His journey from Lebanon to North Carolina

I called him to North Carolina. We chatted for over an hour. It's a long way from our Starbucks conversations 4+ years ago in London. The foggy city got us together, time made us grow fonder, and the distance became insignificant with technology.

“I’m living my face-it stage.”

This is how he started. He is facing his weaknesses, failures, shortcomings, and challenges. His self-critique helps him address emotions, relationships, and character traits to move forward. You analyze to make peace with yourself and with the situation in which you're in. Whatever it is, you fix it or manage to live with it.

Lebanon follows him

He is born Lebanese, and he can't change that. It comes with unique DNA, built-in characteristics, and spices of life that give him the Lebanese flavor he cannot escape. He takes what he is and builds on it by utilizing the positives and managing the negatives.

By reflecting back, he learned.

“Here and today, I am making peace with many things in life.”

He used to solve issues by being on the offensive. Today, he lives peacefully amid the noise that circles him in his startup, family, and world. This lockdown made him sit at home and think about who he is, what he wants to do, and where he should go. This face-it period screams at him to find the kind of change he wants to do in life, what he wants to become. His faith keeps him anchored and at peace through small and big things in everyday life.

The blessings of being in lockdown

This forced lockdown has been a blessing to Samer. It pulled him out of the daily roller coaster into a state of thinking. It's been an opportunity for everyone to evaluate how they conduct business and live their lives. This forced calmness affected systems and individuals. It's been a perfect time for personal reflection.

This period has forced us to communicate through screens, reconsider being in an office, and the need for a car or a varied wardrobe. He's gotten away with switching shorts and t-shirts for days. This period will define how humanity will live for the next 100 years. Science and technology will undoubtedly play an even more significant role going forward.

Life #1: Lights, camera, action

He studied acting and directing and went straight to work. When he started, he only wanted to be an actor. He then discovered more, presented programs, did voice-overs, wrote, produced, and directed. He’s done a lot in his first 20-year career: 100s of episodes of the Arabic version of Family Feud, dozens of special Ramadan programs, more than 25 episodes in mini-series, 4 feature movies, and more. Acting has been good for him.

When asked to come up with a slogan for MTV-Lebanon when they went up on satellite and actually weren’t first, he wrote:

.بِلَوْنْ السَما نِحْنا. وصارْ الفَضا اِلْنا

.تَنُوصَل على الكَون. وتَيصير هوِّي هَون.

.ما طْلِعنا عالقَمَرْ. صار القَمَر عِنَّا

His first life helped him build confidence in his capabilities. He could reinvent himself from actor to producer and director, from being in front of the camera to behind it. Production helped him see how he could put something together and deliver it. His gained experience, practical toolkit, and courage gave him confidence and inner peace to push forward and outward from his industry. He tripped, fell, was humbled, and learned what it felt like. He had been through fame and public life, yet he left his comfort zone and used what he learned to embark on another adventure.

Life #2: Got a light?

He left his actor's ego behind to embark on the unknown. He was confident he could build something new with all the skillsets he acquired behind the camera. His entrepreneurial journey has been a more challenging roller coaster than he expected.

He developed a intellegent lighter — slighter to help people manage their smoking habits. He moved from media to health tech.

From actor, presenter, writer, director, and producer to a startup founder, Samer still has to wear many hats, including being a husband and dad. He still doesn't believe his life is more complicated than anyone else's.

"I chose this life out of free will. Some people live their lives happily on one track. I decided to consume several."

More on the roller coaster

When I asked Samer about his leap and main challenge today, he said, "I have brought on myself a 3-dimensional same-time challenge. I changed my profession, started a family, and changed my country of residence."

The tone of our conversation changed a little. I could hear it getting more personal.

He moved from where everybody knew him to be an unknown in a vast continent. He moved from a place he knew to a new culture he was discovering. He's relearning everything, including getting a new driver's license. It's polishing his character further as he's facing it. Learning and living in a new culture is a blessing; he feels lucky to have this chance. It's making him stronger.

He moved to a place that provides safety and an opportunity to build security for himself and his family. Given what Lebanon is currently going through, the move's timing was good. He carries his Lebanese DNA with him. More like the Zahle one :-). While many people are used to walking on solid ground, he thinks that Lebanese are used to living on shifting earth, quicksand, and fluidity. Anything more predictable is good and, most likely, easy.

For example, in the US, the power never gets cut off.

Until one day, it did. Jeanine and Samer looked at each other with probably a mental flashback to Lebanon. It turned out that it was due to a storm. The power company sent a message apologizing, explaining what would happen, where the team was fixing the problem, and it would take 15 mins. In 15 minutes, they received a message saying it would take 5 more minutes. In 5, the power got back. They sent a message closing the incident. It was a wow experience for the ElGharibs.

He boasts about the Lebanese as having the entrepreneurial DNA for thousands of years. At the time, they [ancient Lebanese] looked back and saw the desert behind them and the water on their shores. So, they figured out how to build ships and sail. They invented symbols, rules, and codes — the alphabet- to communicate with other people. They taught them to the people they did business with. Things just got a little easier.

Today, it's time for this one Lebanese to do as his ancestors did: travel, learn other cultures, and maybe teach them a thing or two.

His new home

When his family joined him in the US, they loaded the UHaul: dad, mom, and the three children and drove to their new home. As they rolled into the Cul-de-Sac, Samer heard a faint: "Hi Sam. Hi Sam." Then he saw people walking from their front yard and waving at them. He rolled down the windows, got a flashback, and continued jokingly:

"Finally, someone knows that I'm famous. I bet they are watching reruns of my programs. Bruce Willis? Move over."

When they parked, the neighborhood was waiting to welcome them. They expressed that they were here to support the newcomers and let them know if they could help with anything. The emotions were overwhelming.

On August 4, when the whole world heard about the Beirut explosion, the neighborhood sent them a huge bouquet of flowers in place of hugs. They included handwritten cards and gifts for everyone in the family. They gave Jeanine and Samer a massage gift certificate and told them they'd care for the kids while Mom and Dad relaxed.

This one neighborhood in North Carolina felt traumatized by the news and could only imagine what this young family living next door could be going through.

Samer couldn't talk anymore. He teared up. I had MTV-Lebanon on mute in my living room while talking with him. It was September 4 at 6:07 pm, one month after the explosion. They were covering how Lebanon came to a standstill. Vehicles stopped and stood for a minute of silence to pay respect to the dead, wounded, and missing. People on the streets, Red Cross, firemen, MTV staff, and crew. Everyone stood still. I got a big lump in my throat.

He then collected himself and told me they drove into their new home at "961 2 Center Cross." All the right signs: 961 for Lebanon. 2 for his second home. In the center of the cross for the safety and security of his family.

“When Americans love you, you become family.”

Moving on

He spoke with pain, rage, and determination, telling me that the current people in power in Lebanon are done with. Their time is up. At the same time, people from all over contacted him to show support. His social media channels, email, and phone were flooded. People showed love, compassion, and support. "Tell us about your family. Are you guys okay?"

He had one answer:

“The whole of Lebanon is my family, and they’re not okay.”

He felt that his whole family had been hurt. The one who died on the street is family. The one who died in front of a hospital is family. The older man who quietly sat on a chair waiting and then died is family. These people are not strangers. They're family.

For Samer, Lebanon is his birthplace, and he wants it protected. He thinks Lebanon is still a startup even after 100 years of its birth. It has a serious chance of becoming the best country in the world. The Lebanese are good people. They're warm and peaceful people. The new Lebanon needs to put these kinds of personalities in leadership positions.

"Today, I live completely in the US. My mind and heart are in the US. My work is here."

He is happy with the move. It's a challenge taken like a true adventurer and the ultimate entrepreneur.

He decided to face life head-on. He follows his ancestors in mind, body, and soul. For him and the likes of him, I say: "Y'all come back now, you hear?"

Samer’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Slighter.com.

At Starbucks, he likes his grande cold brew very cold.