Montreal businesswoman Andrea Soueidan concerned about loved ones back home in Lebanon

Andrea Soueidan is the CEO and founder of Altitude Connections, a Montreal-based company offering a luxury concierge service. Her business – being a luxury concierge, is a natural extension of her lifelong passion for service and hospitality.

While Andrea has focused on her clients and events, her heart and mind are just as focused on what is happening in her home country of Lebanon.

Soueidan says, “I truly believe what empowers you in your work is doing what you love best.

“I mean, I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and to start my day.

“You need to love what you do in order to excel and succeed much faster.”

Soueidan has some family, extended family, and a lot of friends and connections currently in Lebanon.

She says, “It’s been hard. I mean, you think it’s always temporary and you think it’s for a short period of time, but it’s ongoing.

“So it gets draining. When you first hear about the news or there’s a war or a bomb or an incident, you just want to stop posting and stop, you know, keep going for work,” she explained.

“But at the end of the day, you have to continue, right? Unfortunately.”

As difficult as it can be sometimes to carry on business as usual, Soueidan keeps going.

The businesswoman says, “We’ve had a few challenges in the past two months because there were Lebanese singers coming to town.”

“And just knowing that we were hired to plan it and organize it, it was very hard,” she added.

“So that was a huge challenge. But then again, I guess they thought business like we do.”

Andrea Soueidan’s firm Altitude Connections puts on the annual SipNShop Montreal, this year she thought twice about whether or not to continue the tradition.

She shares, “It did cross my mind to cancel a few times because of what’s happening. That’s why we waited on promoting it.”

“But we’re going to take the leap and go ahead because at the end of the day, like I said, it’s a business, business for us, and it’s a business for all the suppliers that are there.

“The idea where it started, it was to support local businesses from different ethnicities and backgrounds. So, I want to continue giving back to the community and not making it just a business formula.

“And we’re also collaborating with the Shoe Box Project again, where every guest comes in, complimentary, brings a shoe box, fills it up with essential needs, wraps it, writes her a note, and we send it to the women’s shelter. So, not only do you sip, you shop, but you give back.”

SipnShopMtl takes place November 27^th at Plaza Volare in Ville Saint-Laurent.