The Storyteller
Sheikh Dr. Majid Al Qassimi has co-founded companies in very different sectors. But they share a common narrative about sustainability and community.
By Catherine Mazy
Illustration by Sarah Hanson
Sheikh Dr. Majid Al Qassimi co-founded three businesses—a consultancy, a fair-trade coffee importer and a media business. Trained as a veterinarian, he worked for the UAE government as chief veterinary officer and as food and agriculture adviser to the minister of climate change and environment. But he considers himself a storyteller above all.
“Storytelling connects everything I do,” he says. “Through all my businesses runs this red thread where I’m trying to give a voice to the environment, sustainability, planet Earth, or communities that don’t have that voice yet.”
The consultancy, Soma Mater, helps governments and businesses achieve their goals toward food sustainability and circular economy practices. People’s Coffee helps create value for farmers in Yemen, the cradle of coffee, by integrating them with markets and paying fair prices. Finyal Media focuses squarely on storytelling, with narrative podcasts reminiscent of old-time radio shows, but aimed at modern Arab youth.
A love for science and biology led Al Qassimi to veterinary studies, and he realised biology had myriad applications. Rather than focus on one animal at a time, he pursued a macro view, building on his technical knowledge to communicate policy ideas to the public and private sector. He also draws on his creative interests in music (he plays drums) and crafts (he enjoys woodwork), as well as a passion for communications and marketing. “I’m always cross-pollinating, taking ideas from one circle and putting them in another,” he says.
For example, Soma Mater cross-pollinates by bringing in subject-matter experts to fine-tune holistic solutions. “We work to create an overarching narrative that all these experts can contribute to, and then you have a solution that sits better in the environment you’re in because it’s integrated with stakeholders,” Al Qassimi says.
Al Qassimi and co-founders Mshari Alonaizy and Leila Hamadeh created Finyal Media, a podcast production company, in 2019 to create content for young Arabs. It was acquired last September by Sowt Media. Photo: Finyal media
Al Qassimi likes to use biological terms, like “cross-pollinating,” in a business context. Take Soma Mater—soma is the body of a cell, which contains the nucleus, and mater means mother, like Mother Earth. He thinks nature sets a good example for business. “What I love about the natural world is that it wastes nothing and it always finds a way,” he says. “Either you work with it or you’ll have to deal with the consequences. You can leverage what nature does to your advantage.”
The zeitgeist globally and in the UAE presents opportunities for sustainability. While he was still working in government, people sought his advice on environmental ideas, which is why he co-founded Soma Mater in 2020 with Greg Ohanessian, to “understand the local context and who can bring the idea to sit comfortably in how we do things, to take the ambitions of the government and leadership and help the private sector achieve that. We’re trying to catalyse this movement. We believe the Middle East and North Africa can show leadership in this,” he says.
Soma Mater is working on reusable packaging, large-scale composting, developing food security strategies, improving transparency in the food supply chain and reducing food waste. It helped Dibba Bay Oysters get recognition as safe production for export—a win for a country that’s a net importer of food, and also a win for the environment, oysters filter and clean water, Al Qassimi says.
Al Qassimi embraces sustainability in all its forms, whether respect for the environment or for people. Hence, People’s Coffee, created with Ali Mansour Al Ali in 2020. “When you know that coffee originated in this region, between Ethiopia and Yemen, it’s kind of ironic to be drinking coffee from Brazil or Colombia,” he says. The eight-year-long conflict aside, “Yemen has so much potential and opportunity but has not had its moment in the spotlight. The farmer in Yemen is working 24/7, 365 days a year to make sure his crop doesn’t fail. But farmers are at the bottom of the value retention. We’re trying to create a virtuous circular value rather than a one-way street.”
Al Qassimi didn’t start drinking coffee until age 35, but now he’s a passionate advocate. People’s Coffee sells beans to coffee shops in the region and plans to sell directly to consumers. It is also looking to expand into other products, such as Yemen’s prized honey. “MENA is huge. We’re looking at how to leverage that,” Al Qassimi says. “If smaller farming communities got access to markets they would really benefit.”
Coffee filters into Al Qassimi’s third business, Finyal Media, a podcast production company created in 2019. Finyal is the Emirati word for a small coffee cup—oral history is often told over coffee. The company creates content for young Arabs, telling stories that help them connect with the Arab world. It raised money from Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre, among others. It was acquired in September by Sowt Media, a digital audio media company based in Amman, giving serial founder Al Qassimi his first successful exit.
Finyal is “storytelling in a very literal sense,” Al Qassimi says. “We realised we are a culture of storytellers.” The company has several dramatic shows, from science fiction to mystery to adventure to a modernised take on “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves”, while other shows feature informative discussions about topics like food, music, art or culture.
Al Qassimi had been “burning through NPR [National Public Radio] and the podcast universe of the US” during commutes. He realised people were talking about podcasts but “nobody is telling our stories here, from around the corner.” He and his co-founders, Mshari Alonaizy and Leila Hamadeh, quickly built Finyal Media into the largest narrative podcast network in the Middle East.
Al Qassimi had found podcasts a way to enrich his mind during commutes. “In a way I was trying to be more efficient with my time,” he says. When he was finishing school, his mother helped him do a SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. His weakness was time management, and he looks everywhere for ways to improve. He took up jumping rope because it was efficient—an intense workout that could be done anywhere, anytime. As someone with so many irons in the fire, efficiency is important. But there’s one place where multitasking is forbidden: his family.
Among the values he hopes to impart to his three young children are being a student for life, finding interests across disciplines and taking the initiative to solve problems. They need only look to their father for an example of how to do well by doing good.
