From The Irish Sea To The Arabian Gulf: Our Founder’s Story

At the age of 18, I decided to learn Arabic. It was a pretty rogue decision for a girl from the Isle of Man – a tiny island in the Irish Sea with a population of just 80,000. But it was a decision that changed my life. I quickly fell in love with the Arabic language and became fascinated with the history, politics and cultures of the Middle East.

This intensified when I moved to the Sultanate of Oman, where I explored ancient forts and sprawling deserts, experienced legendary Omani hospitality and made life-long friends. Over the years since, I have lived, worked, studied and travelled all over the Middle East and North Africa, experiencing first-hand the beauty and diversity of this deeply complex region and meeting so many incredible, kind and inspiring humans.

Yet still, so often, I’m hit with the same questions from people back home –

‘Isn’t it dangerous over there?’ ‘Do you feel comfortable there as a woman?’

It was these questions that led me to start a humble blog in 2015 called Pink Jinn. I used it to share my experiences of the region, highlighting the beautiful places I visited and the extraordinary people I had the privilege to meet and work with. This seemed particularly important at a time when racism and xenophobia were on the rise in the west, and negative stereotypes of the region continued to dominate news headlines.

After graduating, I started to explore corporate careers that would keep me in the region and using my Arabic. After a brief spell in a very sensible (but totally NOT for me) job in finance, I landed in international development, working on capacity building programs with NGOs and governments in the Middle East.

I loved the work. I was travelling in the region, meeting fascinating people, learning about how to manage projects and facilitate training for a variety of audiences, from grassroots volunteers to senior government officials.

But at the same time, I couldn’t help becoming slightly disillusioned with the not-for-profit sector, and development as a whole.

So often, instead of being empowered, communities end up locked in cycles of dependence on the changing whims and objectives of international donors for funding and opportunities. And despite attempts to change them, white saviourism and reductionist narratives of the Middle East remain rife in the field.

Seeing this in action inspired me learn more about in the idea of sustainability in development, as well as the crossovers between the NGO, government and private sectors. This led me to turn my humble blog into a business: Today, Pink Jinn is a socially conscious lifestyle brand which focuses on supporting communities in the Middle East and North Africa through business and entrepreneurship.

We partner with experts, artisans, entrepreneurs, businesses, social enterprises and NGOs across the region, from Morocco to Yemen, connecting them with markets overseas to help them grow sustainably and support their communities – on their own terms.

Through our platform, we aim to bridge cultural barriers, celebrate and explore cultural heritage, and amplify the voices of the region’s movers, shakers and change-makers.

Pink Jinn is my ultimate passion project.

It brings together all of my interests – business, politics, people, development, cultural heritage and, of course, the Middle East and North Africa.

My goal is to keep growing and scaling our platform by connecting with others who are as passionate about the MENA as we are, as well as partnering with people, projects and communities whose work is inspiring change and creating impact across the region and beyond.

To do this, we must remain driven by impact and empathy, always considering how we can serve the communities we’re trying to support in the most effective and sustainable way. Right now, that looks like sourcing products from local businesses and highlighting the stories of local people – particularly those working with marginalised communities like refugees and survivors of conflict. Who knows – over time that might change.

We’re not trying to ‘empower’ anyone or ‘give people a voice’. The people we work with are already empowered. They already have a voice. Pink Jinn merely aims to amplify those voices and their impact, by sharing our platform and our community with them.

Meanwhile, through the Blog and our Arabic platform, we will continue to encourage people outside of the MENA to further their own education of the region. To challenge our community to join us on our own journey of unlearning the orientalist lessons we’ve been taught growing up in the ‘West’, so that we can continue to discover the region’s incredible complexity and diversity together.

I hope you’ll join us ✨

Laura Cretney

Founder & CEO of Pink Jinn