Michel Karkour

About Beyond Cubicles

📢 #BeyondCubicles is a weekly LinkedIn series created by Carolina D’Souza, born out of her own experience transitioning from a corporate career to independent consulting. Since its launch in June 2024, the series has evolved into a platform that showcases the inspiring journeys of several founders who have redefined the traditional 9-to-5.

Through authentic narratives, #BeyondCubicles highlights themes of courage, resilience, and purpose. The stories feature individuals from diverse industries—ranging from tech and education to wellness and adventure—who share their experiences of stepping away from conventional roles to pursue passion-driven careers. 

✨ Note: All features in this series are unpaid and shared as a way to honor and amplify real stories of transformation.

“I am a Gastronome. It is not a title I gave myself. It’s who I am, someone who understands what they’re eating, who made it, and why it matters,” says Michel Karkour.

 

After more than a decade with British American Tobacco across GCC and MEA markets, he reached a point where the role had taken him as far as it could.

 

“The credibility I had built belonged to the company, not to me,” he says.

 

The UAE had given him relationships, market knowledge, and an understanding of what premium consumers wanted. “

 

At some point, not using that to build something of my own felt like a waste,” he says.

 

What began as a concept in 2011 became Les Gastronomes by 2013, and launched as an e-commerce platform in 2016. It connects more than 10,000 customers with curated suppliers across specialty olive oils, fine meats, artisanal pantry products, and brands with a story behind them.

 

The platform has grown into an ecosystem: Made in UAE program, business partner program, travel vertical, and market entry services. That led directly to Jood Emarat, “the first UAE-focused marketplace”, launching Q4 2026.

 

The transition brought isolation. “In a corporate, you are surrounded by teams, feedback loops, hierarchy,” he says. “When you step out, all of that disappears.”

 

Co-founding with Stephanie helped. So did one decision few discuss: a family member taking a salaried role early, keeping the household stable while he reinvested in the business.

 

Small wins did the rest: a supplier choosing to work with him, a returning customer, a conversation turning into a partnership. Validation came from customers. “People who chose to trust what we were building,” he says.

 

His personal brand followed the same shift, from leading with the company to leading with a point of view. “On food culture in the Gulf, on what premium really means in this market, on how international brands misread the UAE consumer,” he says. “It has opened conversations a company name never would have.”

 

His advice: find a mentor who has walked it. “That relationship changes everything,” he says.

 

For the Lebanese Gastronome who came to Abu Dhabi as a child and returned after his degree from EHL Lausanne, the world’s leading hospitality management institution, Dubai is home. “I can’t imagine building this anywhere else.”