BUSINESS PURSUITS
ZIAD AL NAJDI: ENTREPRENEUR & INNOVATOR A success story despite all odds. By Dalia El Abd
When I reached adolescence, I fell in love with science books. I would often ask my father for cash to buy more books, not candy. I was reading about everything from biology and chemistry to history. Ziad Al Najdi
Growing up, Ziad and his father found their passion in nature. Ziad loved to observe and study God’s creations, whether animals, insects or plants, and discovered a love for learning. After his father passed away when he was 14, Ziad was left 18 JAN/FEB 2020
alone to plan his future. He would sell chickens at a local bird market for money. “Other times, I would sell homemade scientific instruments to students at school. They improved in physics and I got paid. Win-win!” Al Najdi shared. Simultaneously, he started learning how to code. Being the first member to join a university in his family, Ziad was put under a lot of pressure majoring in finance at King Fahd University. He struggled with depression while trying to focus in college, but remained
determined. “I wanted to do something to channel my emotions positively; I started learning to play the guitar. It was such a powerful way to express what I felt. Playing guitar saved me,” Ziad shared. Ziad pursued finance as a career. “My first job was at Ernst and Young as a financial consultant. That exposed me to the world of business. I also got into electronics and designed a system to control my entire room using my voice. I called the system Samantha. She controlled the lights,
PHOTO BY ABDULRAHMAN AL ATTAS
Embracing entrepreneurship is not an easy path to take. But Ziad Al Najdi, co-inventor of the Nadie product and having his own organic farm project in Riyadh, did not succumb to life’s hardships, and held his ground in the face of adversity.