Posts by Rama Chakaki
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Afreen and Our Aleppo Soaps
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Afreen and Our Aleppo Soaps

In the spring of 2010, I traveled to Afreen, an enchanting community northwest of Aleppo where I learned about soaps, kilims, and my Kurdish ancestors. I saw rolling hills dotted with olive trees and sheep grazing the land and met the generous, warm people of Afreen. I learned about their customs, sustainable lives, and left with memories of the fragrant scents and beautiful natural images.

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Rama Chakakisyria, afreen, afrin, olivetree, soap, syrianculture, syrianheritage, weaving, nature, kurdish, farming Comment
5 things to help you welcome the summer while social distancing
5 things to help you welcome the summer while social distancing

We’d love to hear your opinion of our products and ways we can make them work better for you. Make the best of #Summer2020!

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Rama Chakaki#summer, #la, #losangeles, #southbay, #soap, #syria, #towels, #picnic, #blankets, #loofah, #handwoven, #hama, #hamatowels, #madeinsyria, #syriantowels, #cotton, #sunset, #artisan, #artisanmade, #lavender, #tulip, #Damascus, #Aleppo, #laurelsoap, #laureloil, #OC, #orangecounty, #california, #yoga, #summerdays, #outdoors, #hat, #peach, #amber, #rose, #damascusjasmine, #jasmine, #dryscrubbing, #bodymitt, #skin, #scrub, #rejuvenate, #beachwalk, #caftans, #shower, #coldshower, #fascia
We recommend these 5 Earth day activities
We recommend these 5 Earth day activities

Earth day is upon us! This year marks 50 years of action for our planet! But because of COVID-19, we are forced indoors, giving nature a much needed break from our excess use of fossil fuels and over consumption of non-organic materials. While at home, here are a few things you can do to celebrate earth day in a healthy, sustainable way.

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Rama Chakakiearthday2020, earthday, sustainability, nature, thinkgreen, gogreen, reducereuserecycle, eco, ecofriendly, sustianabilitymatters, gardne, garden, recycle, reusable, nowaste, zerowaste, eco-friendly, ecopackaging, motherearth, mothernature, plasticfree, climatechange, environment, earth, planet, socent, sustainable
Making a soap sampler - a labor of love
Making a soap sampler - a labor of love

Last year we introduced soap samplers, giving our customers a single use soap slice from each fragrance of our Aleppo organic soaps. The samplers were intended for boutique hotels, AirBnBs and environmentally conscious frequent travelers who would enjoy high-end single use soap bars and not feel wasteful using a large bar provided by traditional hotels.

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Rama Chakakisoap, ecofriendly, eco, ecopackaging, soapfavors, weddingfavors, wellbeing, gift, giftsforher, giftfavors, fragrance, orangicskincare, organic, organicsoap, Aleppo, Syria, soapmaking, soapslicing, livingconscious, consciousconsumer, hote, boutiquehotel, spa, singleuse, zerowaste, soapbar, Artisans, love, laboroflove, soapwrapping, packagingdesign, lavender, jasmine, laureloil, laurel, laurelsoap, amber, tulip, rose, aghabani, pouch, mint, culture, loving, beautiful, syrianculture, meditation, reflection, craft, traditionalcraft, humbling, connection, humanconnection, uniting
Packaged with Love for Aleppo
Packaged with Love for Aleppo

We are delighted to have a partnership with a company that understands the social impact of our product, complements it with environmentally friendly packaging and supports small business with the same care and attention they would an enterprise customer. Thank you Fadi and the Lahlouh family!

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Rama Chakakilahlouh, printing, recycle, recycledpaper, ecopackaging, ecofriendly, scaling, expansion, Socialimpact, eco, environment, sustainable, immigration, storiesofimmigration, syria, aleppo, sanfranciso, digitalprinting, recycledlabels, recycledcards, soap, soaps, laurelsopa, laurelsoap, socialimpact, smallbusiness, socialenterprise, familyowned, familybusiness, printingcompany, packagingdesign, packagingideas, design, immigrant, immigrantstories
On Social Impact
On Social Impact

Syrians want the right to earn their income. Social Impact business trumps nonprofit handouts. While there is room for donating to nonprofits who help millions, Syrians are entrepreneurial and Syrian artisans are passionate craftsmen and women who desperately want to keep their traditions alive.

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Rama ChakakiSocialimpact, consumer, Syria, soap, soapbar, aleppo, Damascus, socialenterprise, socent, socialimpact, naturalproducts, nonprofit, entrepreneur, americanconsumer, wartorn, warzone, productdevelopment, communities, conflictzone, losangeles, startup, markets, craftsman, SyrianArtisans, Artisans, traditions
How we met; Our journey in building a social impact business
How we met; Our journey in building a social impact business

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.

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Rama Chakakizoom, zoommeeting, howwemet, GuyRaz, howibuilthis, lawsofattraction, Socialimpact, socialenterprise, Syria, nonprofit, syrianyouth, palestinian, supporttheyouth, cofounders, smallbusiness, collaboration, passiona, syria, yemen, bangladesh, california, syrianculture, heri, SyrianArtisans, entrepreneur
Back to basics - the ABC's of hand washing
Back to basics - the ABC's of hand washing

Growing up in the Middle East, we had no access to hand sanitizer and we relied on the old fashion soap and water.  In countries like Syria and Egypt with dense populations and widespread communicable diseases, people relied on good old fashion hand washing, soap and common sense hygiene principles.

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ImpactRama Chakakihandwashing, covid19, coronavirus, Syria, egypt, diseases, commonsense, soap, organicsoap, naturalsoap, washyourhands, handwash, soapandwater, handsanitizer, 20seconds, lather, clean, shakinghands, reusable, health, Damascus, Aleppo, AleppoSaop, AleppoSoap, laurelsoap, cleaning, cleansing, antimicrobial, water, essentials, soapessentials
Celebrating our one year anniversary - No regrets, only lessons learned.
Celebrating our one year anniversary - No regrets, only lessons learned.

A year later and the three of us are together celebrating the Mint+Laurel anniversary. Me and my confounding ladies of this lifestyle social impact brand have no regrets, only 7 lessons learned that social impact, women led businesses can benefit from:

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CultivateRama ChakakiSocialimpact, socialenterprise, socent, celebrating, lessonslearned, Syria, SyrianArtisans, bathproducts, productdevelopment, femaleled, business, karma, journey, soap, alepposoap, Soap, soapfavors, #femalefounders
The social & environmental impact of Aleppo soap
The social & environmental impact of Aleppo soap

Aleppo soap is organic, good for the skin, good for the environment and has social impact on the community. So as a social and environmental entrepreneur and impact investor, getting into the business of Aleppo soap seemed obvious. What I didn’t realize was how great the impact is for the communities we are serving

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Rama Chakakienvironment, ecofriendly, ecopackaging, boutiquehotel, boutiquespa, Syria, education, luxury, organic, soap, Aleppo, Alepposoap, socent, Socialimpact, plasticfreepackaging, entrepreneur, impact, investor, impactinvestor, jasmine, jasmineflower, olivetree, olivesoap, laurelsoap, business