Building A Brighter Future Through Purposeful Leadership
For Nicole Mouawad, entrepreneurship has never been simply about building a business. It has always been about building possibilities. As the Founder of Once Upon A Time Nursery and Kids Educational Center in Lebanon, Nicole has transformed her experience across finance, operations, business development, design, client servicing, and team leadership into a purpose driven journey centered on people.
Her story is shaped by resilience, curiosity, courage, and a strong belief that meaningful change begins when people are given the confidence and environment to grow.
Nicole chose to build her professional journey in Lebanon because she believes in the country and its people. In a place where uncertainty has often challenged businesses and individuals, choosing to stay, create, employ, and invest in the future requires more than ambition. It requires conviction.
For Nicole, that conviction has become one of the strongest foundations of her leadership journey.
A Career Built Through Many Experiences
Before entering the world of early childhood education, Nicole developed a broad professional background that exposed her to different sides of business. Her academic foundation in Accounting and Finance, followed by an MBA from ESA Business School, gave her a strong understanding of how organizations operate and grow.
However, her education did not end with academic qualifications. Her professional experience became another form of education.
Over more than 12 years, Nicole explored areas including finance, operations, business development, client servicing, design, wood production, and team management. Each role brought a different lesson and gradually shaped the entrepreneur she would become.
Operations taught her discipline and organization. Business development taught her how to identify opportunities even when circumstances appeared difficult. Client servicing showed her the importance of listening and trust. Design strengthened her creativity, while team management taught her perhaps one of the most important lessons of all: businesses are ultimately built by people.
That understanding continues to influence the way Nicole leads today.
She does not see leadership as a position that comes with authority. She sees it as a responsibility that requires consistency, courage, empathy, and the willingness to make difficult decisions.
Turning A Difficult Environment Into An Opportunity
Entrepreneurship in Lebanon comes with its own set of challenges. Economic uncertainty, changing circumstances, operational difficulties, and an unpredictable business environment can test even the most determined entrepreneur.
Nicole has experienced those challenges firsthand.
Yet instead of allowing uncertainty to define her ambitions, she has used it as a reason to become more adaptable. Her approach reflects a belief that difficult environments can also create opportunities for creativity, reinvention, and meaningful problem solving.
This mindset is closely connected to her belief in Lebanon.
She does not speak about the country only through its challenges. She also sees its talent, creativity, resilience, and human potential. Her entrepreneurial journey is therefore not just about personal success. It is also about demonstrating that businesses can continue to create value and opportunities even during difficult times.
Her participation in discussions about entrepreneurship, innovation, and Lebanon’s knowledge economy reflects this wider perspective.
The Beginning Of Once Upon A Time
The creation of Once Upon A Time became one of the most meaningful chapters of Nicole’s professional life.
For her, establishing a nursery and educational center was never simply about opening another business. It was about creating an environment where children could feel safe, understood, encouraged, and free to explore.
The philosophy behind Once Upon A Time reflects this vision. Its approach emphasizes children’s individuality, emotional and cognitive development, independence, creativity, and learning through meaningful experiences.
Nicole believes that education begins long before children enter traditional classrooms.
It begins with curiosity.
It begins with relationships.
It begins with the freedom to ask questions, explore surroundings, make mistakes, and discover the world.
“Children are not simply preparing to become future leaders. They are already the leaders of tomorrow.”
That belief sits at the heart of Nicole’s educational vision. She wants children to grow into confident thinkers and compassionate individuals rather than simply memorize information.
For her, play, creativity, nature, connection, emotional wellbeing, and independence are not distractions from learning. They are essential parts of it.
Building People Alongside A Business
Nicole’s vision extends beyond children.
She believes that the people working within an organization deserve an environment where they can grow, contribute, and feel valued. This philosophy has influenced the culture she wants to create around her teams.
She encourages people to take ownership, challenge themselves, learn from mistakes, and recognize the importance of their individual contribution.
Her approach is based on a simple idea. A successful organization cannot be measured only by its numbers, facilities, or growth. The people behind those results matter just as much.
This people centered philosophy has also led Nicole into an increasingly important area of leadership: mental health in the workplace.
Making Mental Health Part Of Leadership
Nicole has become an advocate for healthier workplace cultures and has participated in professional initiatives focused on mental health in the workplace. In 2026, she appeared on MTV Alive to discuss the importance of workplace mental health and leadership.
Her involvement also includes workplace mental health training delivered in collaboration with IDRAAC and Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme. Her message is clear: mental health should not be treated as something organizations address only after a crisis. It should be part of everyday workplace culture.
For Nicole, leadership involves creating environments where people feel comfortable speaking, asking for help, learning, and being honest about challenges.
This perspective adds another dimension to her entrepreneurial identity. She is not only interested in building productive teams. She wants to help build healthier ones.
A Message To Women With Bigger Dreams
One of the strongest themes in Nicole’s journey is empowerment.
She believes women should never feel limited to a single identity or role. A woman can lead a company, nurture children, support a team, take risks, build relationships, and continue learning without having to choose only one path.
Her own career reflects that philosophy.
She has moved across industries, developed new skills, embraced unfamiliar challenges, and continued to evolve. Her journey demonstrates that professional identity does not have to remain fixed.
For women considering entrepreneurship, her story offers a valuable lesson: confidence does not always come before the journey. Sometimes, confidence is built because of the journey.
Choosing To Keep Building
There have undoubtedly been moments when the challenges surrounding entrepreneurship in Lebanon could have encouraged Nicole to slow down or reconsider her ambitions.
Instead, those challenges have strengthened her determination.
She describes resilience not as avoiding failure, but as finding the courage to stand again with greater wisdom and clarity.
That mindset continues to shape her current work. Through education, people development, workplace wellbeing, and entrepreneurship, Nicole is building a professional identity that connects business success with human impact.
Her story is therefore larger than the success of one nursery or one business.
It is about what can happen when entrepreneurship is connected to purpose.
Looking Toward The Future
Nicole remains focused on learning, creating, innovating, and finding new ways to make a positive difference. Her recent work shows an expanding interest in the intersection of education, leadership, sustainability, workplace wellbeing, and community development. Her continued learning in educational leadership further reflects her belief that even experienced leaders must remain students themselves.
The future she imagines is one where children are encouraged to think independently, employees are treated with empathy, women are empowered to take their place in leadership, and entrepreneurs continue to create opportunities despite uncertainty.
For Nicole, success is not only about what one achieves personally.
It is about what remains after the achievement.
The people who were inspired.
The opportunities that were created.
The children who were given confidence.
The employees who discovered their potential.
And the communities that benefited from someone choosing to build instead of giving up.
Nicole Mouawad is still learning, still experimenting, still taking calculated risks, and still building.
Most importantly, she continues to believe.
She believes in people.
She believes in leadership.
She believes in education.
And above all, she continues to believe in Lebanon and its ability to create a better future.
Her journey is a reminder that resilience is not simply about surviving difficult times. Sometimes, resilience means having the courage to build something meaningful in the middle of them.
Connect Nicole Mouawad on LinkedIn
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