OFFICE HOURS 006. Ayah Halilah

Marketing guru / Founder / tea sommelier

In our 20s, my best friend and I had a system: book 47F aisle and window, manifest that no one took the middle, and voilà — economy turned into our personal first-class pod. We’d gab non-stop until the dinner trays came clattering down, drink too much red wine, pop a Zanzi, and wake up in Paris like nothing happened. We called it office hours — our favorite time to catch up, spill, scheme, and dream, midair.

So, in the spirit of those airborne therapy sessions, I’m kicking off this new series: a space to sit down with people I admire, people I love, and people I’m just wildly curious about. Same energy — more space and better wine.

In today’s edition of Cool friends doing COOL things -

I first met Ayah a few years ago when she was heading off on a holi-date — like a regular date, but on holiday (a move we strongly endorse) — with one of my very good friends. We were all reuniting in Amsterdam to visit friends who had just relocated, part of what we jokingly call summer camp — a tradition that’s still going strong today, usually somewhere in Europe. It worked out — they got married — and somewhere along the way, Ayah and I became friend-friends.

Said holi-date in Amsterdam, 2021

Her background, like many of my friends is as global as it gets. With Palestinian roots, she’s studied in Toronto, lived in Berlin, Dubai, and most recently, Riyadh, where she leads marketing for the region’s coolest music empire: MDLBEAST.

She’s also tea obsessive — and not in a casual way. Ayah is a certified tea sommelier (yes, that’s a thing), and she's quietly brewing a passion project of her own: a Japanese tea brand. Watch this space.

Welcome to Office Hours, Ayah!