Ziad Abbara, a dream leader, was born in Lebanon and studied in Beirut and France. He has made his dreams into reality by his magical ability to transfer spaces into extravagant events. He has been known for his extraordinary ability of developing locations into theatrical environments by using the most recent technologies in the market place.
Super-family-oriented Ziad Abbara’s interest in the Food and Beverages (F&B) industry was accelerated by his family’s links in the industry, from his father’s own resort back home in Lebanon. But the most valuable lessons of his life were learned by him when he stepped into France to achieve his food dreams. Stepping out of the comfort zone was never easy for him, but the cultural exposure helped him grow as a professional. He was attracted to the event production and management industry by its excitement in meeting new people, and helping them achieve their goals of a perfectly conceptualised and designed party.
Abbara is known for a ‘touch of theatre’ and the infusion of emotions in the events he design. “I always feel eager to include details like flower arrangements and most recent technologies from the market in my events. This helps me a lot in presenting the most theatrical and unique set up,” says Abbara. Besides, he is a man made up from multitude of emotions; he always feels an emotional connect with his customers and their events, which help him craft the most heart-rending events. Abbara had recently played a major role in Ladurée’s association with Foodlink when they helped organise an event for Mukesh and Nita Ambani to celebrate one of the biggest and the most lavish weddings ever. According to Abbara, this was a great opportunity for Ladurée’s team to let the food connoisseurs savour their unique, exotic and delicious sweets. The world today is ruled by fear, but not at Ladurée where it’s all about sweetness, well-being, and living dreams. Abbara also has a soulful approach to face the failures in his life. He hasn’t fallen often, but when he has, he treated it like a stone on the road. He could hit it and fall but he chose to step on it, and continue his journey. He is the firm believer that mistakes and failures happen all the time as a part and parcel of life, but it is how ‘we choose’ to perceive and deal with them. Whenever, anything goes wrong, he looks at the brighter side—he looks beyond the obvious.
For Abbara, nothing beats the feeling when an event comes to life as planned, and when he can share these moments with a team of like-minded people who have been working long hours to turn that moment into reality. This is why he always manages to skillfully deal with the pressures and heat of the industry.
His vision for Ladurée is quite vivid. According to him, every business has two basic components: a mission and core values. But many companies are missing one vital component: a vision. This is an idea or set of ideas that guide a company into the future. A vision is forward thinking and should push a company toward something bigger, better and greater. This is what he believes and that is what he does—pushes operations at Ladurée to be BIGGER, GREATER, BETTER!
