Episode 08: Hassan Gemei - Liban Coast

Welcome to this episode of Making a Business where I speak to business owners about how they have created a successful business they love, what matters most to them and what they have learnt on their journey so far.

This week I speak to Hassan Gemei who owns Liban Coast a very successful Syrian restaurant with his wife Sennah. The restaurant was founded in 2013 from Sennah’s love of cooking her native food and has grown organically from a market stall initially to an established and thriving restaurant on the St Leonards food scene.

Hassan was born in Egypt to a multi-cultural family, his father was Egyptian and his mother Italian. By the time he was 5 he spoke 4 different languages and his early memories were shaped by very happy times in the kitchen with his Italian grandmother and regular community meals shared with family and friends.

In this episode we talk about the culture shock of coming to the UK in the Sixties where he followed in his fathers footsteps to become an engineer. We talk about his relationship with his father and how he inspired him to explore throughout his career.

I find out how Hassan turned a hobby into a business when he bought his local squash club, managing to persuade his local bank manager to lend him the money when his offer was unexpectedly accepted.

We talk about how each new business venture wasn’t about the money but the challenge and how he got a thrill from succeeding in new industries. So far Hassan has been an engineer, a software developer, a sports club owner, a commercial chef and run several import/export businesses. All of his businesses have been successful and he has sold most of them for a profit, he is a born entrepreneur.

Hassan is a highly intelligent and caring man with a natural affinity for business, throughout our conversation he recalls clearly the people who he has met along his journey and ponders often on how and where they are now. Throughout his life he has trusted his intuition and followed his energy to create. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about his journey and I hope you enjoy this wonderful podcast!