Unlonely with Dr. Jody Carrington - Love is the Answer, Hate is the Cancer: Taraq Hadhad

Episode Date: November 9, 2023

In 2012 the Hadhad’s home and factory that housed the family chocolate-making business were destroyed which forced them to seek safety in other countries. A former medical student at Damascus University and long-time peacekeeping advocate, Tareq joined medical relief efforts after arriving in Lebanon. A new life began when Tareq and his family were welcomed to Canada on a community-based sponsorship.Passionate about peace and entrepreneurship, his family relaunched the family business to recreate the chocolates they once exported across the Middle East and their story has turned into an international inspiring phenomenon.In this episode, Dr. Jody and Taraq Hadhad discuss his incredible story of immigration from war-torn Syria and what he has learned from entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship isn't seeking success, it is seeking significance, passion and happiness.https://www.tareqhadhad.com/https://www.instagram.com/tareqhadhad/https://www.twitter.com/TareqHadhadhttps://www.facebook.com/tareqhadhadofficial/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's start here, where I think the answer begins for everything and everybody, in the place of acknowledgement. Indigenous peoples in this country have taught me the most about what acknowledgement truly means. So everything that I've created for you happened here on Treaty 7 land, which is now known as the center part of the province of Alberta. It is home to the Blackfoot Confederacy, made up of the Siksika, the Kainai, the Pikani, the Tatina First Nation, the Stony Nakota First Nation, and the Métis Nation Region 3. It is always my honor, my privilege mostly, to raise my babies on this land where so much sacrifice was made and to build a community, invite a community in, talk about hard things as we together learn and unlearn about the most important things, that we were never meant to do any of my life. Now, listen, in front of me in the room is Tarek Haddad. And I got to tell you, CEO, founder of Peace by Chocolate,

recipient of the EUI Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021 for the Atlantic, selected by Google as the national hero case, awarded RBC's Top Immigrant Award and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020, and Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee Medalilee medal winner come on how can we even fit in this room you did a great you did a great job oh come on i'm so excited to talk to you today so um this is a podcast about um where you came from it's called everyone comes from somewhere

absolutely and i know to the core of me that we are all way more alike than we are different. And maybe most importantly, the difference between empathy and judgment often lies in understanding where another comes from. So tell me, Tarek, where would we start with you? Where do you come from? I come from being a human being in the first place. And honestly, that is the core of my existence. I feel like from my journey, I've been separated from my roots and from my home by birth, which is Syria.

I was born in the beautiful city of Damascus, which is the most oldest inhabited place in the entire world. And unfortunately, now it is being known as, you know, the capital of the country that has witnessed the third world war in our century. It's unfortunate really what happened there. But I always say that I come from my values. You know, they are the main driver and they are really the uh the main cause why I'm here today and why I've been able to uh you know to continue the journey of hope after losing everything so I I believe also you know the when I when I heard you saying that that the title of this podcast I remember my grandmother you know what she used to tell us she used to say you have to know where you came from to know where you're going.

Oh, come on, grandma. What was her name? My grandmother was named Arabiya. Arabiya. So in Arabic, by the way, like, you know, the grandmas or the person, after you have your first child, you'll be called after your first child. So my grandmother's first child was called Imad. So she's called Um Imad.

Um means mother. The mother of Imad, who is my eldest uncle. And he's still now living in Syria. Really? And so when I take you back to those roots in Syria, I mean, your story is so remarkable. Eight years in Canada. Not quite there yet, but on the way. We'll round up, yeah.

And a lifetime. You lived many lifetimes before you came to this country. And so take me back to that grandmother and the story, because there's so much love, so much joy. I mean, as you talk about, can you tell us a little bit of the story about growing up in Syria before? Because, I mean, again, I'll fast forward through this real quick and then we'll jump back. But, I mean, there's refugee camp.

There is bombings. There is pain, death, suffering, all of those things rising from ashes that comes out of this story that we're going to be able to touch on a little bit today. And an entrepreneur and a company that you've just single-handedly have changed this province of Nova Scotia by your love and your desire. How, where did that come from? To just go back to that point when, you know, we're talking about refugees. The moment I landed in Canada,

I felt that many people didn't know or they probably subconsciously just misunderstand the reality that refugees, they had stories before they became refugees. They had lives before they became refugees. It's really shameful. And I think it is kind of it's unfortunate that our lives might be summarized within a year or two for us after we lose everything. And then we become labeled, you know, for an immigrant or refugee or anything, you know. And that is, I believe, the biggest mistake of our lifetime. So I'm a big believer that we had our stories to celebrate way beyond and before we became refugees.

So that was since I was born in Damascus. And to be honest, that was the place that shaped me the way I was. I always say right now in 2023 that the three places that made me the person who I am today, my home by birth, Syria, Damascus, my home by choice, Canada, and the place, the immediate place that really took me in, which is Nova Scotia. These three places are the places that really make me the person who I am today. So for our story back home, it was a mix of ups and downs,

but for the most part, we were enjoying that social cohesion. We were enjoying the sense cohesion we were enjoying the sense of family like like no other our family was almost we're almost 60 members we were living in one building on the border between the ancient city of damascus and the modern city of damascus so we had to try both and we had neighbors that they some of them were even refugees from europe after the second World War. So Syria and Canada, actually, they share a lot in common. And that is Syria welcomed many refugees over history, whether from Europe or from Iraq or from Lebanon or from Armenia or anywhere dots for me, that the values of hospitality and welcoming was rooted heavily in the Syrian community and the Syrian society. And it is the same here in

Canada. You know, the values of compassion, respect, the fight for peace, freedoms and rights are very, very heavily rooted and weaved into the fabric of this community. And you lived that, right? I mean, that passion in your bones. And what I love, you know, in your early story, when we think about Syria, and this is such a white privileged perspective of this Canadian sitting in front of you, is that when I think about Syria,

I think about war torn. I think about scary bombs, all of those things that I can't fathom. What I love the most is your stories of growing up in that building where on different floors, your family lived and connection is in you to the core. Yeah. Can you, can you just tell me that story a little bit? Cause I want this community to hear it. Cause I, I wish as you tell the story about this and listeners listen to this really carefully,

you're going to want to have lived in this building. So tell me about this. So after I was born, my family kept growing in that building. And the building was only a few floors in the beginning. So my grandfather, you know, bought that place, like, you know, since he moved to that area in Damas Damascus but then when the family kept growing they kept adding floors and then until it really reached almost 10 floors my grandmother was living on the first floor we were living on the second floor my uncles and my aunts and my cousins everyone was living in that building and the stories that that shaped us were really the stories of celebration and the special occasions that

used to happen there. So every Saturday, my grandmother would have a giant room in her house on the first floor, and she would invite everyone for dinner. Everyone has to go for supper on every Saturday. You cannot miss a supper with your grandmother or she will kick you out of the building. She has no joke around it. Like attending a supper with the grandmother or she will kick you out of the building she has no joke around like attending a supper with the family was uh an obligatory you know was was an obligation was uh something that we had to do because my grandmother felt that that connection between family members is the utmost uh is of utmost importance because if you have any troubles if you have any challenges in your life, you need that support, right? You need that social support.

Now, it is different between countries, but culturally in Damascus, it has been that in times of test, family is best. In times of test, family is best. That's what my grandmother used to always love to tell us. I love this woman. And it's really fantastic that my grandmother used to always find ways, you know, to make the every Saturday different. You know, like some Saturdays we used to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and newborn babies. Yes, yes, yes. Damascus, you know, neighbors who were just celebrating, you know, their child who just got their wedding or graduated from a university or high school. We were the open house for everyone in the community and everyone really loved coming over. And I remember around the house in that

backyard, there was a giant, you know, garden that had trees of everything you would wish to really have, from Syrian apricots to lemon to berries, Damascus berries to palm granite. Oh, I can just feel it. I can smell it. I can see what it must have been like. It was amazing. Yes, you can imagine. Because we were on the first floor.

So every spring, I don't have to go and buy any apricots. I can open my window and I can pick the apricots from my window. And so this is your youth. And in this process, was your father a chocolatier at this point? He was a chocolatier at that point. Okay. So he had a couple of different businesses in Damascus. Is that right?

That's correct. Okay. And so he would bring home the chocolate. was this something you knew you wanted to do in the beginning? Like, did you love this stuff or did it, were you just, did you take it for granted? I took it for granted to be the son of a master chocolate here, you know, like the owner of the second largest chocolate factory in the region. And we really, all my family members took it for granted because like we didn't imagine what life could be we were born in that environment right like the moment I was born my dad was already

a chocolatier and he used to bring all these kind of new flavors and chocolate we were the taste testers in the house and it was really amazing you know and you never know the value of it until you lose it so my father started that business in 1986 and then it grew from there significantly. And he used to bring these chocolates, not really for the taste testing purposes, but because he wanted the family to be the first, you know, of the people that they try these new batches that he's so proud of. Yes. It was a sense of pride more than customer oriented.

And if I can just sort of talk about your dad for just a little bit, I think every time I've ever heard you speak of him in interviews, you talk about his desire to bring happiness to people. Is that truly who this man, is he still alive? He is, yes. Okay, so is that truly who this man is? Absolutely. Is this the truth? Yeah. He started that business because he's a big believer that chocolate makes happiness. All right, dad. 10-4. And, you know, he started making chocolate because he went to that wedding of my cousin. And then at the wedding, everyone was eating chocolate and was having the best time ever.

Syrian weddings are so fun. I just had mine in May. I really want to go. You just had yours. Yes, exactly. Oh, I'm so sad you missed it. But he went to that wedding and then he noticed that everyone at the wedding

was really eating chocolate. So that's how it started? That's how it started. He watched people eating chocolate at a wedding and was like, you know what? I want to be the guy? He's a civil engineer. He's a civil engineer?

He didn't know anything about chocolate. The only thing he knew about it is how to eat it and oh my god he's my favorite already and you know my my grandmother used to to always joke with us my he's a chocoholic by nature uh she would go to him and she would say isam last night there were two chocolate cakes in the larder and now there's only one why and my dad would look at him like oh it must have been so dark that I couldn't see the second one. He would steal the chocolate cakes from the larder. And then he would lie to us. You know, after we were born, me and my siblings, my dad would just be making up all these facts.

He would come to us and say, well, you know, kids, that nine out of ten people love chocolate in this world. And then he would stop for a second. pause. He was a bullshitter. He makes stuff up all the time. He's my guy. And then he said the 10th lied. So everyone in this world loves chocolate. He's that kind of guy who really loves to make sure that his product is not only there to generate income or a living for the family, but also to generate happiness. Isn't that the definition of passion, though?

You know, when I think about this world of entrepreneurship, it's such a cutthroat industry sometimes that, you know, wherever we're at, can you work hard enough? Can you do the things? But when you love it, when you know that it actually can change a life, that gets you out of bed every morning. My dad was a teacher that entrepreneurship is not about seeking success. It's about seeking significance. And you have to be in the significance business and the uniqueness business.

You have to be in the passion business. You have to be in the happiness business before you really call yourself an entrepreneur. Because if you are an entrepreneur for your own self-esteem, for your own self-passion, without really making sure that you are making other people's lives better, other people's lives easier, then I don't think really you're going to be in that for a long run. And he really believed that the selflessness aspect of entrepreneurship

was one of the biggest aspects of that role. So he grew this so quickly in Damascus, and then there's a bombing that happens. Then things start to turn. Can you give me a piece of that chapter? Yeah, so business was growing really fast. I was at the time growing up with a medical background. I got into medical school. My siblings were all busy with their studies.

No one really was involved heavily in the business as much as my dad and my mother were. And then in 2012, the war reached Damascus after the Arab Spring started in 2011, where people were protesting against corruption, against the limits, the restrictions on their freedoms, on their rights. Some people were living on their poverty line. The social injustice, the fights for equality, the fights for having proper education, the basics of means, and really ending up that corruption that really kind of destroyed the whole uh the whole economy

and at the same time people were just asking for some of the the things that people in in canada or in in western countries or in countries that they live in in democracy take for granted they were just fighting for their basics of rights to say, I want to decide who's going to govern my country. And it was scary at some points, you know, because people are afraid that they're going to be tortured. They're going to be kidnapped. They're going to be arrested. So that's why it started in 2011 and then entered into a war that was burning the whole country. And it burned Damascus in 2012. It reached our home neighborhood. And since then, you know, my father and my mother, they were trying to protect us. So after five nights of living in our building where we were looking out the windows, seeing all these bombings in the neighborhood and

seeing these soldiers that they were getting and breaking into some of the houses and taking all the men between the age of 18 and 60 and they were shooting them in front of their kids and their families can you do you have those memories absolutely yes yes i can still see it i can still see it every day you know especially every time when you know we're talking about about syria or now when i watch the war in Ukraine or all these news, I feel like, you know, being a survivor, being a war survivor gives you a responsibility to be the voice for others that they haven't survived. And that kind of put that responsibility on my shoulders to tell the world that how ugly the war is. Right. And there's nothing good in war except it's ending. I can see that little boy in that

house where there used to be so much love and, and still was, huh? And then you're looking out the window at the injustice that was happening in your, on your front yard. And the decision then was to move the family is that is that what happened that's right so by the end of 2012 uh we were we moved we had two houses in the masques at the time we moved to our downtown house which was safer okay and then my my dad was still working at the factory and it's fine that my dad kept the factory operating even though it was it was a war and i would keep telling him that dad it's a war. And I would keep telling him that, Dad, it's a war. He would say that people need chocolate. I said, Dad, it's a war. He said, people need happiness.

I said, Dad, it's a war. He said that the employees need to make a living to put food on the table to their families. He said, what kind of a leader an entrepreneur would be if they just surrender to hard circumstances? And actually, I just discovered a lot about who my family, my family's values were. As you watched him. As I watched, you know, everything unfolds during that war.

In a few months, I just discovered exactly what our values were. Our values were all about people and all about purpose. Because he can tell you with all of those words and those statements, and then he had the opportunity to show you. you watched that wow and it was such shocking you know that like by the end of 2012 a mortar like a bombing happened at the factory um 10 minutes after my father and all

the employees left and uh it just destroyed the five floors of the factory the second largest chocolate factory in the region was destroyed in a bombing by the end of 2012. It was leveled on the ground like nothing was built. And then my dad didn't know what happened. He would come back home and then he would tell us, we survived. The staff are safe. And then he didn't know that his eighth child, we were seven siblings, we're a big family. But the factory was our eighth sibling.

And he didn't know that it was bombed. He didn't know it was destroyed. Then he would tell us that everyone was saved. He would see the pictures on Facebook and then he was speechless for three days. The only thing he would say that everything was gone, everything was gone. And uh you know for for a moment of uh like reflection afterwards i just realized that you know like in uh if you live in in syria you would know how uh warm-hearted you know the people were and how supportive people are for each other but in in the time of war uh it just becomes so dangerous everyone is trying to leave right just fear exactly fear just becomes becomes the dominant uh becomes so dominant in in everybody's heart that everyone really is trying to protect their families and that's you know their priority and that's what

they what they are taking care of and that's why you know in 2013 my entire family just decided to leave the country and they're scattered so So I imagine 60 members of my family. 10 years ago, we were around one dinner table. And now they are scattered in over 26 countries. My family now is everywhere. They are in Germany. They are in Sweden. They are in Spain.

They are in Brazil, in Japan, in Turkey. So you just went and whatever direction could go. So did they make those decisions or did somebody, you know, direct you? No, everyone just left into the neighborhood countries, to the neighbor countries. You know, you have to gain a refugee status when you leave your country by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. And after that, you can decide where to go. A lot of people just went, you know, by boats to Greece. And then from Greece, they went to Europe, to Germany,

to Sweden, to Spain. We were lucky that we left to Lebanon, although we are unable to work or to do anything. But then we said to ourselves, whether we sit down and play the role of victims or whether we dig down and find solutions and become victors. So in life, there are two options, whether you become a victim or they become a victor. It is totally up to you. And it's really based on the fact that as long as you are alive, you can rebuild anything. You can have a moment of rebirth and you can celebrate your second chances. Amazing. And who, so in, to Lebanon, who went? you can have a moment of rebirth and you can celebrate your second chances.

Amazing. And who, so in, to Lebanon, who went? You? The seven siblings? No, actually. It was my parents and it was myself and three other of my siblings. Because my other sisters, they were married and they lived in Damascus with their husbands and they were just unable to leave. My sister, Allah, left afterwards and she followed us to Lebanon. My other sister is still stuck actually

in Syria to this moment. But it was scary because I couldn't get out of the country. I was in the age to go to military. Sure. And they were not allowing any young people, any young man to leave the country. So they had all these checkpoints on the way to to the border to lebanon yeah and they were asking everyone why are you leaving the country you have to go and serve in the military and my parents and my sisters they were so scared i have my another like younger brother he was like seven years old and my sisters were so like afraid they're scared they put me in the middle, and they tried to hide me,

so they don't see me from the checkpoint, and it was just so scary, you know at any moment, they could just have asked me to step out of the vehicle, and then my dad would tell them, that we're just going for tourism to Lebanon, we'll be back in a month, and they let us out of the country in a miracle,

and when we got there, we just stopped the car in the middle of that night and then we were just everyone was crying in that car everyone was crying everyone just like you know a breath of fresh air relief the relief you know that we made it we survived because you know like the the the only like the real victims of the war are civilians who were just born in the right place, but at the wrong time. Syria is a beautiful country. Damascus is an absolutely amazing city. But it's just about being born in the right place.

It's a perfect place, but at the wrong time. Oh, I love that. And my family has deep roots there. But we said to ourselves, if we die, we're going to become numbers on the screens of the media. Like if you go to CNN, if you go to CBC, if you look on BBC, wherever you want to look, everyone tells you that 100 people were killed in Syria or 200 people were killed in Ukraine. It's just a number. Just a number.

They don't give you their names. You're just a statistic. And we just don't want to become statistic. It's as simple as that. I love it. And then how long in Lebanon? We stayed in Lebanon until 2000. I stayed until December 2015.

So I was in Lebanon with my, as I mentioned, with my parents and my siblings. And then my family left in January 2016. My sister, Allah, came to Canada in November of 2016, like after us with almost 10 to 11 months. And we were able really to make it, although, you know, in Lebanon, we were unable to work or gain income. My siblings were unable to go to school, so they lost three years of their lives outside of schools.

But we found a new meaning for life. And that meaning is just to live a life of purpose and service to others we realize that life has more value when you operate from a place of service to others and my family and myself and everyone in in the community were just there to support other refugees who were not as lucky as we were, that they left the country and they were injured or they left behind their mothers or their fathers. We were so lucky that we left and we had everyone in the family, although I lost my brother-in-law who was killed in the war and many of my family members were kidnapped. But we made it to Lebanon with my siblings and my parents. And that was enough. That was more than enough. That was more than enough. And during that time, I would imagine that there was lots

of community created in that very scary place, right? Despite the fact that fear can divide you in that Lebanese refugee camp. That's right. I bet there was memories there. Oh, there was a lot of memories. You know, we moving in lebanon we didn't stay in one place and we were hiding we're trying to uh to make sure that you know that no one knows where we were because the lebanese authorities would be following you know anyone without residents anyone who is staying there who just came from syria because lebanon is an amazing and beautiful country there is four million million Lebanese and there are almost a million and a half refugees. So to put that in perspective. A quarter of the country.

Yes, a quarter of the country. Put that in perspective. You know, imagine if 15 million Americans crossed the border a year to Canada. How disastrous that would be. Right. That's exactly the scale of the crisis that was in Lebanon. And it was just crazy you know a lot of people don't understand how much the neighboring countries of of a country in war

have to suffer because they are the the countries that are immediately hit and impacted yeah we are lucky that in canada we live in in a on a peaceful continent that you know that that canada and the u.s have great relationships, right? Like we Canadians and Americans, they cross that border every day for trade, for tourism, for visits, for family connections. But in Syria and Lebanon, Lebanon was almost like, you know, 10 to 20 percent the size of Syria. And it had to take the biggest hit, you know, that, that, uh, war really had to, to impact. Yeah. And as you're speaking, you know, I'm just thinking about this all the time before we went on a live today, we were talking about the statistics that, you know, refugees and

immigrants sort of get this status. And this is sort of my very naive perspective is that like, I forget so much that everybody came from exactly the same place. We all started with the same heartbeat, you know, listening to that in the wombs of our mothers. And we all come from that place of emotional regulation, that bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. And anytime you rock a newborn baby, you do that same bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, regardless of age, race, religion, socioeconomic status, gender identity, all of those things, we start in the same place. How have we gotten so far away from remembering that when you label somebody a refugee? I see your passion, right? Absolutely. You know, the label refugee, it's not a reflection of the status anymore. It's not a reflection of that temporary period of time

that this human being had to go through. It becomes their whole. Like it is unfortunate that you have people who have been living in Canada for decades and they're still referred to as refugees. The first title that they still have is a refugee, although they were only refugee for two years if they're right, right?

Right. And they're a mom and a grandmother and a business owner and an aunt and a whatever. They're a citizen. Like they're a citizen of this country. They are a citizen of the world, you know, that they have a lot of accomplishments, but they're still being referred to as a refugee. It's not a derogatory term. the things that they are now, the things that they were before they became refugees, and just not summarize their entire life experience in this short period of time that they had to go through.

And I think it is because of the only way now to generate empathy is by just feeling that you are superior to the other person. It is very wrong, right? Like you don't have to be superior to another person to feel empathetic to their situation. When somebody is going through a challenge or a trouble, you don't say, oh, I'm in a much better position. So let me just help you out. I think we have to level up that situation a little bit and say, I'm a human being. You are a human being. Let's help each other. The holidays are coming and nobody wants to deal with seasonal bugs making their way through the family. That's where Maple comes in. No more scrambling for open clinics during holiday

festivities. One membership covers the whole family, making it a gift that keeps on giving this season. And with over a million five-star reviews, Canadians are loving it. Don't let sickness slow down your season. Download the Maple app today. See a real doctor on your phone in minutes, 24-7. Get Maple. Get well. Sooner. Oh my gosh. And how desperate when you know you've been in that place of desperation for somebody to see you, to know you, to just in that moment give you some grace.

Because what that does then for you for the rest of your days. And tell me about that. I mean, you've talked about this often, how this is the motivation for Peace by Chocolate, for the company that you've built in now this country. And so tell me about that. So you come off the plane, you see the Nova Scotians to the core of them, I think are some of the most amazing people on the planet,

but they're meeting you in the middle of the night with no judgment, that they just saw you as a human, that they wanted to make you feel safe. Yeah. And that was the start of what? Tell me the next chapter. Yeah, I know the, uh, that was, uh, that was life changing on, on many levels, you know, in, uh, when I was leaving Lebanon, I just started reflecting on all the things that they have been able to do, you know, with the United Nations, with WHO. I was helping on the refugees in Lebanon at the time there. But then at the same time, I was also reflecting on the fact that my family were counting down to death.

And Canada was the only country on the planet that opened doors for us. Imagine I applied to 15 other embassies around the world and no other country opened the doors for us. No one even accepted me for an interview. No one said, you know, let me just have a look at your application or let me just look at your past or see, you know, your potential. No one said anything. And Canada was the only country. I did an interview at the Canadian embassy back in 2015 to come to Canada to continue my education, to go to school. Your MD, yeah.

And then they tell me that, you know, you have to do an undergraduate degree, so probably you're going to have to apply there. And then I applied. I didn't get the scholarship because, you know, there was too many people that they really applied. But then the ambassador and the embassy team, they looked at all of our applications, and then they would tell me that they saw some potential.

They saw something special about that application. And they thought that by giving us a chance, they're not only giving us the chance to resettle in Canada, but they are giving this country a chance as well to continue giving opportunities to those who lost everything because of war and persecution. And that's why I was really lucky to have been invited by the canadian embassy me and my family to come here i would land in december on december 18th in toronto i had no clue what this country was all about the only thing i've known of canada is the looney tooney double double that's the only thing that they told me that's not a stereotype that's what you'd hear double double oh double. Oh my goodness. You really, as an immigrant, you come up with what you expect.

That's what you find out when you Google Canada. And it's so hilarious, you know, that this country is really amazing. It's well respected on the world stage. Like Canadians have, we, now I have to say we, I got my citizenship back in 2020, so I'm now one. We have a great brand across the world that we are a country of peace building, right? We invented that. We invented that peacekeeping around the globe

with the United Nations, with other allies. And we are very well respected that we keep our doors open to those who are seeking opportunity where a country built on big dreams and with infinite possibilities. We create the future and the world follows us into tomorrow. And I think that's really the main message

that when I came to Canada, I just felt that, you know what, I have much more to my existence than just a title or a label or like a name or like a background or a skin color or a race or a religion or a dream or a hope. I am a much more bigger than that. Probably I'm an accumulation of all of that, but I'm not one of them, you know, in a single way. And I believe that, you know, this country has certainly offered us a chance

to celebrate who we were without prejudices. Wow. How, I mean, as you're talking, I'm like, okay, that's it. I want to do more. I got to be more. We got some shit to do. Come on. And I just, I'm amazed at how little it took to make you feel seen that

you matter that I think about those conversations, you know, like let's go in the middle of the night to pick up this family from Lebanon. Yeah. We always underestimate our power, right? We always think sometimes we need to have a, a company that's far reaching. We need to be the entrepreneurs. We need to be the entrepreneurs. We need to be making millions of dollars. Often it is in those moments, those tiny decisions about offering a nod,

a handshake, a let's go in the middle of the night. Let's buy somebody a double double. Yeah. That can not only change a life, but can save it. And you now, I mean, so you said you came, they settled, you settled in Anagananish, right? Anaganish, yeah. Out of the gate, okay, which is, for those of you listening, is a small community in this beautiful province of Nova Scotia. And what happens? Give me the version. Are you like, we need to make chocolate now?

Because you started at, like, farmer's markets. That's right, yeah. So your dad was like, let's start mixing. Is that what he said? Yes, that's right, yeah. You know to to just see your point about the group that really came to the airport to welcome me i started believing in the small acts of kindness more than ever okay i started believing in that cab driver in lebanon who told me about applying to the canadian embassy in the first place although he didn't have to but he felt that he can help me and it didn't make him less it didn't make him more it just he just was happy to to help and i will never meet that person

again you know the person who changed my life is just still probably driving a cab back in beirut or in saida in lebanon he wouldn't know the impact he made in my life my family's life i'm talking about 30 members of my family now really living in this country and calling it home and celebrating the true meaning of belonging. So when my family and I, we landed in Anikinesh, when I came first to Anikinesh, I met this amazing group at the airport that they really restored my faith in humanity.

Do you still stay connected? Are you connected to them? Oh yes, every day, absolutely. They came to my wedding and I just attended a citizenship ceremony as well it's called the antigonish citizenship ceremony we did it we did it you have your own we have our own yes yes you are a citizen of antigonish but uh you don't necessarily have to be a citizen of canada it's just really hilarious that how the community really believes in the power of fighting for social justice and belonging.

I think it's nowhere else that we'd rather be in the place where you were born or the place where you met your first love or the place where you found your first job or we got educated belonging is being in a place where the people that they live there have the same values as you do and they are willing to fight uh for your right to keep your own values at the same time. So Canada in general, you know, has a lot of people who believe in the power of kindness, in the power of empathy. But that community in specific, they were there because they were not expecting anything in return.

And I think that's the most important part. And that's why when we were sitting in our house two weeks after we landed here, my dad would be looking around. He would tell my mom, he'd tell me, we need to find jobs. And then I told my dad, well, I'm going back to my medical school studies. I'm going back to do a degree. And then I would get the response that I cannot go back to medicine because it's going to take me probably 10 years of my life to get to the place where I already left in Syria so

that's an additional 15 years of my life to continue my studies and then I thought to myself well you know we have to do something we have to use our time wisely we have to tell our story to the country because everyone was willing to listen and everyone was so excited and passionate and thirsty to know more about our stories yeah like i was at the airport in toronto when i landed i met the governor general for 10 seconds probably and people saw me on national news and they would come to me the next day in toronto shake my hand and say welcome to canada i said guys where did you see me i was like we saw you last night on the news i was like guys it was 10 seconds how did you even know yeah know me i was like we're watching you know that yes everyone's celebrity was just coming out of that flight i and then i realized that you know this country follows these

news because they really believe in the stories of people and they believe there's a story behind everyone and i started sharing that story every single day into every place I can. We got to make our own chocolate in the home kitchen. We went to the farmer's market in May that was at the mall in Antigonish. So they closed the shops on Saturday morning. And then you just go in the mall and you'll be able to sell your product. They will give you a table and then you will be able to display your product and sell them. And we started making chocolate in the home kitchen and then my mother kicked us down to the basement we had like a small tiny room me and my dad we were working at the time and making these pieces of chocolate

you know with ice molds uh and and ice cubes and uh it it was delicious i still taste the first batch of chocolate that we made in Antigonish. Really? I still can taste it. It's right there. It's right there, you know, like the memories of this batch, although it wasn't our best,

but it was so delicious that it was so symbolic. That's it. No matter what gets taken away from you in time of challenge, in time of war, in time of conflict, you have the power and you have the power to decide

when to be able to rebuild and reinvent yourself and give yourself that chance of a rebirth. So even to give you just a perspective, I realized more during the pandemic that people were thinking that the pandemic, for example, would be the apocalypse, you know, the end of the world, you know, that no one's going to come out of it. We're all going to die. You know, I've heard I've got phone calls on the first day of the pandemic more than the entire year when when even even last year and all the people that they were calling me,

my friends here, they were asking me the same question. And you know what the question was? They were asking me, how do you compare living in a challenge like in a war in Syria versus living in a pandemic right here in Canada? And I said a simple comparison. In 2013, during the war that tore my immediate family apart, killed many of my family members, we were forced to leave everything and we were forced to be out of the country. In 2020, during the pandemic, we were asked to stay in our homes and we were asked to stay safe. You see the difference?

I said, I will take the second. I will take a million. Remarkably different. I would take a million days in a pandemic versus living one day in a war-torn country. Right. Because I've been there. I said, full stop. I gonna take a million pandemics and i think that was not

only life-changing or or that change of my perspective but that changed their perspective as well truly truly because when you hear the struggles of people that they have been truly in places of that they they their their dearest of things got stolen from them or taken away from them, then you would know that our miseries, what we call miseries in this country, are truly the hopes and dreams of some people around the world. Perspective is everything. It is everything. Right?

And I mean, again, this is why we talk about, this is the whole reason why I do this podcast is when you get the story, that's where empathy lives. When you have that place of understanding. I mean, as you've spoken today, I mean, I need you to know this, like the more you tell your story, I think the more it is going, I hope everybody that listens to this now has a different take on what it means. The word refugee, the word immigrant, right? You've taught me so much. I just have to tell you that, you me so much i just have to tell you that you know like something i forgot to tell you about the word refugee as well it's really so important that no one was born to become a refugee like it's so let me say that one more time no one was born to become a refugee like no one decides to be a refugee it's not a decision it's not a life goal

it's not a choice it's not a choice it's not a life goal it's not a choice it's not a choice it's not a dream like you don't go to a young kid and ask them hey what do you want to be in the future no one says i want to be an immigrant or no one says i want to be a refugee right yes it's just because of the circumstances because of the places because of the surroundings but internally inside everyone's heart everyone belongs somewhere and they want to fight for that belonging and if you take that away from them they're going to look for somewhere else and i think uh we were lucky that canada was that place that we were able to call home now because a lot of people are still lost oh and it's so hard you know to find a place yes moment

to to uh to have that place to to call home but But I pray every day really for everyone who have been throughout that experience because it's not easy. And now, I mean, in this company, Peace by Chocolate, you grew, created a factory in Anaganish. You now have a flagship store in Halifax, which I've been in, by the way, and it's phenomenal. Over 250 kinds of chocolate you now. That's right. Created lots of connections to companies, philanthropic work with indigenous communities, with a mental health perspective. You give back unbelievably.

And tell me a little bit about that. You know, now and and business in general is all about taking off these selfishness glasses and putting on these selflessness glasses i really look at the world differently uh because we are one human race you know we fight for the same fight uh we try to make sure that we are living a better tomorrow for, I don't have kids yet, but for our kids and grandkids in the future. And I believe that entrepreneurship is a power of leadership. It's a platform. You know, use it.

Why don't you use it? If you have that platform, why don't you use it? My message to all the CEOs that I meet is that you guys are leaders. You know, if you want it or not if you have that platform why don't you use it my message to all the ceos that i mean is that you guys are are leaders you know if you want it or not you are leaders you build something up from from scratch you know from the ground up you have been through so much you you navigated the system you have found yourself so why don't you give an opportunity to others why don't you use that privilege that you have to support others you know my family believes in that perspective that no matter how much wealth you can accumulate you cannot sleep on more than three pillows you don't need you cannot wear more than one pair of pants at the

time right you you cannot be in more than one car at a time like even if you own a hundred you cannot be more than one right yes you don't need much to live like you no one needs a billion dollar to live no one no one even needs a million dollar to live now we're living in inflation so i don't know i don't know but no one needs a lot of money to live you know you can live by the little as long as you are willing to to share what you have with everyone else those who are not as lucky as you are, those who are not as successful as you are, if you are successful, it is your moral responsibility to lift others to success. That's what makes you rich. And, and a hundred percent. And I think, you know, the, the, the, what the company was doing when we started, it was, I remember back in May, 2016, we were selling at the farmer's market.

We were making a couple hundred dollars a day. And I would come back and I would see the news. My parents were also watching the news and they would be crying and they would see that how Albertans were fleeing Fort McMurray after the wildfire that that hit there yes you know tens of thousands of people lost their homes and it was it was massive it was a tragedy and my parents you know uh they they were telling me that they know exactly how it feels like to lose everything and being asked to leave and then we sat down around that dinner table I was telling my parents we have enough food in the fridge we have a roof above our head other canadians don't let's share what we have with them and then i would make some calls to my friends at the red cross at the time i would tell them we have a

couple hundred dollars that we made today we probably are going to keep selling our chocolates during the whole month of may we're going to give you guys whatever we can make and i had no clue where that was going to go. But then I called some of the newcomer friends as well across the country. And they were like, yes, we are. They were stepping in. They were they were pitching in that campaign. And hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised to the Red Cross, you know, from from just like an idea that was generated because, you know, we believe that you have you can do so much by only inspiring others to do good. And I think that after that, that was the seed for our Peace on Air Society.

That was how it was born from that campaign onwards. You know, we have partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association. So we support Canadian mental health initiatives right here in Nova Scotia and across the country. We have partnered with Refugee Hub to help support and resettle refugees from across the country. WUSC is the reason why we are all in Canada. WUSC is the World University Services of Canada. And they are the one that they got me to apply to the Canadian embassy. They didn't give me the scholarship, but I'm a big supporter for them because I know how other refugee students, they want to get to Canada and they want to continue their studies we partner with the Trans Canada

Trail we make sure that that trail was maintained during the pandemic for example how many Canadians were using that trail to maintain their mental health their connection to nature their connection with each other the Red Cross is our biggest partner of the Peace and Earth Society throughout campaigns from the wildfires in Fort McMurray to the war in Ukraine, where we fundraised over $100,000 to the Syria-Turkey earthquake that happened in February, over $250,000 that were fundraised. And just recently, you know, with the wildfires that happened right here in Nova Scotia as well we were able to fundraise over 105,000 dollars you know there was a lot of campaigns that were done and the impact of those campaigns were life-changing to so many you know like the small acts of kindness they did just endless we're so great when we're together a hundred percent but there are also certain campaigns that we're so proud of that we made the commitment to hire 50 refugees in our organization, train and support 10 businesses started by refugees in their marketing and help for businesses started by refugees in their distribution.

And we are, you know, we are in this fight because we know how many people really they need that opportunity that was given to us back when we came to Canada. And we're just so honored, you know, that giving back and contributing is just one aspect of living. It is, I think, the most honorable aspect of living. I think you're right. I think you're right. Okay. So, Tarek Haddad, what is next for you? What's the next chapter?

I mean, I'm so interested. I could be here for three days. So your wife. Yes. You got one. I got one, yes. Why? Tell me.

Hello. Amazing. I mean, you're lucky, huh? Oh, my God, I'm the luckiest. I'm not only lucky, I'm the luckiest. I love it. So what's next? What's next?

What's the next chapter? What do we need to know about you? Well, you know, like I've been really focused on the storytelling aspect of our brand and our story. And I've been really lucky to have done like interviews from the New York Times to CNN, to all the national media right here in Canada, to even in the Middle East, the top of Al Jazeera and others. I've told our story in the book written by John Tatry, told our story in a movie that was directed by Jonathan Kaiser,

Piece by Chocolate. The film now is available on video on demand everywhere. It was released in cineplex and movie theaters. It was, it is on Crave. It was on airlines across the world. People were flying in the world cup in qatar last year they were texting me saying that they watched the movie on their way from vienna or from rome or from paris to qatar to watch the world cup and millions and millions of people

now are aware of of our story but the my my uh advocacy and and my role would never end until really there is no need for the word peace. Because this should be like, you know, something that we don't talk about. You know, I feel sometimes that I feel embarrassed that there is really a reason even or a need to call a company Peace by Chocolate. Because why would that be a necessity if we all love each other or we are all kind to each other? We have to remind each other of the blessings that we have. I feel embarrassed that we sometimes, that really there is a need for that, right? Because that should be like a common sense.

That should be like the basics, right? It shouldn't be even a thing. Why would you have to fight for peace? It should be even the thing that we are born with. This should be the thing that we are taught every day so like you know there is there's no reason you know to do that it should be it should be like something that exists out there without even having to think about it like if you call it oxygen by chocolate oxygen is is out there you don't think about it no one really asked for it it is already out there it is for a fact out there but i think peace is still

a necessity because we need to be reminded every day that without peace no one can go to work no one can build businesses you cannot raise kids you cannot do anything without peace so can i tell you something i think that you, your brilliance, you're well on your way to creating that. And I don't know, I hope that Canadians know how lucky we are to have your brilliance. My question to you is, do you know how amazing you are? I don't think I am. Thank you. That's, that's very flattering, but you know, the, uh, the reason don't do, you know, I mean, when you sit here and listen to me for this last hour, I mean,

and I know I'm trying to get you out of here, but like, I'm sorry, you might miss your flight. Do you know, as you speak about this, I mean, you're a young man, you're, you're into the next chapter. You've survived a million lifetimes that so many people listening today. I mean, I, the fact that you've witnessed some things that so many people, so many tiny humans should never, that you have, you've now created this business, you employ over 500 people in a country that is so lucky to have you. Do you get any moments to just, to just be in what you, your father, your mother, your siblings have sacrificed and have created? Do you, do you know? Yeah. You know, I, I reflect, I reflect every single day. I, um, I also journal a lot. Like,

you know, I, I write down things and every day is, is a, is a brand new opportunity to do greater, greater things. And, uh, you know, like I write down what I'm proud of. I write down what I'm grateful for. I celebrate gratitude every single day because it just shifts my mindset from the things that I don't have to the things that I do have. And I write down what I'm excited about, the things that I'm looking forward to. All of that stuff, you know, has to be in one place. And I write that down every day before I go to sleep. And it just every day, just like a mind opening, you know, on the things that many people take for granted. But we are so honored, you know, to have been able to develop that platform that a lot of people are looking for. A lot of people are missing on a sense of hope.

You know, there's a lot of anxiety. There's a lot of hatred. There's a lot of fear out there uh people are worried about their next day you know people are worried about their paychecks people are worried about uh about what what climate change might might bring in you know with all the floodings like nova scotia within two months had suffered wildfires and floodings at the same you you know, within, within a few weeks time, time span. And that's dangerous. And that's really scary to a lot of people. Um, but I'm there to deliver a message of hope. And if I don't believe in that hope, then how would I authentically translate it to others? Right. It has to be generated from, from me. talk to my family, you know, quite often about how did all of that happen, right?

And sometimes we just sit around that dinner table in our house. I was there yesterday and my aunt was sitting with us. This is our first dinner with my aunt since she came to Canada. We're just sitting around that table. It was like, wow, you know, we were like getting messages from people around the world. Like someone in France texted me yesterday. We're like, we watched your movie on Prime. And they were crying, you know, and they were saying how life changing that was for them.

Because for once, they just didn't believe anything good can come out from humanity. And then it just restored, you know, the faith for them that, yes, when we are all loving each other, I think magic can happen. And it's just at the end of the day, you know, my favorite motto has always been that love is the answer, hate is the cancer. Oh, love is the answer. And if you want to be an ambassador of hope uh tara cadet i can tell you that you've been you've restored some hope in this heart so i from the bottom of my heart thank you thank you for the sacrifice i see it i feel it i hear

it i know that you still live it every day the success is apparent to everyone but the sacrifice may not be and i I I'm just honored by your presence. I'm the one honored. I'm the one who's honored. So thank you. Peace by chocolate, uh, humans. Uh, thank you for sitting with us. Um, everything that you need to know about this remarkable human and his family are going to be in our show notes. Um, I cannot wait to see what's next for you. I will be cheering in the biggest way, the biggest way. And you have just taught me so much today. So thank you. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Thank you as well for having me. This has been an absolutely

great conversation. Everybody take it and run, take it and run. Thank you. I'm a registered clinical psychologist here in beautiful Alberta, Canada. The content created and produced in this show is not intended as specific therapeutic advice. The intention of this podcast is to provide information, resources, some education, and hopefully a little hope. The Everyone Comes From Somewhere podcast by me, Dr. Jodi Carrington, is produced by Brian Brian Seaver, Taylor McGilvery, and the amazing Jeremy Saunders at Snack Labs. Our executive producer is the one and only, my Marty Piller.

Our marketing strategist is Caitlin Beneteau. And our PR big shooters are Des Veneau and Barry Cohen. Our agent, the 007 guy, is Jeff Lowness from the Talent Bureau. And my emotional support during the taping of these credits was and is and will always be my son, Asher Grant.