In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
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In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
How Amjad Barakat Built Brunch & Cake Into a Global Lifestyle Café Brand
Restrocast
1 hour 8 minutes
3 weeks ago
How Amjad Barakat Built Brunch & Cake Into a Global Lifestyle Café Brand
In this episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Amjad Barakat, CEO, Brunch & Cake. He went from being $3 million in debt at age 18 to building one of the region’s most popular café brands. He started by helping out in his family’s luxury fashion business on weekends, eventually saving it by the time he was 24. By 27, he had launched a real estate company and then moved to Dubai to explore new opportunities. After gaining experience through consulting and partnerships in Saudi Arabia (inclu...
Restrocast
In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
