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A family cornerstone

Speaking with Lucie Chami is like talking with an old friend, even though this is the first time we have met. Warm and open, she takes you into her confidence as she shares her and her family’s story.

At the heart of it all is a mother’s dream for her four children – Aniss, Latify, Lucie and Anthony – to complete their schooling and achieve a university education. ‘We owe our education to our mother,’ says Lucie wholeheartedly.

‘Her determination lit a fire within us. We saw our parents work hard to get where they had and knew we’d been given an opportunity in Australia – there was just so much out there in the world to take, why wouldn’t we?’

And they have. All four children have accomplished more than their parents could have dreamed. ‘Mum wanted us to get one degree each – and we now have 17 between us,’ says Vitex Chief Procurement Officer Lucie, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing), a Master of International Business and a Master of International Relations from MQ, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM).

Lucie’s sister Latify Chami, Vitex Chief Operating Officer, also holds an MBA and a Master of Management from MGSM. Together with brother Aniss, co-founder and CEO of Vitex, the three are working on Chief Production Officer Anthony to also do the MBA at MGSM. As Lucie explains, ‘The MBA was pivotal for me. It brought my personal experiences and my academic and professional career together, and I made lifelong friends.’

Eldest brother Aniss was the first to enrol at Macquarie. He remembers, ‘My father Elie felt there was a certain calibre to the people heading to this young, fresh university – he felt I would be nurtured and do well in that context, and he was right. I never felt like a student ID number; there was a natural care for the students and attention to our academic growth and maturity.’

Now a qualified doctor, who despite running the family company still maintains surgical hours to keep up his clinical acumen, Aniss completed his Bachelor of Medical Sciences with honours as part of a small cohort at MQ. But, like Lucie, he says it was his time at MGSM that was the pinnacle for him.

‘I was able to formalise the business knowledge and experience my father was passing on to us through the MBA program. Macquarie has been a major contributor to our success with the company; it’s been the platform we operate from to do bigger and better things.’

Although through further study he trained to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, Aniss feels he can help people on a much larger, deeper scale as CEO of Vitex. ‘I’m adding value to people’s health and wellbeing,’ he says – something that has only become more important in the context of the pandemic, which is driving significant growth for the company.

‘It’s been exciting, but we know not all businesses have thrived during COVID; we are one of the lucky ones,’ points out Lucie, who also notes the many ups and downs the family has experienced as the company has grown from a small factory to a 26,000-square-metre facility employing over 250 people.

And yet, it’s a truth that luck appears when hard work recognises opportunity. As Lucie observes, ‘We owe dad absolutely everything for the life we have now. When he first came to Australia, he and my mum Robine didn’t have much financial, social or emotional support.’

Still, the family ties remained strong. ‘Dad would go back to Lebanon to check in on relatives, and every time he was asked to take pain relief and vitamins. One day, he met a gentleman who asked him what he did. Coincidentally, the man had his own pharmaceutical manufacturing business and asked him to be his company’s Middle East agent.

‘Later, Dad branched out on his own and started his own manufacturing business, Vitex Pharmacuticals, with Mum as Co-Director. She’s been Dad’s right hand, his sounding board – their relationship has stood the test of time; they are our leading light.’

But it’s Lucie’s own story that brings us back to the role MQ has played in her life – this time on a more personal level. ‘I met my husband on campus, and it was where he proposed to me too, by the lake,’ and she continues to explain how one day, all of a sudden, a massive speaker started playing her favourite song.

‘One person started dancing, then two, three, four – he’d organised for the MQ cheerleading squad to carry out a flash mob. Before I knew it, they’d taken him through a tunnel, where he popped out the other end on one knee and proposed.

‘Of course, the first thing I said was: “Did you ask my dad?” To which he replied, “Yes, I asked your dad, will you marry me!” And the rest, as they say, is history and Lucie and her husband tied the knot – for richer, for poorer. ‘I love the fact he was around for the toughest time in my business journey because that’s when you see people’s true colours,’ says Lucie, who is now forging a future with children of her own.

‘I would love for my girls to go to Macquarie University like we have,’ she says. ‘Studying at Macquarie has been the stepping-stone to my success and my career. I’ve learned life lessons and skills that will foster my growth into the future, and have made me the person I am today.

‘Macquarie makes us feel we are as important to them as they are to us – they have taken care of us post learning and genuinely want to keep the connection alive for alumni and future generations.’

 

vitexpharma.com

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Established in 1989, contract manufacturer of complementary medicines Vitex Pharmaceuticals is a wholly Australian-owned and family-operated company. Co-founded by Elie Chami, company Chairman, and his son, Chief Executive Officer Dr Aniss GE Chami, the company is currently undergoing an aggressive expansion to improve the capability of the business.

Dr Chami completed his Bachelor of Medical Science (B Med Sci) (Hons) at Macquarie University and also holds a Master in Financial Management (MFM) and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) at Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM). Dr Chami is currently serving as a Board Director of Consumer Health Products (CHP) Australia.

Vitex Chief Procurement Officer Lucie Chami holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing), a Master of International Business and a Master of International Relations from Macquarie University and also completed her MBA from MGSM. Vitex Chief Operating Officer Latify Chami holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of Management from Macquarie Graduate School of Management.