Today we’d like to introduce you to Kinda Hibrawi.
Hi Kinda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We started as all great things do, with an idea, a conversation and a cup of coffee! We wanted to create meaningful products with a social mission, My background as an artist was aligned with my cofounder, Rama Chakaki, who came from a tech entrepreneur background. I have also worked in the non-profit sector and my previous job was at a large medical device company, both of which prepared me to launch Mint + Laurel. Both Rama and myself are from Syrian origin and we now call Southern California home, it was important to us that we represent both cultures in our business. We also both grew up with all the products on our website made in Syria, I wanted to re-design them to fit into our modern lifestyle while still preserving age-old techniques. The olive oil and laurel soap are especially something that takes me back to being at my grandmother’s home in Aleppo, Syria, and I couldn’t find any soaps to use in my daily showers that smelled “fresh and clean” as well as help my sensitive, eczema prone skin.
Since switching to these body bars soaps, my skin has never felt or looked better. I even use the bar soap to shave my legs with, and since it’s mainly made up of three kinds of oils, I don’t need lotion after my shower. The second part of our mission, is helping individuals make an honest living after ten years of war. Many of whom are extremely talented artisans who are key to preserving our Syrian heritage. We also felt it was important that we not refer to our makers as “refugees” but instead as our artisan partners. Many of whom do not want to be defined by their displacement, but rather by their skills and craftsmanship. The last part of our mission is environmental impact, everything we make is either reusable or made from recycled materials. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come today with a growing portfolio of products, artisan partners and team members.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As an entrepreneur, you expect the ups and downs – it’s part of what you sign up for, and we knew we had our work cut out for us by working with a U.S. sanctioned country like Syria. But none of us predicted the curveball of 2020 with the pandemic. We had officially launched our e-commerce website in September 2019 and received our first big shipment of products from Syria in February 2020. At that point, our products had traveled a long way, finally making it to California. We first have to gather all our products from three different cities in Syria; Aleppo (soaps), Hama (textiles) and Damascus (embroidery and loofahs). Once they are all collected in Damascus, then they travel by air to Beirut, Lebanon – Paris, France – Los Angeles, CA. When the pandemic hit and the subsequent lockdown in March – it really threw us and we didn’t know how we would survive as a fledgling startup. I have to give my cofounder, Rama, the credit for rallying the team and redirecting us, she also pointed out the obvious “Guys, we are in the soap business, and it’s the best natural soap ever made, we just need to get it out there.”
At this time, all the trade and craft shows we had signed up for over the next six months were canceled, so we moved our strategy to digital marketing. We focused on building our online content and social media channels as well as reaching out to our own personal network for brand awareness. We also knew that nonprofits nationwide were struggling as a result of COVID-19 and we wanted to help. Starting in April 2020, we partnered with various charities across America to help them raise funds for their organizations. We raised awareness and donated a portion of our sales every month to six different NGOs. This included domestic violence victims in Texas, hygiene kits for the homeless in California, displaced families in Illinois, as well as victims of the explosion in Lebanon, and Syrians in need of medicine this past winter.
As you know, we’re big fans of Mint + Laurel. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We collaborate with local artisans from Syria and blend our modern style with their timeworn techniques. This partnership allows us to achieve a combination of smart, eco-friendly design, premium quality, and true international style. Every purchase helps preserve an ancient heritage, changes the narrative on Syria, employs at-risk artisans – helping them provide for their families after ten years of war, and encourages a female-led small business here in America. Our customers love using our soap products for their special events; including baby shower favors, graduations, corporate gifts, weddings and engagement parties. Today’s consumer wants gifts that are beautiful, naturally made, and gives back. We use zero-waste packaging and all our body bar soaps are hand wrapped and labeled which keeps them clean and untouched until you open them at home. This is something that our customers really appreciate especially with COVID-19 on the loose, it makes people feel safe that we are taking extra precautionary measures before they use it on their body or hair.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the mix of cultures you get to see in LA. You can walk down the street and you will hear several languages and have access to a variety of cultures and food. We’re especially grateful to the South Bay community, which is we are headquartered, for embracing our small business with open arms. Southbay Magazine even named us in their top ten list for Holiday Gifting 2020. What I like least about LA is the traffic. I live in OC and driving to and from our HQ in Hermosa Beach can be a full day adventure!
Pricing:
- Body Bar Soaps $12
- Soap Gift Box $29
- Handwoven Towels and Blankets $95
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.mintandlaurel.com
- Instagram: @mintandlaurel
- Facebook: @mintandlaurel
- Twitter: @mint_laurel
Image Credits
Siri Berting for the personal photo of Kinda Hibrawi
