Our January meeting found its attendees mesmerized by our first speaker of 2015: Mr. Q. Officially, he is Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, the founder of iloveqatar.net. He is also a frequent star in his cultural and educational video clips that explain and answer expats’ questions about Qatar: QTips. (If you haven’t seen any and want to learn about Qatar or just have a good laugh, check out his YouTube channel.)
While being educated in the U.K. and completing a law degree, he started his own business and sold it making enough to pay back his sponsors in Qatar, getting himself started on the path he wanted versus the path that others wanted him to follow. He has surpassed the expectations of many, but not his own. His grandmother’s wise words have always rang in his ears and kept him motivated despite the many hurdles that he has had to jump.
The vignettes he shared in his talk or when answering our questions endeared him to our audience. There was an especially loud collective laugh when he asked if he could use a “bad word” to describe how the perilous driving of certain Qataris doesn’t change, whether chauffeuring Qataris or expats. His demeanor made all of us feel like we had just made a new friend. We will all be watching to see what he does next to enhance the country that he loves: Qatar.