“My children are my greatest gift in life. 
After my first son was born in 2014, I continued to work as an auditor, but I felt as if I was not present enough for him. I used to feel guilty all day long If he got sick and I had to drop him at his grandma’s. I inherited this from my mother: she was a stay-at-home mum, always here for us; she taught me how important it is for a kid to grow up in a healthy family setting.

After my second son was born in 2016, I quit my job to focus on my family. 

One year later though, I realized that I missed the professional challenges that came with my career. My parents, my dad especially, always pushed me to give my best. That’s how I ended up studying in Paris, even though I didn’t know anyone there, and working at Deloitte, before coming back to Lebanon in 2008, to be with my husband. 

During my kids’ birthdays, I realized that they received tons of gifts, and felt bored with them. Kids need to play, but it’s easier than what we think. During the war, we used to have fun clapping our hands in the shelters! We had next to nothing, so everything became a game! 

So I had the idea to create with my childhood friend Mireille Hobeika a startup to give their value back to gifts and reduce the waste. 

Hadiyati is a platform which allows you to create your gift list, a bit like a wedding list, but for birthdays, baptisms, etc. 
It allows children to get the gifts they truly want and avoid wasting. We also offer to use the platform to collect money for NGOs. We plan to launch our website in September.

Creating my startup is a way for me to use my business skills to solve a problem all the mothers like me face one day or another.“ 

Rhea Abboud, 37, is the cofounder of Hadiyati, a gift list online platform which won this past June 13th the 1st prize at the Ideathon competition at Arabnet, which rewards the best ideas of startups. 

Text & pic: Nada Maucourant Atallah