theFruitsof hisLabor

Summer 2015 | 11

K AmRAN FARId WAS mAJORING IN COmPuTER

SCIENCE AT SOuTHERN WHEN HE ANd HIS

BROTHER, TARIq, LAuNCHEd EdIBLE

arrangements out of a 500-square-foot corner of theirfamily’s east Haven, Conn., flower shop in 1999. as henurtured the fledgling business, farid put college on theback burner.

fifteen years later, he has experienced successbeyond his wildest imagination. today, the Wallingford,Conn.-based business — which crafts, sells, and deliversedible bouquets of fresh fruit — is known around theglobe. edible arrangements, which began franchising in2001, now boasts more than 1,300 stores in 14 coun-tries, including italy, Hong Kong, Canada, and the unitedarab emirates — and,according to forbes, thecompany hit $500 million insales in 2013.

farid ultimatelyreturned to southern in2014 (he is only a few creditsshy of graduation, andhopes to complete hisdegree soon), but he knowshis story is the exception.not everyone abandonstheir studies for biggeropportunities — or with suchwildly fruitful outcomes.

“When i was first in school, i knew of kids who losttheir jobs . . . or their car would be crashed, and theywouldn’t have money for a bus pass,” says farid. “all ofa sudden, they had to choose between buying a bus passand paying tuition, so they ended up dropping out.”

farid had those students in mind when he donated$20,000 to launch the Kamran farid Helping Hands fundat southern, aimed at aiding students struggling withunexpected, short-term hardships that make it difficult tofinish their degrees.

the fund helps pay for the little but vital things thatscholarships don’t — prescription glasses for a studentwho can’t afford an eye exam, diapers for a single mom,medical co-pays for a graduate student facing suddenhealth problems.

“i see southern as a place of opportunity,” faridsays, noting the university is affordable and has a diversestudent body that includes many first-generation collegestudents. “but if you don’t have the tools to get a propereducation, you’re going to struggle all the way through.”

He is a firm believer in the life-changing power ofearning a degree and serves on the business advisoryCouncil for southern’s school of business. “the more timei spend at southern, the more i want to do there,” saysfarid, who is taking classes part time after stepping awayfrom day-to-day operations of the company in January2014. He remains on edible arrangements board ofdirectors, and in 2014 founded Kamran Capital Group,which helps other entrepreneurs grow their small busi-

nesses. that same year heestablished the Kamran faridfoundation, committed tocontinuing the family’s tradi-tion of giving back.

the idea for the HelpingHands fund came to life afterfarid reconnected with hisfavorite professor, lisalancor, now chair of the com-puter science department.He remembered she had aspecial rapport with students,so he asked her to personallyadminister the fund.

through word-of-mouth on campus, lancor hasalready found several beneficiaries, some with eye-opening stories. “We had faculty members saying theysaw one of their students on a corner with an ‘i’ll Workfor food’ sign,” lancor says.

“a lot of these students would never seek fundsthrough the university if they weren’t told to come andsee me,” she adds. “i tell them the story of Kamran andhow he wants to help, and they’re just overwhelmedwith gratitude.”

farid is no stranger to adversity. His family emi-grated from pakistan to West Haven, Conn., when hewas 3, and at the age of 6, farid was diagnosed withleukemia. His father was already working three jobs to

Kamran Farid put his Southerneducation on hold while helping hisbrother build Edible Arrangementsinto a global powerhouse. Now he’sback in the classroom — committedto forwarding other students’ success.

By Natalie Missakian

continues on page 35

Read more stories in the Summer 2015 issue of Southern Alumni Magazine.

pay the bills, including a shift sweeping floors at burger King. theillness put a strain on the family — both financially and emotionally.

With only one family car, farid recalls how his mother wouldtake the bus and then walk to and from Yale for his cancer treat-ments, often carrying him home because he was so weak. He beatthe cancer, and his mother’s determination during the ordeal left alasting impression, as did her work ethic and belief in helping thosein need.

Growing up, he remembers delivering newspapers and shovel-ing driveways with his five siblings to help support the family. inmiddle and high school, when his friends were out having fun, hespent evenings and weekends helping out at the family flower shopand then working at his brother’s computer business.

“i don’t think we knew any different,” he says. “We neverthought, ‘let’s go to disney’ or things like that. it was always, ‘How dowe save money, reinvest [in the family business], and also give back?’”

transitioning from floral to fruit bouquets was a logical segue.although arranging fruit to look like flowers wasn’t a completely

new idea — his brother, tariq, had seen edible bouquets on cruiseships and others were doing fruit kabobs — farid says they suc-ceeded in professionalizing the concept and creating a lucrativebusiness model. that combined with a quality product are the keysto edible arrangements’ success, farid says.

“a lot of love and care go into our product,” he adds, recallingthe early days when he handpicked the fruit for the arrangements.

His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: don’t overthink it. Heremembers telling a trusted confidant about the idea for ediblearrangements and almost becoming disheartened by his cautiousresponse.

“He said, ‘i don’t know. Have you done your marketresearch?’” farid remembers. “We told him, ‘Well, we showed it toour friends and our family and our neighbors, and they loved it.’

“sometimes it’s just taking that risk,” he adds. “i was no onespecial. i was just another southern student who went on to startedible arrangements with my brother. We were just a family thatsaw an idea and worked very, very, very hard to see it grow.” ■

The Fruits of His Laborcontinued from page 11

Summer 2015 | 35

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