I was born and raised in Oujda. I moved to Casablanca in my teenage years. I spent just about 5 years in the clothing design school in Caserta, close by Naples, in Italy. I immigrated to the U.S. in 1988 to start my own clothing business. In a career shift in 1997, I became the Sales Manager in Washington DC's “Martens Volvo,"  where I was involved mostly in marketing.

That is professionally speaking. My passion in life, though, is cyclism. I have been riding and racing since I was 15 years old. I did win the Moroccan championship in 1982, thanks to the help of Mustapha Najarri, Souhayli, Ait Oufkir and the coach, champ, and father, the late Hadj Memdouh, may he rest in peace.

I am currently still racing with a semi-pro team in the DC area known as the Volvo Team.