This Syrian Refugee Is Now The Owner Of An Award-Winning Cheese Company In The U.K.

In 2012, Razan Alsous and her husband Raghid were living and working in Damascus, Syria when a deadly bomb went off outside Raghid's office.

Though Raghid survived the blast, he and Razan were depleted and fearful for their lives and the lives of their children.

So they decided to pack up everything they owned and move to England.

After they arrived in England, Razan found herself completely isolated, with few options for earning a living.

Though she had trained as a medical lab technician and was studying for a degree in Pharmacology in Syria, her training didn't carry over to England's labs.

She was jobless, lonely and terrified. After over a year of searching for jobs in England, Razan decided to start working towards a dream she and her husband had had in Syria: a business all their own.

After noticing that Halloumi cheese, a staple in Syrian meals, was hard to find (and often not high-quality) in England, Razan saw an opportunity.

She decided to begin making her own cheese, using authentic Syrian techniques.

Alsous brought her idea to government program that offers funding for entrepreneurs, and she was granted $3,150 to get started.

From there, she met distributors, attended food fairs and grew her company from the ground up.

Today, Razan works with four distributors. She recently opened her own small production facility and hired two employees to meet a higher demand.

The most important thing Razan has now, however, is hope for the future.

"Behind you is a fire, so you are just running, and running, you are tired, but you keep running, and suddenly you find yourself in paradise," she said.