Marianne Zakhour did not grow up in Lebanon, but she always dreamed of living there one day. She got accepted in Civil Engineering at the American University of Beirut and was getting ready to move in with her uncle and his family in Beirut before he passed away that summer. 

“That was a pivotal moment in my life. I couldn’t go anymore. I was too close to him,” she said. Instead, she went to McGill University in Montreal to study commerce. The dream of coming back home was shattered but her efforts to help Lebanese carried on.  

A decade later, Zakhour co-founded Orderbot, an e-commerce, order management and back office platform for modern e-commerce, which was recently acquired by a US firm. “I focused on tech because it is very solution driven. After finishing my studies, I learned everything I needed to learn to start my own business.”

Today, aside from running her business, Zakhour is also outsourcing tech work to Lebanese in their home country through LebNet, as a way of giving back. Her company hired a senior developer knowledgeable in ASP.Net coding, who is working remotely with Orderbot for two months now, after being referred to by LebNet board member Jeanine Akiki. Those interested in outsourcing work to Lebanon can send an email to [email protected] 

In the first part of a LebNet video series on Women in Tech, Zeina Saad, Senior Consultant at Exponent Partners interviewed Marianne Zakhour, who talked about women in leadership, future trends in e-commerce, career takeaways and advice for younger women.

Watch the full interview sponsored by Joun Technologies here