As I Am was born out of a well-thought out, deliberate and caring process. Dr. Ali N. Syed, a master hair care chemist and entrepreneur, began to hear it more and more as he traveled the world. Growing up in rural and impoverished post-partition Pakistan, he obtained an MS in Chemistry and began lecturing at universities which eventually led him to Tanzania, Africa. After teaching in Dar-Es-Salaam for a few tremendous years, he made the big move to the US and began working as a laborer and maintenance technician for a few different manufacturing companies in Chicago.