Meet Lana Bana Hawatmeh of Healthy Habibi’s

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lana Bana Hawatmeh.

Lana Bana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
This is my story on how Healthy Habibi’s was born: my journey began around May 2017 When began working my second job at Jamul casino as a valet attendant for grave yard shifts, while working day shifts as an infant/toddler teacher. Being a single mother Working two full time jobs, while raising a child alone in costly San Diego. I not only spent 90% of my day away from my son, but I was also running on hardly any sleep. I was starting to make my self sick being at work all day (both jobs) and trying to squeeze in some naps here and there, I never found time to eat or take care of my body. I then began dedicating my Sunday’s to meal prepping for me and my son. Slowly friends and family began asking to pay me to prep for them. Given the fact my schedule was already hectic and crazy I could only do it for my immediate family. A few months later i became the valet supervisor and slowly worked my way up to fill the manager position. Becoming a manger allowed me to switch to morning shifts and not only be with my son more but i was making more to where i didn’t need another job or over time hours. About a 7 months later I ended up meeting the man that ended up changing my life for the better. We began dating and started seeing each other not only on our breaks at work, but out of work. We then began bringing our kids together and things got serious. Both of us working full time and raising our kids left us with not much free time on our hands, especially after working all day and coming home to make them dinner and do homework and prepare for our day again. So that’s when my meal prepping came in handy. It was way more convenient to grab a ready meal and throw it in the microwave and we were ready to go. A short while later we got the news that our family was growing by one more, we were expecting a new bundle of joy. At this time I was happy with my relationship, had a good paying stable job and I was just loving life. Me and my boyfriend bought a house, and just like that our world flipped upside down. The job I working so hard for, spent days and nights away from my son to earn the position I needed for financial stability was gone just like that. As soon as they received the news “I was pregnant” they began plotting against getting rid of me. They hired a manager that I had to train with all the knowledge I had for the last 2 1/2 years. And just like that he took my position and fired me under “not meeting probation period requirements”. That was a hard pill to swallow not only because i didn’t have a job anymore, but we just moved into our new home, and we were expecting our baby just a little over 4 months later. So that’s how “Healthy Habibi’s” was born! I had to find a way to make ends meet given the fact I was pregnant and no one would hire me. I began advertising and i began receiving orders. I have came along way and I will continue to grow more every day. This is only the beginning. I plan on expanding my business and watch it grow more over the next years.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a rough road. Through struggles and hardships, me and my son managed to make it through and find the light

Please tell us more about your business.
My company helps make people’s lives easier and reduce the stress of cooking especially with a busy work week.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could start over I would have took a leap of faith and tried this out instead of dealing with the struggles and hardships

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