An Exclusive Interview with Ghanim Al Sulaiti – A young Qatari, passionate about creating a positive impact in the society by promoting a plant based lifestyle.
(1) How would you like to introduce yourself?
I want to introduce myself as a Normal Human Being. I was born & raised in a beautiful Middle Eastern Country, Doha, Qatar. I am Engineer by profession, but I also have a passion for Healthy Eating & living a Sustainable Lifestyle. I have become a vegan for personal reasons.I always wanted to inspire the community & society to live a better lifestyle by following a vegan Food Diet, animal-free food. So yes, in a nutshell, I define myself as Business Owner, Risk Taker, Health Enthusiastic & Vegan Entrepreneur.
(2) Tell Me Something About Your Family & How they have Supported you in achieving your Dream?
In my family, i have one sister and three brothers. I think a strong family foundation is needed to achieve whatever we want to do in our life.
We all get influence from our parents, siblings, community, and surroundings. But for me to do what I’m doing today, I had to separate myself from my community & surroundings. I had to be in a different mindset to think differently. If I kept living in the same environment, I would never be able to create my ideas and belief system and make my own choices.
And I think what happened is that I wanted to find my path, and I think I found it. I always thought my dream is to be just an engineer. But actually, I ended up being more than an engineer. I still work with the Metro project, but at the same time, I am following my passion for educating the society about vegan food & a healthy lifestyle.
So, yeah, of course, my family is a big supporter. I mean, they weren’t supported in the beginning because they didn’t understand what I was doing. They thought that I have become insane. So all of this was a bit of kind of a weird thing for them. But I think once we opened our first Vegan Restaurant with the name Evergreen in 2016, their mindset changed after seeing many people inside the restaurant.
I started educating people, and my message was all about education and awareness. Like, I’m not here just saying go and buy vegan, but I’m telling you, I’m going to make it available for you. But at the same time, I’m going to educate you. Why is it essential and better for your mind, body & health?
(3) Tell Me About Your Best/Memorable Childhood Memory.
I mean, there’s no such specific best childhood memory of mine. I think everything was good when we were kids flying to Orlando, to Disney, or going to the theme park with my parents. For me, the best childhood memory is the time you are spending with family & friends.Those times are always precious & to be cherished for a lifetime.
(4) Tell Me Something About Your Hobby/Interest.
Well i love to do lot of things.I used to do lot of boxing, and then I stopped. I did many running marathons, and I stopped. But now I’m doing more of a kind of weightlifting and a little bit of yoga, which I just started doing. And I used to love doing Zumba.
(5) Tell Me About your Work Journey in Qatar
I graduated in 2013, so I returned to Qatar. I worked as an engineer in Red Line South Doha Metro Project & I’m still working on that project. In 2016 I started my first business & opened First-Ever Vegan Restaurant in Qatar under the name Evergreen Organics. Three months after that, I opened Botany, which was my skincare line. Eight months after that, I opened my factory called Papercut Factory, which does biodegradable, eco-friendly packaging for Qatar’s restaurants and businesses.
And then, I launched my holding company called Enbath Holdings, a vegan investment company where people can bring their money and create the businesses. And then we opened last year, Green and Go, which is right behind us. We’ve opened three Green & Go branches one in the D.E.C.C metro station ,one in the al Qassar Tower Corniche and one in Workinton Alfardan Centre. And then I launched a new concept in the gate mall; it’s called Mylk-a destination for those who appreciate life’s simple pleasures: ice cream, chocolate, perfect coffee, tasty food, design, music, and great friendly service.
Then I’m opening an F&B concept in the National Museum of Qatar under the name Thalatheen-a place where people can sit, eat & embrace cultures. And of course, the spa, which is coming up under the name botany, will have a Botany lab, which will be like a face workout spot.
It’s a spa for the face means training your face’s muscles & it will open at the gate mall. It’s going to be revolutionary for the facial industry. Yes, I think that will be my eighth kind of company, and they’re all like four years old. So everything is four years and younger, which I believe to be quite interesting because it’s risky to have all these in a short time.
My passion and belief in the concept of veganism, and I think its demand will be higher day by day.
(6) What has inspired you to became a Vegan?
When I was living in the USA, I watched a TV show called Good Morning America. The TV show brought Kimberly Snyder, a celebrity nutritionist, who was promoting her book. The book was about how eating specific foods, fruits, and vegetables in a certain way can make you feel and look different.
I was thinking, How can food make you look different? I mean, food can give you energy but cannot change the way you look, and it cannot change the way you feel. I was too curious to give it a try once. I went to the market, bought the book, and start reading and experimenting. And I think once you start experimenting, you start feeling the results. And once you start getting the results, there is no turn back.
And I think that’s what happened to me. It’s like I kept feeling better and better and better day by day. But it just a different feeling.
It’s a lighter feeling. It’s a feeling of satisfaction. It’s so is energetic. Of course, you feel cleaner from inside & outside. Your skin starts getting clearer; your body starts functioning better; your gym workouts start getting better. I mean, it’s just a full-on great feeling. It took me completely one year to transform myself.
It wasn’t like I just woke up and became vegan. It took me completely one year to transform myself. But what inspired me is the feeling. And then, of course, once you educate yourself about the environmental aspect, things become more comfortable & worthwhile. Once you go vegan, you’re contributing not just for your body but also for the environment, animals & society.
So that gives you a big impact, like a more significant impact rather than just a small impact. You think that by having a diet or eating healthy food, you are making yourself healthy. No, no. You’re making everyone healthy around you.
I’m getting environmental benefits. I was like, that’s a good feeling. Why does no one want to feel that, you know? And I think that’s what kept me going.
(7) A few words about Qatar
Qatar is a beautiful country with many opportunities for entrepreneurs like me & people who are young and have a passion and have energy. I think the government has given us space to be creative. But at the same time, I think this country has a developed plan, vision & mission that made it so clear for us to follow, And I am glad to say that everything that I do is part of that plan. I see the sustainability kind of aspect of every decision that I make with any business in Qatar. And I think Qatar has been a great mentor and an excellent hub for us and me and my businesses.
I wouldn’t find any other better country than Qatar to open up my business. Even though my businesses were not meant to be open up in Qatar because they’re not Qatar-related but still i feel Qatar Community is ready to accept the Vegan Culture. You find more of such concept & Culture always in L.A. or London. However, I don’t think there’s a better place and a better community to change and a better culture to change than Qatar. The governments have given us a lot of things and opportunities. I want to thank them for providing such a vast platform for my businesses.
(8) What message you want to give to our viewers?
Well, my message, as always, is for people to start being aware of their bodies and how they feel. My message is also about how you can be a better person, a better person to the environment, the animals, and the people around you. And I think you can do that by making small steps. And I believe these small steps can be by eating.
A person should not need to be vegan. He should be a little more aware of what goes into your body and what you are consuming daily. And I think that can make a more significant impact. My message is to focus on creating change and creating an effect, and everybody can create change. You don’t need to have resources for you to be able to create change. You can make a change in yourself, and that doesn’t cost anything.
And that change could be said by eating more fruits and vegetables in a day. So if you do that, you can imagine the impact that’s going to have on your health and people, and by implementing certain habits, I think it can make a significant impact.
People always have different dreams and goals. But I think at the same time, everyone should have a common goal, which is sustainability.
Suppose you focus on being sustainable and concentrate on not hurting anyone, environment, animals, people. In that case, I think that’s a perfect combination.
List of Ventures Started by Ghanim Al Sulaiti
We are Qatar’s first and only completely plant-based café. One hundred, quadruple, percent vegan—something we are super proud of.
Instagram :- https://www.instagram.com/evergreen_organics/
Mylk is a destination for those who appreciate life’s simple pleasures: ice cream, chocolate, perfect coffee, tasty food, design, music, and great friendly service.
Instagram :-https://www.instagram.com/m_y_l_k
Green & Go is a new “Grab & Go” Concept to serve the commuter community of Doha with full,affordable & healthy food designed for on the go & office consumption.
Instagram :-https://instagram.com/greenand_go?igshid=1dxgoyg9zgo7y
Botany is a vegan and organic brand founded in Qatar
Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/bo_ta_ny/
The Papercut production line of Qatar outlines and fabricates eco-friendly packaging and products without trading off on the quality. Everything made at our manufacturing plant is tweaked and made with the simple expectation of conservation of the environment.
Location:- Papercut Factory New Industrial Area. Al Rayyan, Qatar
Upcoming Ventures
Enbat Holdings
Thalatheen
The Botany Lab
Ghanim Al-Sulaiti
Passionate about creating a positive impact in the society by promoting a plant based lifestyle
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Facebook :- Ghanim Al-Sulaiti
Instagram :- Ghanim Al-Sulaiti
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