Spirit of Intelligence and Poise

An Interview with Mary Fakhoury

By:  Sarah Said

Excerpt from original article

             All my life I’ve been a dreamer, but it’s the power of believing in your heart that allows you to seek what your heart desires.  I am also a firm believer of being humble. When your ego becomes your best friend, it can also become your enemy.  We learn so many values in life and that allow us to be what we can be.  Success is a blessing, not a right over others.

            I am blessed to come from a wonderful and very diverse family; we all have different professions that range from medicine to education, but they are each just as important as the others in their contributions to society.  I have to say that I have been blessed with a wonderful mother who raised us to work hard and respect ourselves and others.  She always put us first no matter what.  I will enrich my own kids with the values of diversity and contributing to society that I grew up with.

                                                          -Mary Fakhoury

            We live in a world of people who possess diverse talents.  There are those who chose to focus on one talent and spend their entire lives just perfecting that one talent.  Yet, there are the same few who can make a huge difference with a rainbow of many different talents and abilities.  Mary Fakhoury is in her own right a “renaissance woman.”  Mary wears many hats in the world with her many different talents and abilities.  She is a symbol of intellectuality and perseverance because she has spent her entire life working towards healing the world with her gifts as a teacher, humanitarian, musician, entrepreneur and model.  She has showed the world that when you have a vision and you believe in that vision, you can make reality of your dreams.

            Mary’s major love in life is music.  Her love of music stemmed from growing up with a father who was a famous singer in the Middle Eastern community.  Mary’s father would rehearse in her family’s living room every night with his Middle Eastern band. The eight-year-old Mary would sneak down the stairs (since it was past her bedtime) and dream about one day singing with an orchestra and a large crowd. 

Mary’s dreams are now becoming a reality with the release of her first CD in 2003 called About Me and her own production company entitled Music Girl Productions (which is affiliated with BMI music).  Her next CD should appear on the music scene as soon as next year.  About her music Mary says “I hope to bring back the harmony and classy mysticism of the Edith Plafs and Helen Humes styles of the 1930’s and 1940’s with a new age twist.”  Mary’s musical styles range from rhythms of jazz and to rock.  Mary not only sings in English, but she also sings in Arabic and French as well.  Mary’s love for music also has put her on many committees.  She is part of the Grammy committee where she helps vote for the winners every year.  She is a member of the Society of Music Authors and Composers.  Besides being a musical talent, she is also a model who works in commercials and print advertising. 

            Mary graduated with a degree in communications from Columbia College. Yet, Mary realized that broadcasting was not the field she wanted to go into.  She later went back to school and received a Master’s degree in Education.  When asked what her greatest contribution to society was, Mary explained that her greatest contribution was in the classroom.  “I inspire and I educate and that is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.”  Students who have been in her classroom have seen the integrity that Mary carries as a person and actually begin modeling it themselves.  Mary has her own tutoring services that provide quality and accessible tutoring to students who are in need of services.  This service is called www.teacherandtutor.com.

             With all of the activity in her life, Mary still finds time to be a humanitarian and model citizen.  Many of the proceeds for Mary’s last CD are going to help Hurricane Katrina victims through the American Red Cross.  She also volunteers at the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  She spends time helping by healing the pain of women and children at the Husod House for battered women and children.  Mary also serves the homeless at various soup kitchens and shelters around the city of Chicago.

            Mary is someone you should know because she has beaten every obstacle in her way to become a hero to young people.  She is successful and she actually enjoys her life and her career.  To learn more about Mary see her website at www.maryfakhoury.com.  You will learn many more exciting details about this amazing woman.

Spirit: As an inspiration to diverse women around the world, what have been your greatest accomplishments, and what has been the force that motivates you to achieve your goals?

Mary: As a woman of diversity coming from both a Jordanian and Greek background, I appreciate the struggles that have come and continue to come as a result of the strict upbringing I was born into, I would have to say that my greatest accomplishment was breaking away from the fear that I had of following a career in music and entertainment, simply because the of the culture. I was raised to frown upon such career choices, because it was associated with a "hedonistic lifestyle" which is completely untrue. I think it’s the way you live your life and the way you were brought up which effects whether or not you’re going to make bad decisions. Making bad decisions has nothing to do with the profession you choose. That was the hardest to get my family to understand. Yes I am a singer, I love to sing, I was given a godly talent, but I am still that innocent person, who thinks like a child. All of this is not going to change. The major force in my life that motivates me is that inner voice we are all born with, the drive that tells you to cast away the negativity in your life and focus on the ultimate. This drive is what causes me to keep going and the belief that  I know I am going to get somewhere big and I believing it!