Rami Ykmour Biography: Family, Net Worth, Parents, Wife

 

Rami Ykmour is an Australian entrepreneur who has founded a number of other food and hospitality companies. Rami is best known for his RASHAYS chain, which has 30+ locations on Australia’s east coast. Ruomky Business Enterprises (which includes a food manufacturing facility, Ruomky), Oodee, and GUEST GUARD are also part of his business portfolio. Rami created his own personal brand, Rami Ykmour, which he promotes heavily on social media, providing insight into his life and advice to aspiring entrepreneurs and fellow business leaders.

Rami Ykmour’s Parents and Family

Bio
Name	Rami Ykmour
Birthdate ( Age)	April 14, 1975
Place of Birth	Canterbury, Bankstown
Nationality	Australian
Wife/Partner	Shannon Smith
Children	4
Parents	Jim Ykmour, Fay Ykmour
Education	Belmore North Primary, Bonnyrigg Public School, Bonnyrigg High School
Profession	Australian entrepreneur and founder of numerous other food and hospitality businesses
Net Worth	$5 Million – $10 Million

Rami Ykmour was born on Pan American Day, 1975, at Canterbury Hospital in Bankstown, to Jim and Fay Ykmour. In 1974, his parents married in Tripoli, Lebanon, and later moved to Australia. Roy (1977), Ahed (1981), Abir (1984), Mohammed (1988), and Jihad (1989) are Rami’s five siblings (1994).

Rami Ykmour’s family returned to Lebanon in 1978 and stayed until the end of the Lebanese war. In September 1984, Jim Ykmour decided to return to Australia with his family because he was wanted by the government and wanted to raise his family in a country that allowed free speech. When Rami and his family arrived in Sydney, they stayed in his uncle’s two-bedroom Roselands house before moving to a three-bedroom housing commission house in Bonnyrigg.

Rami went to Belmore North Primary School in 1985 and Bonnyrigg Public School in 1987 when his English skills were “broken.” He then attended Bonnyrigg High School from 1988 until 1993, when he graduated. Rami began his first job after college at Pizza Hut (Greenfield Park), where he worked to provide the majority of his income to his parents. Rami met his future wife and RASHAYS co-founder, Shannon Smith, at Pizza Hut, as well as the brand’s future CEO, Roman Tepes.

Rami met Shannon Smith, his wife while performing at Pizza Hut. The couple married in 2003 and has four children: Kameelah, Aliyah, and Amelia, as well as son Zain.

Rami and his wife were inspired by their family tragedy to raise funds for the Miracle Babies Foundation, a charity that assists families affected by premature births. Rami has maintained close ties with the charity in supporting this particular cause in collaboration with other charitable institutions, both privately and professionally through RASHAYS.

Professional Development

Rami began his career in the hospitality industry as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut before rising to the position of store manager. Rami claims that it was at this point that his desire to open his own pizza restaurant began. Rami was inspired by the popular television show Friends to create an off-the-cuff dining experience that echoed the atmosphere of the show’s popular cafe “Central Perk.”

The name RASHAYS was created in collaboration with his wife Shannon – a play on both of their names that combines the letters from their first names as well as the first initial of their surnames.

The first RASHAYS restaurant opened in Liverpool in 1998, in a 22-square-meter commercial space that cost $28,000 per year. The successful venture, which began with a team of five people, caught the attention of Dominos, who hired him to run three franchises – a challenge he accepted while still running RASHAYS.

By 2001, he had decided to sell his Dominos franchise interests and reinvest the proceeds in RASHAYS, a multi-location casual dining brand. The company currently operates 30 restaurants in New South Wales, the ACT, and Queensland, with 18 franchised locations. During COVID-19 in March 2020, Rami transitioned the RASHAYS brand from primarily dine-in to a dine-in, pick-up, and delivery business.

GUEST GUARD

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, GUEST GUARD was established. Originally created for RASHAYS to reassure customers of their safety as restrictions eased following the pandemic. The brand then expanded to assist other businesses, not only in the hospitality industry but also in other sectors, in providing a physical barrier for people in social spaces. GUEST GUARD is a modular piece of kit made of transparent perspex and a sturdy, lightweight frame that can be adapted to suit a variety of applications in various settings.