Today we’d like to introduce you to Baladi Bread.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At first, I was a software engineer, and I was always looking for a side hustle. One day, I came up with the idea of making hawawshi as a wholesale street food product. Hawawshi is seasoned ground beef mixed with onions and peppers, stuffed inside baladi bread.
Instead of starting the process from scratch, I visited around 15 bakeries in my area until I found one that accepted my idea and wanted to work with me. We went through several trials before finally achieving the quality and results we wanted.
After that, I started marketing the hawawshi. I focused on restaurants with small kitchens and coffee shops that didn’t even have kitchens. We would sell the hawawshi fully cooked, and they only needed to reheat it in a microwave or oven. I was able to land some good customers, but when I went back to the bakery that was producing the hawawshi for me, the owner changed his mind and no longer wanted to cooperate.
At that point, I contacted a friend of mine named Amgad Gendee, who is now the co-founder of Flavor Hive. Amgad used to own a bakery and also operated a food truck. I called him to ask if he was still making Egyptian bread, but he told me that during COVID, they had shut down the bakery and were only operating the truck. He also mentioned that he was willing to sell the bakery equipment.
That conversation sparked an idea, and we decided to partner together and focus on making Egyptian bread. That’s how everything started.
There were many challenges along the way, and it definitely was not an easy path. During that time, Flavor Hive grew incredibly well, and Amgad eventually wanted to focus fully on Flavor Hive and step away from Baladi Bread. I completely understood the situation, and I told him that I would never stand in his way. I wished him the best of luck and assured him that he would always have my full support.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it wasn’t. It was very hard. I didn’t know anything about bread, yeast, or the bakery business in general. But as a serial entrepreneur and an engineer, my mindset has always been focused on problem-solving. So, I started solving the business challenges piece by piece.
Even today, we still face many challenges. We are currently operating from a food truck, but our dream is to eventually move into a brick-and-mortar location.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have a very interesting background because I have worked both as an employee and as a business owner. I graduated from the College of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering. I also hold two master’s degrees: one in Business and another in Engineering Management.
I started my career as an entrepreneur by working in my family business. Later, I founded three companies in the telecommunications, baby clothing, cosmetics, and nutrition industries.
In 2017, I almost lost all of my money, and I had to start over. I worked simple jobs, even for $10 an hour, including working as a pizza delivery driver. However, that period did not last long because I began studying what went wrong and why I ended up in that situation. I realized that my mindset was not where it needed to be. Once I started changing my mindset and the way I looked at life, everything around me began to change as well.
I discovered that hard work alone is not enough to achieve success. God’s blessings and good luck also play an important role.
Later, I created a food truck app, which I sold to an overseas company. That success also helped me secure a position at a top electronics manufacturer, where I continued moving up the career ladder.
Today, I am both an employee and a business owner. Employment is not something bad or something to hide from or feel ashamed of. In fact, it provides stable and reliable income that helps reduce many of life’s risks. It has also helped me gain valuable management experience and strengthen my skills.
Having experienced both sides — being a boss and being a team member — has given me a deeper understanding of different perspectives. I would say I am fortunate to see both sides of the equation.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I would like to say that many of us get lost at some point in life and face more than one path to choose from. I think that’s healthy because life gives us feedback, and we try to choose the right direction. Money, as a value on its own, is a fake value. Don’t chase money — chase dreams.
You could be a teacher, a cashier, or a nurse, and still have a great message to share with the world. Every person helps others in ways they may not even realize. You might not own all the money in the world like some well-known billionaires. If you only compare wealth, millionaires may seem to win. But when you compare real human value, ordinary people — like me, like you, like your sister, mother, father, or neighbor — can be much richer.
Be honest. Work hard to make your family happy and to make life better for the people around you. Don’t spend your life trying to appear more successful while living under pressure and surrounded by fake people.
Media, movies, and social media often encourage us to become more materialistic. But if you truly want to understand life and its real value, you have to ask yourself: Why are we here? Why did God create us? Why was the whole universe created? It’s not to brag about how much money we have, what kind of car we drive, or how big our house is. Believe me, life is much deeper than that.
And maybe this question doesn’t have a simple answer. Maybe the answer is something you experience through the way you live your life.
Pricing:
- We focus on delivering value and quality
- We also focus on building a great working enviorment
- Always listening to our customer
- In contiouns improve and development
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.baladibread.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baladibread_usa/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baladibreadusa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BaladiBread
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/baladi-bread-lorton
- Other: https://share.google/D2sXgn5nhUYkYSl7g
