Grid110 Founder Story: Meymuna from Flavors from Afar
This month’s Founder Story is about Meymuna Hussein-Cattan, the Founder of Flavors from Afar.
Sharing a meal is a delicious opportunity for cultural exchange and unity. Flavors from Afar’s story began in 1984, Meymuna was 3 years old when her family immigrated to Southern California as refugees from Ethiopia. Meymuna worked at swap meets and fast-food restaurants to help her family make ends meet. From a young age, she knew she was going to build a community to support refugee families.
In 2010, Meymuna’s childhood dream became a reality. Meymuna and her mother, Owliya, joined forces to create the Tiyya Foundation. Tiyya provides community support for families of refugees, low-income immigrants, and displaced Americans. The Tiyya Foundation has served more than 250 refugee families annually in Orange County and Los Angeles.
Tiyya has been very successful and inspired Meymuna to create Flavors from Afar in 2018. Flavors from Afar is an event and catering service led by immigrants. They develop and celebrate the culinary traditions, cultures, and stories of refugees and asylum hopefuls in Southern California. Flavors from Afar partners with refugees to help shape their culinary careers in their new country while also building bridges between them and their SoCal community.
To learn more about Meymuna’s entrepreneurship journey, check out the full interview below.
What is your venture? What do you do?
I’m the founder of Flavors from Afar, a social enterprise that employs the best Chefs in SoCal who were former refugees and asylum seekers. Flavors from Afar was established originally as an event and catering service bringing traditional recipes and global flavors to Los Angeles and Orange County. We now have a restaurant located in Little Ethiopia, less than 1 mile away from LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Inspired by our chefs’ vibrant cultures and rich histories, each dish is a celebration of home.
What prompted you to start your venture?
I established Flavors from Afar to allow the public to experience cuisines that you typically can not find outside of immigrant households. A portion of our proceeds helps to sustain The Tiyya Foundation’s programming that supports refugee and immigrant youth.
What’s unique and advantageous about being in LA for you and your venture?
Being based in Little Ethiopia as a social entrepreneur is very rewarding because my family and I were refugees from Ethiopia. Represents a full circle.
As you think back to your Grid110 experience, what are the 1–2 lessons or takeaways that still stick out to you?
- Know your target audience
- Really know your target audience
Considering what Grid110 provides and offers, what has been the most impactful to you as a founder and business? How has the Grid110 experience influenced your entrepreneurial journey?
Before joining Grid110, I did not have any colleagues that were entrepreneurs. It was very lonely, and my ambitions seemed out of the box for my network at the time. During and after Grid110, I finally felt understood and empowered. There is a sense of camaraderie that I have never experienced. This lovely feeling is not exclusive to being a student because I continue to feel supported a few years after. I am so thankful!
Time for FUN questions!
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Regal
What is your spirit animal?
Phoenix
Who is your role model?
Iman
If you could have a meal with anyone, living or deceased, who would it be? Why?
My younger self. I would like to say, “Great job, all your mistakes let me to where I am now.”
If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower?
I want to speak and understand every language.
You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?
Black. It’s beautiful, mysterious, and has more depth than you anticipate.
Random Fun Fact?
My Mom was the translator for the movie, Captain Phillips.
How can you support Flavors from Afar during this time? They need customers more than ever! For every meal purchased, they donate non-perishable foods to a low-income family via Tiyya.org. You can order their delicious global comfort food via Postmates, UberEats, Grubhub, and Doordash. If you visit Meymuna and Flavors from Afar in person, they will provide complimentary Somali Tea!
Follow and Support Flavors from Afar on Social Media!
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About Grid110
Grid110 provides mentoring and key resources for early-stage entrepreneurs in underserved regions. We support early-stage companies by connecting them to office space, mentors, and important resources during the most critical phase of their business life-cycle through education programs.
