Born and raised in Mersin, Turkish entrepreneur Emel initially started her business journey studying Business Management, but was unable to complete her degree. Instead, she started working for a logistics company where she worked long, consuming hours. The idea of running her own business was becoming more attractive by the day, and after losing her job because of the Gulf crisis in the 90s, she decided to pursue that goal.
After working in corporate marketing for 15 years, Turkish LIFE Entrepreneur Devrim started looking for new areas where she could use her skills and knowledge. Now, she is building a fresh food production business to provide healthy versions of everyday staples. The LIFE Project Entrepreneurship Incubator helped her develop her business model and product.
Syrian LIFE Entrepreneur Mohammed is an electrical engineer from Damascus. When he moved to Turkey, he had no experience or connections and had trouble finding a job in his field due to language barriers. He started making Syrian-style homemade cheese and sharing it with his neighbors. With the help of the LIFE Project, he built the skills and knowledge to develop cheese products for the Turkish market.
Turkish LIFE Entrepreneur Feryal started her healthy snack brand fistik.co after retiring from the banking sector. Already involved in running and sports, she saw an opportunity to sell her product at stands during jogging events. With the support of the LIFE Project, she was able to expand her professional network and customer base.
23-year-old LIFE Entrepreneur Nedal came to Istanbul from Syria almost four years ago. He quickly discovered he had a passion for working in the dessert sector and became the main chef for a Turkish sweets company. Now, Nedal is utilizing the LIFE Project's business support services while developing his own project in the dessert sector.
Back in Damascus, Syrian LIFE Entrepreneur Inam was a housewife. After coming to Istanbul, she turned her 20 years of experience cooking at home into a catering business. Through the LIFE Project Entrepreneurship Incubator, she honed her cooking skills and also built the knowledge she needed to navigate the Turkish market and legal system.
Turkish LIFE Entrepreneur Nadide has been working in the food industry for 20 years. Today she is launching a food business venture centered around her ancestral sourdough and a belief in the importance of good nutrition. The LIFE Project helped her build a professional network and gain new confidence in her vision.
Growing up in Diyarbakır, Turkey, Umut Öcal studied mathematics in Ankara before discovering his real passion in organic farming and climate change. Umut moved to the Caribbean for a six month training program in organic farming and then, upon returning to Turkey, launched his own farming business with a team of three employees.
Although he enrolled in an entrepreneurship executive training course while in university, Ahmet truly built the skills he viewed as crucial for his success when he started mountain climbing as a sport. “It added a lot to my creativity and capacity when it comes to entrepreneurship…In this period I did a lot of personal development and learned how to survive with very little resources.” When deciding what to produce as an entrepreneur, Ahmet settled on the food sector because he wanted to produce something that is healthy, “there is nothing more beneficial and healthier for people than healthy food.”
