Rest Interior
Hashem Mahmoud, finalist of the “Henry Ngai Medium to Large” category 2019
The Ethnic Business Awards are Australia’s longest running national business awards program that selects twelve finalists each year in three categories. The stories of these twelve finalists always inspire. These are never overnight success stories, they are stories of resilience, perseverance and spirit. This is not to say that people don’t “get lucky” but often when they do, they have enormous gratitude to this country that facilitates such a life.
The awards always celebrate diversity and multiculturism and this has been true for more than three decades. Each year the Ethnic Business Awards shines a light on the stories of inspiration of our finalists. With 2020 being a year of challenges, it is a great idea to look back now at some of these stories of inspiration. Sometimes these moving stories provide us with hope for our own lives.
In 2019, the Ethnic Business Awards Foundation was honoured to recognise Hashem Mahmoud as the finalist of the “Henry Ngai Medium to Large” category. Hashem is the founder and managing director of Rest Interior. When he first learned that he was a finalist Hashem wrote,
“Winning this EBA Re-affirms my true belief that Success is not simply measured by materialistic gains, but rather a celebration of the journey in achieving your most desired outcomes.”
Born to a farmer in a remote village in a family of 8 children living in a mud brick home, Hashem grew up poor. He left school in grade 6 due to poverty and the need to provide an income to the family. By the age of 16, He was the main earner for the family. At that time, the Civil war broke out in Lebanon and he witnessed the atrocities of the civil war and repeated shelling and sniper attacks that left those around him dead in the streets. At the age of 18, he was informed about the opportunities of Australia and immediately decided to escape the war and look for better life in Australia.
Hashem Mahmoud landed in Australia from Lebanon with barely any money in his pocket in the spring of 1978, leaving behind a family and country devastated by the physical, social and psychological effects of a soul-wrenching civil war. Arming himself with the timeless qualities of resilience, courage and a conviction to succeed against all odds, Hashem sustained numerous blows of adversity. Shortly after arriving he was unfortunate to be a passenger in a terrible car accident and be hospitalised for 2 months with mass head trauma & bandages covering my eyes. During his time in hospital he received the worst news that his mother had passed away in Lebanon. He felt helpless that he was not able to say bye to his mother and even attend the funeral. He was told a good news that he was able to recover fully and a bad news that he cannot take any physical work for full year. But he took advantage of the situation and enrolled in government run English classes and improved his English. In 1982, he was back on his feet again and started a subcontracting business which gained more momentum in the next year. However, he lost all the money he made when one of his clients went into liquidation. But he did not give up. Driven to build a better life through his skills, In 1985, Hashem established Easy Rest, focusing on commercial & residential architectural joinery. Once again, the business reached the verge of bankruptcy when his business partner had shut the doors, sacked the employees and abandoned the business during his urgent trip to his critically ill father. However, all these obstacles made him question whether he should continue his business venture or not, he knew that he had not travelled 18,000kms from his family to simply give up. By 1996, he created Rest Interior, an extension to the business, providing complete project management services including commercial fit outs. From a 700m² factory and 3 employees in 1985, the company today boasts a 7,000m² state-of-the-art facility, employing 150 employees and is recognized as one of Australia’s Top 10 leaders in its industry.
As he is forever grateful for the opportunities Australia has given him, he thrives to give as much as he can to as many people as possible. He supports local schools by providing students with work experience, apprenticeships programs and Indigenous programs. He has also contributed to the Yagoona and Greenacre ASC College campuses and the youth programs for the local Marrickville Youth centre.