UrbanPalestine, My Love

Hi there,

Yara here! I’m UrbanPal’s bricklayer and MeYaTa middle child/troublemaker. 

I quit my corporate job after 4.5 years at Amazon to jump into UrbanPal full time. All my life I had focused on doing the right thing- getting a safe degree from a good university, getting good grades, having a good job, and all the other “perfect” things. None of them fed my soul, though.

Having been recently married and relocating, I was burnt out and overwhelmed by so much change. I took the time to reprioritize and organize my life, knowing that our dream project was brewing in the background. It was time to quit. 

My sisters are my backbone, my support system, and joint dreamers. They forced me to take a step back, nurture myself, and take the time to build the back end as the pieces fell together for all of us; which paved the way for us to wholeheartedly launch this at the right time. 

During the past year, I’ve strategized, scoured, researched, and set up the UrbanPal business with a MeYaTa foundation. UrbanPal was built with the foundation of giving back to Palestine in every possible way, which is a true guiding principle in all our lives. My sisters create much of our artwork and our content while providing guidance on all creative decisions. We complete each other in the best ways as we learn how to navigate being partners and sisters. 

Each one of us is unique in her own way. Sometimes I like to joke that I’m the black sheep because, while both my sisters are great artists, I objectively lack any sort of artistic skill. I’m the data-driven one, the financier, the project manager. I plan, create processes, build systems, and write documents corporate-style.

Behind the scenes, you’ll often catch me confusing my sisters with strategy documents and projections, or simply creating/reviewing my own for fun. Their three words always force me to keep moving and save me from analysis paralysis: “WHAT’S THE POINT?!”

We have really high standards, and each one of us holds the rest accountable if we feel we’re starting to slip. From trying to find seamstresses and child artists to finally being here with a network of partners is surreal. I can’t wait to see how far we’re going to go as we stay true to our mission and build an incredible community.

My intention in this business is to put you, our customer, at the center of everything. Our website, policies, and offerings were all built with your comfort in mind so please do let us know if you have any feedback, I’m obsessed with feedback. 

Thank you for your support, and for allowing us to bring our dreams to life. We are forever grateful for this surreal opportunity. Onwards and upward for us all. ❤️

Hibkom,

Yara