Randa Farah: Secrets I Have Discovered As A Woman Entrepreneur

Lebtivity is a calendar for events in Lebanon. It is simple yet rich in content, it is humble yet imposes a presence. It is popular yet elegant and charismatic. Lebtivity resembles Lebanon, the Lebanon we dream of.

Showing the beauty of Lebanon and its richness in cultural activities has always been sort of a mission for me. Talking about Lebanon to the people around me, to foreigners, to my friends who decided to leave the country…

You may have your Lebanon… but I also have mine.

On another hand, being an entrepreneur is not easy, being a dreamer is. Being a woman in business is challenging, being all of them is tough! However, it is possible and it definitely makes you grow on all levels.

 

During my journey as a woman-dreamer-entrepreneur, I had many successes and failures. Yet what I mostly gained was wisdom and this transforms your personality and everyone around you.

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I had the chance to be selected as “Femme Francophone Entrepreneure in 2014”, and was also selected to represent Lebanon in USA with the US government in the International Visitors Leadership Program among 25 women from different nationalities (so being francophone was never an obstacle, on the contrary! it was a double opportunity).

During this journey, I discovered some interesting things, that never came to my mind before being a “woman-entrepreneur”

In short here are my “feminine discoveries”, that I didn’t only get to realize objectively, but I actually had to experience in many different ways:

1- Differences are our assets

We tend to stick around people who resemble us, however, meeting people from all over the world with so many differences, makes you grow, just by talking to them.

I never thought I would have a friend from Zimbabwe! Well now I do….

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2- Women support

I never ever thought about this before…. but women have a sensibility and empathy to help others, especially other women, to get to their dreams. No competition, no jealousy, remember: the more you help, the more you win too.

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3- Even if different, we are all the same….

On the last evening in the USA, I was dancing with 7 other friends on a rooftop in Manhattan with a view of the empire state building. We were 7 girls from Spain, Slovakia, Jordan, Italy, Djibouti, Malaysia and Lebanon.

Though the context was totally unusual, everything was familiar, the way people party, drink, laugh, share, the same habits, the same common worries, challenges…

It’s true we are all different, yet… we are also all the same…

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4- Work Life Balance

One of my favorite members during the trip was a Spanish lady, who got her family to join her in USA at the end of the trip. Meeting her adorable daughter and her supportive husband made me realize 2 things:

First that yes you can have it all: family, love, work, success… don’t be afraid to have it all, just find the balance…

And second: that the choice of a partner is crucial for a woman entrepreneurs. Finding a supportive man with empathy is very important.

She even told me that she transferred her maternity leave to her husband! Something quasi impossible in Lebanon….

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5- The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence….

We always think that abroad means better, that away means perfect… Well nothing is perfect, you will see things that will disappoint you, you will find ways that could have been better, you will find things that are missing, you will meet people that won’t be fair, you will understand…. that here, or there, the grass is green but not greener elsewhere…

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Last but not least, believe in your dreams, challenge yourself, be a real woman, feminine and strong…. soft and tough… and just go for it!

Randa Farah – Lebtivity.com co-founder

Winner of Femme Francophone Entrepreneur 2014

 

Apply the Femme Francophone Entrepreneure 2016 here.

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