FABI JABER:27APR 25/6/09 09:08 Page 134
Fadi’s love for cakes continued progreshyphenminus
sing alongside his training in the corporate
world: baking on the weekends and trying
out his own creations on his neighbors in the
compound as a way to keep busy. For Christhyphenminus
mas his friends bought him a KitchenAid
mixer, providing him with the tools with
which he immersed his indulgence.
But it wasn’t until he took a trip to New
York City that his dream began formulating
into a viable reality. A friend he describes as
a ‘Santa Claus – a real gift giver,’ took him to
Magnolia’s, one of NY’s most delicious cuphyphenminus
cake creators, and introduced him to a world
of fun and creative freedom. “I fell in love
with the concept of a very vintage style bahyphenminus
kery, mom and pop style; nothing fancy like
the stuff that you’re used to seeing in a deshyphenminus
sert shop,” he says.
He instantly enrolled in culinary skills in
New York, eager to equally continue in the
corporate world, knowing the importance
this would make in later years in discerning
him as a successful business man rather than
just a lover of desserts. “You do the baking
and pastry art so it specializes on desserts
whilst also doing the program that teaches
you the business side of things, the managehyphenminus
ment program,” he says with confidence. “I
knew I needed both if I was planning to open
my own bakery and that it wouldn’t suffice successful innovation is based on true conhyphenminus
just to know how to bake but that I’d also sumer insights.
have to learn the financial and the business “I realized that, when it came to deshyphenminus
side to running anything in the food serts, people weren’t really spoiled for
industry potentially.” choice in Jordan, or in the Middle East in gehyphenminus
His understanding of the importance of neral, and that when mothers got together or
business was, and still remains, absolutely had their friends over, if they came over and
key to his success. “I learned a tremendous there was a cake that was bought from the
amount at Unilever. I learned a lot of imporhyphenminus neighborhood bakery, it always had a contrihyphenminus
tant things in marketing and I still apply ved look. Ladies in this part of the world
those things in my job, just like the typical pride themselves on how they entertain and
marketing activities that I do. In fact, the how they host, and hospitality is such a huge
very foundation that my bakery sits on is inhyphenminus aspect within our culture. So when all these
spired for something that was constantly prehyphenminus ladies would leave and would ask, ’So what
ached to us at Unilever, which is that every did you eat at suchhyphenminusandhyphenminussuch a person’s?’
134 100 Thousand Club
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