Not every idea, brand, or business begins with passion or a clear vision. Sometimes, it begins with a void, when the only thing you know for certain is that it’s time for a change.

I remember spending a couple of years exploring different ideas, looking for something new to build, but none seemed to fit for long. Then I came across a few soap and body-care products made with cold-pressed olive oil. They were only a handful, but I saw something much bigger in them. I saw the potential to build an entire line around them.

This is how the journey began, and the deeper I went into it, the more personal it became. It brought together many layers of me; things I cared about, grew up with, valued, and mostly loved.

It carries the scents of my home-yard jasmine tree, the sage and thyme that filled our homes, and the big gallons of olive oil we had been carrying since we were kids.

And for the first time, I didn’t begin by asking whether the market needed it or whether it was the best financial opportunity. I chose it instinctively, before making the slightest effort to find out whether the market would agree with me.

Somewhere along the way, the question changed from “Is this what the market needs?” to “Does this feel like me?”

That question stayed with me throughout every phase of planning and creating, guiding one choice over another, often toward a deeper thought and a longer vision that not everyone agreed with.

When I was asked what HibaVie represents to me, my thoughts went beyond the products, the ingredients, the heritage, and the roots. The answer that came naturally was: Choose Deeper.

And that is what Choose Deeper continues to remind me: that sometimes there is something behind the obvious; a feeling, an instinct, a reason we don’t necessarily see at first, but reveals itself along the way.

Hiba Zoabi