How did you get started?
As I child I was always fascinated with learning. I used to open “shops” and make money by selling things to my family. And acting was my world… I’d often be caught talking or singing to myself, imitating people and putting on a show. But as life had it, I didn’t end up pursuing acting or business.
At university I completed my first degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Durham and then continued my masters in Neuroscience from the University College of London where a lot of my work was based on research. I came back to the UAE and began work at a hospital until I eventually began to forget my passions and dreams; I lost a sense of who I was. So I left and decided to start from square one; I began focusing on my initiative ‘I Love UAE’ and acting and film.
What inspired you to start the initiative ‘I Love UAE’?
I kept looking around for inspiring and exemplary Emiratis. I was desperately looking for people to aspire to… real people… not those given opportunities because of their name or status, but Emiratis who had built something for themselves with their own two hands.
I used Twitter at first and began ‘collecting’ them; a list of names of Emiratis that had businesses or talents that could be beneficial to other Emiratis. I eventually found that I could network Emirati businesses with each other or recommend Emiratis that had specific talents to organizations worldwide.
You quit your job to focus on ‘I Love UAE’?
There’s more to life than money and a nine-to-five job. I could have easily lived the rest of my life in financial comfort and the security of my old career but that isn’t life to me, that’s not thinking outside the box.
It wasn’t a difficult decision because it was a decision I made for myself. It’s something I needed to explore a bit more, and naturally I believe work should be fun. You should be happy doing what you love every day. ‘I Love UAE’ is something I enjoy and learn from everyday.
How does it work?
‘I Love UAE’ is ‘the virtual ambassador’. It is an agent that supports, promotes and advertises Emirati talents, businesses, products and related events. As the name suggest, we are all ambassadors of our country, to our country and to the rest of the world.
In a nutshell, we help Emiratis develop themselves by giving them exposure and the skills they need to advance in whatever they chose. We have found acting opportunities for the Emiratis who signed up on international feature films; we paired young students with qualified national entrepreneurs for internships; we invited press to write exposes on Emirati businesses; we have helped Emirati businesses network with their fellow citizens; we’ve even sold some handicraft products. These entrepreneurs let us know what they need and we do our best to address them.
Recently, we held the Emirati Grassroots Art Exhibition where we showcased 10 Emirati artists, most of whom had never exhibited before. We were published and many of our guests were fascinated with the skills the artists possessed. Some were even willing to commission them.
The beauty of ‘I Love UAE’ is that whatever we do we always use as many Emiratis as possible. At that particular event the attendants, caterers, photographer, videographer, curator, speakers and artists were Emirati. Every single one of them.
What challenges have come and how have you overcome them?
It definitely hasn’t been an easy ride. First I had to find the motivation to actually piece it together. I then spent hours everyday researching and pulling the content together. It took a lot of self-motivation.
It wasn’t too long after that I found I had a copycat. Another Emirati was stealing the information I had worked months to collect. What was worse is that people believed him! This taught me a lot about competition, business ethics and what one should not do when starting an initiative.
We now base the ‘I Love UAE’ ethos on integrity and make sure we deliver the best quality we can, the greatest opportunities and the most exposure.
What do you hope to achieve with ‘I Love UAE’?
We are on a mission with to show people that Emiratis are very active and prominent in our country. You can find them, read about them and be inspired by them.
Do you have a message for others?
Don’t believe people when they tell you there’s nothing you can do. A human being can do anything and everything they want to but only if they allow themselves that freedom. It’s amazing what you can do to change this world by only doing what you love. So stop listening to people who tell you not to do what you love.
