Muslim Link attended MAC’s Canadian Family Day event on February 16 and asked people: What Does Family Mean To You? Nesrin Lachica, originally from the Philippines, met Mohammad and Salwa Al Azzouni’s Arab father in Saudi Arabia, creating a very culturally mixed family which has set up roots in Canada as the children have come and settled here as international students.

In last month's issue, Muslim Link interviewed Shahzad Khan, co-founder of Gnowit, who had recently been made a 2013 Rising Star by Invest Ottawa. Mohammad Al-Azzouni is also a co-founder of Gnowit and works as the company's VP of Business Development & Marketing. Both men met in 2010 at the Legacy Conference which Al-Azzouni founded while studying Economics and Marketing at the University of Ottawa.

Shahzad Khan was recently named one of 2013's Rising Stars by Invest Ottawa, an organization that aims to support entrepreneurs and local start-ups. Gnowit Inc., an online brand-monitoring company which Shahzad co-founded with Mohammad Al Azzouni, launched this year, gaining international clients and government contracts. Muslim Link met with the Pakistan-born entrepreneur to discuss what it takes to survive as an entrepreneur.