CEO Spotlight: Rami Fakhoury of Fakhoury Global Immigration
January 27, 2021
Rami Fakhoury is the founder and managing director of Fakhoury Global Immigration. MICHauto had the chance to speak with Fakhoury and hear more about his achievements and motivations.
What is your number one priority as CEO?
My number one priority is to guide the development and growth of Fakhoury Global Immigration in two main ways. First, we provide our attorneys and staff with the resources they need to be productive and engaged in their work. Secondly, we strive to give every client top-quality service so that they meet their talent mobility goals.
What is an accomplishment you are most proud of personally or professionally?
Professionally, I am most proud of having grown Fakhoury Global Immigration from a small concern into one of the leading independently owned business-based immigration firms in the U.S. Even more than my professional accomplishments, I am proud to have Carmen as my wife and life partner as well as being father to our three beautiful children. They have enriched my life in ways that I cannot begin to describe.
What would you do with your 15 minutes of fame?
I would use my fifteen minutes of fame to show people the critical and vital role that immigrants have in building our national economy. Too often, immigrants are accused of taking jobs away from U.S. citizens. The truth is that immigrants start more businesses than U.S. citizens and contribute billions of dollars every year both in tax revenue and in hiring U.S. workers. Immigrants are also at the forefront of innovation, helping America to retain its competitive edge. This is a message that needs to be heard more often.
What advice do you have for the next generation?
We live in a time of tremendous change thanks to the increasing integration of artificial intelligence into the workplace. Jobs are being transformed at a rapid pace and that pace is only going to accelerate in the foreseeable future. Therefore, I advise all young people to embrace change as a guiding ethic. If you commit to lifelong learning and to being flexible, you will be in a better position to succeed in the long term.
What would you tell young professionals about our automotive industry to keep them in Michigan?
Many young professionals want to go into IT and/or move to the coasts. What they do not realize is that they can have a fulfilling professional career in the automotive industry. Not only is the industry the backbone of Michigan’s economy, but it also increasingly integrates advanced technologies into its product lines (think, for example, of such autonomous features as self-parking). This means young people do not have to go to Silicon Valley to have a career in IT. Moreover, the cost of living is much lower in the Midwest, meaning that automotive professionals enjoy a high quality of life and do not have to deal with the inflated costs of living or epic commutes their colleagues on the coasts endure.
What are the most important attributes of successful leaders today?
I would say empathy is one of the most important attributes of successful leadership. The COVID-19 pandemic hit everyone hard from our legal assistants all the way up to our partners. This underscored–for me, anyway–how important it is for leaders to understand where their clients and their employees are coming from. Unlike profits or losses, morale is not quantifiable–but it is essential if businesses are going to weather the storms.