In 1993, Fakih and her family moved from Lebanon to New York City due to the effects of the Lebanese Civil War. After arriving in the United States, the family settled in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. Fakih attended St. John's Preparatory School in Astoria, while her father ran a restaurant in Manhattan. In New York, Fakih's family faced discrimination, and believed that this was due to events in the Middle East. Business at her father's restaurant began to rapidly decline following the September 11 attacks in 2001.
