Mouza Alabbar, Co-founder of Alabbar Enterprises

An Authentic Approach WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

Mouza Alabbar, Co-founder of aspect of the business and customer experience. I would say integrity has played a huge role in our success, as it Alabbar Enterprises, is on a mission is a part of everything we do. By being authentic and showing integrity, people are truly able to resonate with to empower women in the region not only the brand, but the people behind it. All your brands ensure that customers remain at the heart of it, how do you constantly strive for next level What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning rou- service when it comes to clients? I truly believe that the key to success tine? I start my mornings very early. I have three kids so setting aside is being detail oriented, and this is something we’ve strived to achieve time for myself is definitely an important part of my day. The first with each of our brands. We have put an immense amount of time thing I do is make a cup of coffee, I then sit by the window and recite and thought into each and every aspect with details as fine as the my prayers. To me, this is the most calming form of meditation and feeling clients will have when sitting in the chairs in our boutique, to gives me a great start to the day. the overall customer journey, store offering, interior design, and locaCan you expand on your career highlights to date and how integrity has tion. We have also worked extremely hard with product development, helped you get there? I would say the biggest highlight of my career to create flavours, and textures that are unique to our brand. When has been witnessing the development and growth of our homegrown making decisions, my first thought is always my clients. My team and brands. Rather than franchising, we’ve focused on zooming in on cre- I work very hard to ensure that I provide everything they could want, ating homegrown brands, which allows us to have control over every and more in order to offer an elevated experience every step of the way.

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Your artisanal brand Made by Two has brought a new meaning to chocolate. What makes the brand stand out? Made By Two is a brand very dear to my heart, it is something that I’ve long envisioned creating, and I have spent countless hours creating and testing each unique flavour alongside my team. While there are a number of chocolate brands in the market, I have personally never seen a combination of art, design, flavour, and texture comparable to what we have been able to create with Made By Two. Each and every chocolate has a story and meaning behind it, the Oman chips flavour for example was created to bring clients back to fond memories from childhood. Apart from flavour, we have innovated the chocolate experience by experimenting with different textures, to bring a new sensation to chocolate in general. Another aspect of the brand that is unique is the display, we carefully curated packaging that exuded the utmost luxury, to be perfect for gifting, or any occasions. In the Gulf we definitely love hosting, and gifting loved ones, so it was important to me that the brand included that part of our heritage. How do the commercial and creative sides of your brands work together, and which side are you drawn more towards? When developing a brand from scratch, we always begin with the creative side. While I enjoy both aspects, I personally love the creative side of business, I love to innovate and develop con- “People can cepts, to create things that haven’t been done before. sense when What advice would you give to upcoming female there is heart entrepreneurs in the market? The first piece of ad- and authenticity vice I would give to female entrepreneurs is to keep behind a brand, authenticity at the core of everything that you and this allows do, as this will be one of your biggest competitive your brand advantages. People can sense when there is heart to sell itself.” and authenticity behind a brand, and this allows your brand to sell itself. Always create from the heart, and this will shine through in everything that you do. The second would be to take risks and be fearless when it comes to innovation. There is nothing difficult about imitating a proven concept, but it takes a true entrepreneur to envision and create something new. I believe authenticity, and risk taking are the keys to success in this business. You ensure immaculate attention to detail is implemented into each brand under your portfolio. What’s the secret? Apart from dedicating countless hours and working hard to ensure every detail is in line with our standards, I would definitely say my amazing team plays a huge part. A business is only as successful as the people behind it, and it was very important for me to ensure everyone at Alabbar shared a strong work ethic, and genuine love for the brands they represent. Do you have any mentors or guides and how does this help navigate the right path? I wouldn’t say that I have mentors per say, but I definitely am guided by my amazing family. My siblings Salama, Shamsa, Rashid, my husband, and my parents have always been my guiding lights. This is The Integrity Issue – what does integrity mean to you? To me, integrity means to be true to yourself and those around you. Having strong morals, and being authentic in everything that you do, will allow you to live a prosperous and fulfilled life.