  scared of that, because I really enjoy writing and reading and intellectual studies.”

When Noorah is not coordinating with the cofounders, or organizing M+L meetings, writing blog posts, or wrapping up gift boxes, she is busy with school work, tutoring as a writing coach at her university's writing center, meditating, or doing yoga. “I like that tutoring gives back to the community, and I feel that it helps me in my own writing as well because I could see different styles and common mistakes that I might make myself.”

What is it about M+L that attracted you?

Growing up, I didn't know much about Syria. I was never exposed to Syrian culture. I had never been to Syria. All I was reading about and hearing about was the war. I appreciated what they were trying to do. Mint + Laurel is trying to change the narrative that Syria is not only about the recent war, there's culture that goes back thousands of years that we need to preserve. “I was there for Mint +Laurel’s first pop up event. I was there when the founders were getting started, to growing the brand, and now to actually be selling things! It continues to be an exciting journey.” 

What motivates you to work on M+L everyday? 

The growth! Especially that I was here since early on.  I enjoy working on our marketing strategy. In the beginning it was really trial and error, but now that we've found a rhythm, I find it even more enjoyable. I like working on blog posts too, one of my favorites projects was writing this blog post about Hermosa Beach’s Prized One- Stop Shop, a lively shop that sells our soaps, owned by a Syrian-American woman. .