Shady was born in Kuwait, where his father was working at the time; once the Gulf War started, he and his family returned to their hometown of Aleppo. The Kuwaiti and Syrian school curriculums were quite different then — so different that it was difficult for Shady to continue his education — so at age 16 he stopped going to school and instead worked for several years in a sweets shop. Even when he joined the military, Shady wanted to improve his kitchen skills; he became the camp cook and, on his off weeks, kept working in another sweets-focused shop, learning all about such Eastern desserts as baklava and kunafe. After his military time was over, Shady, at age 21, studied and taught himself in order to finally get his high school diploma.
