*** ----> Brewing up a Dream | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Brewing up a Dream

Anfal Fekri has always been a multifaceted and multi- passionate person with a keen interest in entrepreneurship. She also takes part in different voluntary organisations that focus on leadership and self- development. 

Fekri knew she never wanted to settle for a regular job. She graduated from Bahrain Polytechnic majoring in Management and specialising in entrepreneurship. She is the first Bahraini Woman Tea Specialist in the Middle East from the World Tea Academy.

Fekri is the founder of Silver Tea Leaf, the first exclusive tea consultation and training service provider for hotels and restaurants. She is also a co-founder and project manager of Climate Faith BH, an initiative that aims at raising awareness for the cause of climate change in Bahrain.

Silver Tea Leaf

Silver Tea Leaf, the first- of-its-kind in Bahrain, was established in December 2014 to create better experience for tea lovers. 

Fekri first thought of establishing an online teashop to sell people exclusive teas in 2013, but then the idea developed into having a tea house in Bahrain.

Fekri explained, “I have always been passionate about tea and dreamt of having my own tea business. During the past few years, many people have started to explore the world of tea. Now you hear people talking about drinking various types of teas such as green tea and white tea, while in the past it was only black tea (commonly known as red tea). They have started to realise the taste difference between the tea as well as the great effects that they can obtain from the beverage.”

“During the intensive research on premium teas being served in hotels and restaurant, I realised that there was great knowledge and experience gap in preparing and serving tea. Simple neglected elements that are involved in preparing and serving tea can dramatically affect the taste and experience outcome for the customer,” she said, adding, “Silver Tea Leaf is established to provide consultation and training service because we believe that it is time to have a clear standard for preparing and serving tea.” 

Fekri as a business and social entrepreneur

According to Fekri, an entrepreneur is a person who seeks to improve a current situation that is not going well, or a situation that has a potential to grow in any fields in life.

“You can be an  entrepreneur at home, at your job, in your community as well as with yourself as long as you can identify a problem and seek for ways to solve and improve it,” she said.

She said that as an entrepreneur, she makes sure to constantly maintain her motivation and inspiration towards achieving her goals.

“I believe that living a balanced life of giving and receiving is what drives me intrinsically,” she said.

"Being a business and social entrepreneur are very significant to me. Leading the business taught me how to become more disciplined, flexible and adaptive to changes in the environment around me, how to solve a problem and finally how to be determined and assertive to achieve what I need to achieve,” she said.

“While, on the other hand, as a social entrepreneur, I feel that I have the responsibility to use the knowledge and experience that I got throughout my years of experience to give back to causes I truly believe in and which are relevant to my country and community,” Fekri added. Fekri is currently working on the Climate Faith BH project.

The Climate Faith BH aims to introduce the concept of climate change and faith to Bahrain by conducting educational workshops on the science of climate change and how faith is connected to it.

Fekri’s has an inspiring message for the youth.

She said, “I know that many of us out there have great ideas that will add a great value to the world, but the voice of self-doubt should be completely ignored. We need to make sure of our motivation to pursue our dreams.” 

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Explore the world of tea! 

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A view of tea leaves varieties