Iraq, Egypt, the UAE, and a lot in between.
Personal
I was born in 1995 in Iraq to Egyptian parents. When I was little we moved to Egypt, where I grew up, went to university and started my career, before relocating to the UAE.
I have always been passionate about fine arts, and I studied Fashion Design alongside English Arts. Later, I discovered my true passion: business and entrepreneurship.
Career
Today I'm Co-founder & CMO of OxtonGrid, a digital transformation partner for SMEs and mid-market businesses across MENA. Alongside it, I take on marketing, paid ads and e-commerce projects through Toptal for clients across MENA and the US.
Before that, as Marketing & Growth Manager at OneCommerce, a UK-based startup, I helped expand into MENA and led its brand Shemsi period underwear across Egypt, the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Morocco and Lebanon. I have also worked at Fotopia, the e-commerce platform Taager.com, the fulfillment startup Flextock and the F&B tech startup bites.
Read my CV →
Travel
Besides Egypt, I have travelled to 16 countries: Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Albania, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and, of course, Iraq.
Travelling has shaped who I am. It exposed me to different cultures and realities, made me more open-minded and accepting of differences, and showed me how wonderful people are and how beautiful our planet is.
Art
Since I was a little kid, I've loved painting, drawing and making all kinds of crafts. Art was how I expressed emotions, explored my imagination and found joy in making something beautiful.
In high school, life got more demanding and I drifted away from it, only drawing the occasional portrait for close friends. Now I feel an undeniable pull back to that creative world.
See my art →
Cooking
Cooking has always been a passion of mine, fuelled by creativity and curiosity. It's more than preparing a meal. It's a way to express myself, experiment with flavours and connect with other cultures. I love blending ingredients from different cuisines to create dishes that are both nourishing and delicious.
Visit Nourish Diary →
Volunteering
Volunteering and working with NGOs has always been close to my heart, starting with Plan International, Terre des Hommes and AIESEC. Each experience showed me the impact dedicated, community-driven work can have.
That passion grew when I led a period poverty initiative at Shemsi, working with NGOs to bring essential products to underserved women.
Tap to change my colour · hold to make me grow
Why mushrooms?
If you've spotted little mushrooms growing all over this site, that's no accident. I'm a bit obsessed with them.
There's something magical about the way mushrooms grow. They don't wait for perfect conditions. They push up through the dark, in damp corners and on fallen wood, in places where almost nothing else can survive. They ask for very little care, and yet they grow into something beautiful and genuinely useful: they feed us, heal us and bring the forest floor back to life.
I relate to that. I don't need perfect conditions to grow either. Give me a difficult environment, a little room and some time, and I'll find a way to turn it into something beautiful and useful.