In 1970, when Mona Bawarshi made her way down to the Port of Beirut for her first day of work, she was in a minority of one. “I think I must have been the only woman in an administrative position in the whole of that building,” she told us last year. “My looks were unfamiliar, and my gender was completely out of context.” In the four decades since then, Bawarshi has spearheaded the family firm’s growth, expanding into shipping, air freight and freight forwarding, as well as warehousing and distribution.