Diana Jarrar Magic Dates Diana Jarrar, also known as "The Magic Date Queen," is a renowned expert in the field of dating and relationships. With years of experience and a unique approach, she has helped countless individuals find love and improve their romantic lives. What sets Diana apart is her belief in the power of dates to enhance connections and create lasting relationships. She believes that the right date can be truly magical, sparking a deep connection between two people. Drawing from her own experiences and extensive research, Diana has developed a system that focuses on creating memorable and meaningful dates that go beyond ordinary dinner and a movie. Her approach involves combining elements of surprise, adventure, and creativity to create an unforgettable experience for both individuals.
"I think motivation can feel graceful and not forced when you have a vision of what you want your life to be. What motivates me is my vision of a more just world and how I can play a part in that in any small or big way. It starts with being aware of my own biases and beliefs and hopefully that awareness leads to growth. So I try to live everyday with that in mind. And some days I just want to take a nap, snack, and feel the sun on my face. That’s a good day too."
Meet Diana Jarrar, founder of MAGICdATES! Whenever we're in the mood for something sweet, her Date Bites do the trick. And they truly are magic. not only are they tasty, they are good for you too. We're excited for you to learn more about her + her incredible company!
Tell us a little about you!
I’ve had a bit of a journey jumping around the world. I feel that I have a portal between the east and the west within me. I was born in Damascus, Syria and raised for most of my childhood. My family and I immigrated to Toronto, Canada when I was 11 years old. I have a brief one-year stint in Saudi Arabia and then moved to LA on my own when I was 19. Needless to say, I feel privileged to be living here and grateful to have cultivated meaningful and deep relationships with friends from all walks of life.
What do you do for work? Tell us about your professional journey.
I created MAGICdATES (Md) out of love for simple and nourishing ingredients. I grew up eating dates and my mom would give them to us in place of candy (although I still loved Smarties and Pez, remember those?). I gravitated towards cooking when I moved on my own to LA (it’s how I made friends, I would feed them!) and knew that I wanted food to be a bigger part of my life. I also love problem-solving and creating my own path rather than walking a well-beaten one. So Md was the natural result of all these things uniting.
How do you stay motivated?
I think motivation can feel graceful and not forced when you have a vision of what you want your life to be. What motivates me is my vision of a more just world and how I can play a part in that in any small or big way. It starts with being aware of my own biases and beliefs and hopefully that awareness leads to growth. So I try to live everyday with that in mind. And some days I just want to take a nap, snack, and feel the sun on my face. That’s a good day too.
Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in starting a business?
Yes, don’t do it. Just kidding. Again, I think you have to be super honest with yourself about your vision and intention. Entrepreneurship is super grueling and will knock you down. You have to have some intrinsic motivation that keeps you going otherwise it’s easy to give up. Why? Is always a good question to ask. Why am I doing this? For a long time, owning a business won’t give you the freedom you think you will have. You will live and breath your business everyday. You will have freedom to create, think, and do things differently but not freedom of time.
What are your favorite ways to #spreadgood in your community?
If each of us did a few simple acts of kindness for the people around us, the world would be so much brighter. So I love focusing on that concept. I grocery shopped for my elderly friends during the earlier parts of COVID. Md donated snacks to the ICU team at local hospitals like UCLA. I was involved in distributing emergency kits to the homeless community around LA last year.
Who is one person who inspires you and why?
This is a hard one because I look for inspiration in everyone and everything around me. I can say that the one inspiring quality I find in people is curiosity. I believe this is the single most important trait for any entrepreneur but also just in life. Being curious likely means you’re open to another person’s point of view. It also means that you’ll self-reflect in a kinder way towards yourself because you’ll explore your own mind, habits, and behaviors with curiosity rather than criticism.
What do you like to do for fun, when you aren't working?
I LOVE reading. I love to hike and cooking is my thing. I love researching. I’ll just randomly think of something I’m curious about and start researching the crap out of it. I love taking 30 minutes out of my day to dance freely. WAP is on the top of my playlist right now. Near or far, I love exploring a new neighborhood, a new hole-the-wall restaurant, or cute boutique with handmade things. LA is a fun place to do all that.
What are some of your favorite recipes with Ground Up?
I’d love to explore this more! I think we can make nut butter-stuffed chocolate MAGICdATES.
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An American Experience: Diana Jarrar, MAGICDATES
Diana Jarrar, who grew up in Syria and immigrated to the United States as a teenager, built a brand of date-based snacks that's now a favorite of regional and giant retailers.
We all have our favorite childhood snacks. The bag of chips mom or dad packed with lunch. An after-school candy bar. Those orange slices on the soccer field. Growing up in Damascus, Syria, Diana Jarrar's favorite was dates. For centuries, dates have been a signature sweet throughout the Middle East, but for the most part, haven't gotten the attention they deserve in the West.
Jarrar, who immigrated to the United States nearly 20 years ago by way of Canada, has set out to change that. She's the founder of MAGICDATES, a Los Angeles-based brand of better-for-you snacks centered around dates. With flavors like Coconut Cream Cake and Salted Walnut Brownie, as well as a chocolate-covered line, MAGICDATES can be found on the shelves of retailers nationwide as well as direct-to-consumer via the MAGICDATES site. Jarrar was also recently featured on Shark Tank, where she walked away with an investment deal. Impressive reach, given that Jarrar founded the company just a few years ago, almost by accident.
The daughter of a Syrian mother and Palestinian father, Jarrar arrived in LA at 19 and thought she was on track for law school. Because Jarrar’s a lifelong foodie, a friend asked if she could help him formulate a vegan ice cream sandwich he was trying to launch. That pro bono kitchen assistance opened her eyes to the food industry, which sparked the idea for a snack line with her beloved dates as the “hero ingredient” – a sweet pick-me-up without the baggage of refined sugar and other junk.
From there, she conducted market research and tested out a wide range of flavors, launched at farmers markets and independent retailers, and landed a spot at the Venture Accelerator at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, which helped her pivot and grow throughout the pandemic.
The branding, packaging, and messaging are rooted in Jarrar’s Middle East heritage and she’s quick to describe food as a bridge-builder between cultures, which remains central to MAGICDATES’ story and mission.
For this first installment of "An American Experience” – a new series spotlighting immigrant entrepreneurs and their journeys – I sat down with Jarrar to learn more about launching a brand from the kitchen table, boosting online sales, and why we should all “run toward our differences.”
As entrepreneurs, we have such an opportunity to be advocates beyond our core products.
—Diana Jarrar, founder, MAGICDATES
Diana Jarrar, founder of MAGICDATES
So you could be writing legal briefs right now, instead of running a successful snack company. How was MAGICDATES born?
It was really funny. I didn't know I wanted to start a company. So it really was just born out of true inspiration. I wanted to go to law school right before starting MAGICDATES. I had taken the LSAT and I wanted to do the international human rights program at UCLA. I just wanted to contribute somehow to the betterment of the world through what I do, but I didn't exactly know how.
But after getting a taste—pun intended—of the food business while helping your friend, you realized that contribution could come through food.
I took a bit of a leap of faith, not really knowing what I was doing, not really having the background and the expertise, but I just trusted that I would figure it out. I chose dates because I grew up eating them, but it was a little more than that. There’s such a reverence for dates in the Middle East, both on a cultural level, on a religious level – even though I'm not religious myself, just the tradition of the religion, how we grew up eating them around Ramadan when we break our fast, it was just such a beautiful, exquisite time. And it's just always that staple item that you have on a table.
And the thing I love is that there’s a connecting thread between all the Eastern religions and dates. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share that. The date fruit palm is a tree of life. Not only are dates considered a source of so much energy, but the ferns are used for building structures. That's why it was considered a tree of life – because it gave both sustenance and shelter. I just found that to be very poetic and something we can learn from nature, how this fruit can connect us all and bring us together.
What makes MAGICDATES a better-for-you indulgence?
MAGICDATES is plant-based. It's gluten-free. There's no added sugar and no sugar alcohols, which is really important from a gut-health perspective. And just in general, for wellbeing, we're big advocates of enjoying sweet treats—as long as they're straight from nature without any added stuff in them.
What was an early sign you were onto something here?
I started at a local farmer's market, so it was super grassroots. From the beginning, right here in LA, I would go to a farmer's market every Sunday and I would hand-bag the bites and hand-sticker all the labels and would get feedback from customers. That's how I decided on the initial flavors that we launched with. It was based on what customers are responding to.
By interviewing her customers, Jarrar realized she wanted to take MAGICDATES back to her roots with a rebrand.
And it was really cool to get that first customer, I'll never forget. I actually have a picture of me handing her the bag in exchange for money. I'd never done that before. It was a really cool, empowering transaction, especially as a woman. I just loved that moment.
I don’t have to tell you that the consumer-products space – especially food and beverage – can be challenging. You’re dealing with manufacturers and packagers and retailers. And yet, you’re everywhere right now. How did you master that learning curve?
I wouldn't say I mastered it. It was definitely trial and error and Murphy’s Law – things are just going to go wrong because you just can't foresee what's going to happen.
What was the pandemic like for you and MAGICDATES? Every entrepreneur has their own war story at this point.
We had actually just launched at a key national retailers right before, which was going really well. But with the lockdowns, it was challenging. At the time, we weren’t really set up for direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales. We had a website, we had an online presence, but we weren't really investing resources in that. 2020 forced me to take a few steps back and reassess where we were at and what we were doing.
The biggest thing that came out of COVID for us was our rebrand. During the social justice movement, I was really inspired by people speaking up and standing for what they believe in, people from all across coming together and supporting each other. And I realized that I wasn't truly connecting to the origin story that I intended. I wanted MAGICDATES to be a vehicle of cultural connection and to reclaim the narrative of the Middle East. I wasn't doing that with our original branding that we had launched with. And so after interviewing more of our customers – just going back to what our customers are looking for – we decided that a new look was in the cards for us. We especially wanted to show up online more, and we needed to just show up with a different voice and a different look.
And in the process, you pushed a majority of sales online.
Historically, it was 80% brick-and-mortar and 20% online, but I wanted to shift things. Now we’re about 60% online and 40% in stores. We are focusing a lot more on D2C and digital retail, just because of the opportunity that's there. We implemented a digital marketing strategy and that's going well. Our cost of acquisition is actually really low, shockingly low. So we had a really good start out of the gate.
Sharing food can highlight our similarities and bridge our differences. Given that the idea for MAGICDATES was born out of your own childhood experience, what has its cultural impact meant for you?
That is exactly the intention for me with MAGICDATES. As entrepreneurs, we have such an opportunity to be advocates beyond our core products. And especially in food, because it's so emotional. We don’t always buy our food for logical reasons.
You’re well into both your immigrant and entrepreneurial journeys. What would be your advice to someone else who is embarking on their own? What would you tell your teenage self arriving in LA?
When I was applying to law school, I met with a counselor at UCLA, who shared a line I’ll never forget: “Run toward your differences.” I wish I took that more to heart at the time because that's exactly what makes us unique. From that, I think a lot is born. Whether it's a business idea or anything else. Really taking that time to introspect and figure out what makes you different, then work at something you become passionate about.
And for an immigrant, the answer may be a little bit easier, because just being an immigrant makes you different. What your unique story was, where you came from, what your beliefs are – and sharing that. I think the American public in general is very receptive to that, and as an immigrant, you become a part of that. That’s why I was excited to get on Shark Tank. I wanted to share my uniqueness, knowing that American hearts are huge. That's something my dad would always say: "There's nothing like American philanthropy. There's nothing like American giving." It's so true and continues to be true.
Diana's story is part of a series called An American Experience. Read more about how she pivoted her business or her recommendations for making your brand stand out.
Photos: Amanda Friedman
Magic Dates on Shark Tank: Cost, founder, and more about business that is rooted in Syrian traditions
Shark Tank Season 13 returns with a new episode on Friday on ABC, featuring interesting business pitches. One of them is titled Magic Dates, which was founded by Diana Jarrar.
Born and brought up in Syria, Jarrar was raised by a Palestinian father and Syrian mother. She grew up eating dates in all forms, especially during the Ramadan festival. After leaving her hometown, Jarrar always wanted to share her culture and traditions with the world. Thus, she founded Magic Dates, a business that is rooted in her Syrian traditions.
Her company provides all-natural snack bites made from or based on dates and walnuts. Speaking about Magic Dates, Jarrar wrote in the “Our Story” section of the brand’s website:
“We enjoyed this perfectly balanced bite, especially during Ramadan, where it was traditional to break our fast with dates and walnuts. These memories sparked the creation of MAGICDATES. Dates + Walnuts are the first two ingredients we use in our satisfying bites.”
Her approach involves combining elements of surprise, adventure, and creativity to create an unforgettable experience for both individuals. From exploring hidden gems in the city to embarking on outdoor adventures, Diana encourages her clients to think outside the box and step out of their comfort zones. Diana also emphasizes the importance of communication and vulnerability during a date.
Who is Diana Jarrar?
View this post on InstagramDiana Jarrar is the founder of Magic Dates snack bites. When she was 11 years old, Jarrar immigrated to Toronto, Canada, with her family. Then, she lived in Saudi Arabia for a while before settling down in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 19.
Jarrar pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the California State College Northridge in 2010. During her graduation period, she also worked at the American Association of Aesthetic Medicine and Surgery as a training developer.
Her passion for doing something to show the world her Middle-Eastern roots led to her first business. The founder launched her own Mediterranean-themed catering business, The Aventine Hill. She later worked for the real estate firm Rodeo Realty, Inc as a licensed agent and marketing director for three years.
In September 2016, she started the snack business Magic Dates. These guilt-free bites do not contain gluten, dairy, GMO, and Kosher.
She encourages her clients to open up and share their thoughts, feelings, and dreams, fostering a sense of intimacy and connection. By creating a safe and supportive environment, Diana helps individuals feel comfortable being themselves and expressing their true selves. Through her expertise and guidance, Diana has helped countless individuals transform their dating experiences. Many of her clients have reported finding love and forming fulfilling relationships after implementing her strategies and techniques. Overall, Diana Jarrar's magic dates approach offers a fresh perspective on dating and relationships. By prioritizing creativity, adventure, and communication, she encourages individuals to approach dates with an open mind and a willingness to step outside their comfort zones. Her expertise has proven to be transformative for many, leading to more meaningful connections and long-lasting love..
Reviews for "The Impact of Diana Jarrar's Magical Dates on Personal Growth"
- John Smith - 1 out of 5 stars - I was really disappointed with "Diana Jarrar Magic Dates." The writing was bland and the characters felt one-dimensional. The plot was predictable and I found myself losing interest quickly. Overall, I couldn't connect with the story or the characters, and it left me unsatisfied as a reader. I would not recommend this book to others.
- Emily Johnson - 2 out of 5 stars - I had high hopes for "Diana Jarrar Magic Dates" but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The pacing was slow and dragged on in many parts, making it difficult to stay engaged. The magical elements in the story were underdeveloped and felt forced, without any real explanation or depth. The romance felt rushed and lacked chemistry between the characters. Overall, this book didn't live up to my expectations and I wouldn't recommend it.
- Sarah Thompson - 1 out of 5 stars - "Diana Jarrar Magic Dates" was a big letdown. The writing style was choppy and the dialogue felt forced and inauthentic. The characters were unlikable and lacked development, making it hard to invest in their stories. The plot was disjointed and failed to hold my interest. I was expecting a magical and exciting read, but this book fell short in every way. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a satisfying reading experience.