Episode 18 - Streamlining Business Operations Through Design

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Hi, I'm Sarah. Hello, I'm Monica.
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Hi, I'm Miri. Hi, I'm Audrey. Hi, I'm Tracy.
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And I'm John.
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And we are Design Minds.
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Welcome to the Design Minds podcast. Design Minds is a
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community of design builders who support, grow, and build together.
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So in this podcast, we share real stories of scary decisions,
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unsexy actions, and the ups and downs of building products, services, communities, businesses,
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and more. I'm your host. My name is Sarah Barber.
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I'm a UX designer at Arizona State University, a founding
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organizer of BizBZineFest, and a devoted community member of Design Minds. Today,
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we have a very special guest, Kushali, to unpack the
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topic of streamlining business operations through design. Kushali is a
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product designer based in Dubai with experience running SaaS and
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consumer-facing digital products across multiple industries. She also runs a
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boutique design studio where she helps businesses bring ideas to
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life through thoughtful digital experiences and branding. Kushali loves exploring
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new ways of doing things, whether that's through design, AI, marketing,
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or simply rethinking how something works. She finds a lot
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of joy in the small details that make experiences feel effortless,
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and always experimenting, learning, and looking for better ways to
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solve everyday problems. So Kushali, thank you so much for
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being here today. I'm going to hand it over to
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you to tell you a little bit more about your
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background and why this topic is important to you.
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Thank you so much for having me today. And I'm
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really excited to be here. I think, so you did
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a great introduction for me. So I think this topic
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is really important to me because this was like a
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phase that sort of brought me out of the little
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bubble that I had when I was studying in the
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US when I was back in India. And all of
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this happened when I moved to Dubai just a few
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months ago. And it's one of the phases that has
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actually gotten me to think that design is not just
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restricted to websites and applications, but there is so much
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more to it. And we can do a lot more
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in the smaller aspects of things as well. If I
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do want to start, I wanted to say that design
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was never an option for me. I never wanted to
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get into design because I never imagined it as a
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career for me. And I always thought if I did
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end up doing design, I might lose interest in it
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eventually because it was like a really fun hobby for me.
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And I didn't want to lose that part of me,
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like the artistic part of me. But someone told me
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that if you are good at it, why don't you...
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Why are you trying so hard to do something that
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you were not really sure that you want to do?
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And I decided to go for an interview just for
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the fun of it. I got in. So I think
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everyone was happy. And then I made the decision to
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just get started with design because I knew for sure
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I didn't want to do business, but that was a
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safer route. So I took design just for the fun
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of it. And I think design is something that brings
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together so many people and it really helps when there's
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someone who is willing to listen and also enjoys learning
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from you that makes you feel like you are actually
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doing a great job at what you're doing because you
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don't doubt yourself a lot. So it's a decision that
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was made also because people around me were so supportive.
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So That is how I got into design and I'm
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just helping my family business with design approach that I
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have learned throughout the years. That's amazing.
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And it sounds a little like serendipitous to come into
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design this way, like loving it as a hobby and
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then it just kind of making it making itself your career.
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That sounds really perfect and meant to be. I'm curious,
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I'd love to learn more about your family business and
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how kind of design and your background fit into that.
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So, um, my family business in Dubai right now, we
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have a car rental business here and it started 10
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years ago. My dad came here because back in India,
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we had a bus transportation business and he wanted to
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do more. He always wanted to do more and he
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loved taking risks. So he came to the, and, uh,
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Since the past 10 years, he's been here. He's been
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doing everything. He set up the business. And he's also
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someone who wants to do big. And it's for him, he.
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Is when it comes to tech, it's a little bit
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of a challenge for him to figure out how to
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grow when you have so many advancements that are happening.
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And also because recently, the regional conflict, the tourism and
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travel businesses sort of slowed down as well. And that
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is actually when my part came in, because I was
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told to work on marketing and figuring out the social
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media aspect of things, running meta ads, Google ads, all
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of He was the one who convinced me that design
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could add value in the business. I was always like,
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I don't really know what I can do for the
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business because again, I was always only thinking about jobs.
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I want to get a job. That is my goal.
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I wanted to get a job and get my salary
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so that I can feel like I'm an independent woman
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who's working and who's learning. But he was the one
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who suggested I get involved in the business because he
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thought that learning about business is going to help me
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grow as a designer as well. So if I help
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him with marketing, we might revive the business that we
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already have and how we operate as well. I think
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while talking to him also, what is happening, how does
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the business work? Um, how are the coming in, coming in,
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who is handling it? How are customers communicating? All of
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this really got me interested again, because user research as
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a part of design as well. So then I'm like, Oh, okay.
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It's not that bad. Like it's exactly what I'm doing
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when I'm working on a product or a service design. And, um, Essentially,
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you have to understand how the customer, how the current
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experience is. And once I understood how all of that
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sort of fit together, I started spotting opportunities. I started
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talking to him about it. And that is essentially how
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I just got into the business. And I'm currently working
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on social media. I'm running meta ads. I'm looking after
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the website redesign as well. A lot of analysis and
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research about the website But WhatsApp is one of the
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main modes of communication. So one of the most important
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things that I found as an opportunity is to sort
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of understand what information the clients want from us and
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why a client is turning into a potential client or
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not getting converted as a client. So all of that
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also got me thinking and I love thinking as well.
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So I think it was like a win-win situation in
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that sense because and since it's a family business you
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have so much freedom to experiment to have assumptions and
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just experiment with that however you want to and I
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think that was like really beneficial because I learned so
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much while just doing that and yeah so I'm not
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just I was not just designing websites but I was
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designing conversations I was designing processes workflows and the internal
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system all of that And that got me a little
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bit interested because I realized that businesses have user experience
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as well. And it wouldn't really be bad if I
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got involved in it. That's amazing.
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And it sounds so helpful for you as a designer
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and for your family, for their business. It sounds like
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a win-win for everyone involved. And I'm echoing Marlinda's sentiment
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in the chat that understanding the business model helps so
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much in terms of like, elevating the business, making sure
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the design fits into the business model and vice versa.
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So that sounds like such a fun way to really
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enhance your skills, especially like you said, since it's your
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family business, you have more of like the freedom and
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to really like get into the nitty gritty of it
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and like explore and learn and do the research and
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make it happen. I love what you said too, that
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it was more than just the website. How can design
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thinking solve operational challenges beyond digital products like you were
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saying you were doing chats and procedures how does design
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fit into all of that.
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Yeah so um like i was saying that the first
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thing in anything before doing anything is to understand people
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to understand what the other person actually needs that is
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how i really started to understand that and um so coming.
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Back to the conversation WhatsApp example that I was talking about,
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because it's one of the ways that people get in
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a lot of inquiries and bookings. So one of the
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things that I was looking at was I understood that
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the website needed redesign, but at the same time, I
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was also looking at the conversations that the employer was
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having with the clients. And I saw that the entire
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conversation had a dead, like it was dead after a
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few checks. And that made me think if there was
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a way to sort of create a template that would
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help employees understand just write in whenever that particular question,
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whenever the client had a particular question. So there was
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one experiment which I did was I took over the
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replying part of it. And I thought we'd improve the
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experience by asking customers a few questions upfront about things
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like how many people were traveling with them, if they
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were coming here for a business trip, or was it
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for tourism purpose or what their budget was. So I
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wanted to ask them these questions in order to give
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them a tailored response and also suggest cars which work
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for them. And for me, it sounded like a good
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way to recommend the right car. But after a week
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or so of experimenting this, I went back, I reviewed
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all the conversations and I realized that the customers weren't
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really engaging with it because this required a lot of effort.
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like they had to answer so many questions as well
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and it also was the fact that they came with
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an opposite mind so they had a particular car that
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they wanted they just wanted to know if it was
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available they just wanted to know how much it would
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cost and that was sort of a good reminder that
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sometimes what you think is a good experience isn't always
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what the customer feels is a good experience as well.
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So then I changed the strategy and I redesigned the
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conversation to answer questions that the clients already had. And
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that was again an analysis of their previous conversations that
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I saw the questions they were asking. So the next
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time there was a client who came in and asked
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for an inquiry about a car, I just gave them warmly,
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I confirmed the availability. And I asked them about the dates.
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That was it. That was all that I asked. But
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when I was giving them the rates, I messaged what
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was included, what wasn't included, if there were any optional
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add-ons that they could get. And because one of the
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things that is important to us is transparency. And we
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don't want to ask five, seven different questions. We just
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wanted to like get everything set and done in a
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way so that there was clarity. And I think that
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help with them gaining trust as well. So yeah, I
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think it's just the willingness to test assumptions from the
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behavior of users and keep improving. And yeah, that's how,
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that's one of the ways that the design sort of
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helped me, helped me solve operational challenges for, One of
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the cases, there were many of them.
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I'm sure there were so many, and that's such a
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prime example too, of like how one like user testing
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is so important and it's such a great way that
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you were able to see like, oh, this isn't working.
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Let's reiterate, let's pivot, like make it actually fit the user.
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And then also that like the user experience design of
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it comes like it's not just a website. It can
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be the full range of how your user interfaces with
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every step of your business. So I think that that
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is such a prime example of being able to say like, oh,
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this conversation isn't yielding the results we want. Let's redesign
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it to make it actually do what it needs to
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do for us. And Eunji left a great comment in
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the chat. Um, you talked about the freedom from working
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on family business, but it also could have been scary
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because it's your family business. So I'd love to hear
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more about that. Like how, how was it, how were
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the stakes different maybe from like working in, in family
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business to maybe working outside of that?
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So, um, it was definitely different in the sense that, um,
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I did have the freedom. But at the same time,
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it came with a lot more expectations because they think
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I'm someone. And also because I was one person who
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was the only designer in the entire company. And we
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have around like six to seven employees. Most of them
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are into finance and sales and servicing and all of those.
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But as a designer, I was the only one. So
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my opinion was the opinion that was going to be
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essentially the right opinion so I had to sort of
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be very particular and clear about what I was thinking
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and I had to explain it to them in a
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way that would help them as well and it shouldn't
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really feel like I'm saying things because I think it's
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for the designer but at the same time I'm also
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thinking about it from the sense that it's going to
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help the business and I'm saying that because uh Coming
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up with ideas wasn't a problem, but like implementing those
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ideas was becoming difficult because everybody already had their responsibilities.
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And now if I'm going to add something new to them,
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like new to that idea or like adding a new
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process or introducing something new, like a sim, whatever, it's no,
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there is no guarantee that that's going to happen in
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the next one or two days or like five days.
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and one of my roles was to constantly nudge them
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or follow up and remind people that this had to
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get implemented so that I could get enough data to
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analyze what was really happening and while doing this it
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was also very important to make people feel comfortable while
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they were adopting these ideas and like implementing all of
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this because I couldn't just tell them do this and
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just like Leave it. I couldn't do that. And also
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because they were people I have known as my dad's daughter.
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Stepping into the role. And I'm also sort of in
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the leadership position. And I was the one who was
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told to make the decisions. Telling them to do something
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was something that was scary. Because I, like, it's just,
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I don't have never really done that. So that was
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something that was really scary. But I think with time.
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And also understanding that and talking to them to make
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it clear that I'm just giving them my opinions. And
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I think it would work really well for the business.
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Talking to them in that sense sort of let me
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get into a relationship that was not too scary. It
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was mutually benefiting to both of us.
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I love that. And it sounds like it really helped
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you like hone some like skills in terms of that,
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like gave you the chance to build up that repertoire
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and confidence to be able like no matter who you are,
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we can have a working relationship and get what we
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need to get done. So I love that. Moy, I
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just asked in the chat, any strategies or tips in
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how you carried those conversations to get buy-in from others
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who may not have been familiar with the value of
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designer research?
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Yeah, so my initial role was social media. So I
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was in charge of getting content on Instagram. And I
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think the easiest way that I thought to sort of
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gel in well with the other people in the office
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was to create content with them in it, involving them
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into like letting them know that they're going to be
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on social media, involving them, making them a part of it.
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And they also started having fun. So it gave me
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like a way to sort of, start talking to them
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because this conversation, this is the day that you're supposed
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to talk about this and I'll be shooting it in
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this way. So please be ready when you do that.
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And there was some serious, there was some funny deals
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and that is how things got like lightened up. And
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we had like fun banter and stuff like that. And
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once that, once it was, that made it easier to
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talk to them. And after that, whenever I said something
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was taken seriously, because And then it didn't feel like
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I was just saying something because I'm my dad's daughter,
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but I'm actually doing things in action. And they could
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see that on Instagram. They could see whatever I was doing.
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It was helping me increase followers. It was helping me
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do this and that. And then they were like, okay, yeah,
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I can do this. I can do that. I can
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do this. I can do that. So I think that
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really helped me sort of starting to talk to them
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and get things done. I mean, still, I'm also figuring
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out how to manage all of this because I'm wearing
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multiple hats. I have to look at so many different
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things at the same time. Google Calendar is my best
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friend at this point. I just dump everything on that
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and figure it out.
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I also love my Google Calendar and it sounds really
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beneficial for everyone. Like you being able to kind of
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like engage with these people that eventually like built that
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trust and you were able to like show the results
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that what you've been working on is working. Like, it
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sounds like you really tried to foster those relationships and
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ultimately made like much better workflows and like business operations.
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So I love how, like, no, no matter the challenge,
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like you can make it happen. Um, I'd love, I'd
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love to know, um, maybe what's your approach when you're
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working on designing business operations? Like how do you kind
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of assess or scope and what are maybe like the
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outlooks that you go into when you're assessing?
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So I don't really have a fixed framework for this,
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but I always start by, again, trying to understand how
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things are working right now. And once I understand where
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the problem is, the solution becomes much clearer because the
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solution can be adding a new software, improving a software.
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It can be changing a sentence on WhatsApp. It can
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be creating a checklist. It can be anything. And I just...
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feel like this business has been working well for the
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past 10 years, which means that the system works. It's
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just that the system needs a bit of an update.
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And that is where I really come in. So this
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also made me think a lot about how building something
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new isn't always the answer to fixing something. But Systems,
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if they work, that means that there is something that
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is going well in it. But what's important is to
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sort of make it simpler and easier for everyone. So
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that is where the entire streamlining comes in. And that
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is also looking at creating internal operating systems for the
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company as well, because that's going to really help. Everybody
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has so many tasks that they're supposed to do. And
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they forget about one or two things, which is why
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I was also hesitant to add one more task and
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tell them that you're supposed to do this as well.
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Like be it asking them for reviews or getting a
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video of the customer, stuff like that. So yeah, I
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think my approach really depends on what the solution ends
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up being, but it always starts with understanding where the
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problem is and then working from it from there and
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till now I've not really built anything I've built on
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top of what is already there because I want to
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invest in creating something but at the same time that
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investment should and which right now with how the market
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is here in Dubai after everything that has happened it
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does not seem like the right thing to do something
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like that but yeah That is something that we plan
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to do.
364
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Absolutely. It sounds like designing for a business can be
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quite multifaceted with all of the different components that go
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into it. What are some challenges that you've come across?
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I think one of the major challenges was implementation, like
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I mentioned. One of the challenges is also that sometimes
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I sort of don't take my work seriously. because it
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is a family business. And since I also run my
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own studio, I prioritize that work for this sometimes because
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I enjoy designing interfaces and I've always known designing interfaces.
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Like I've always known how to do that. And this,
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in this family business, it requires me to think and
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strategize a lot, which is something that I'm learning. But
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sometimes my brain is so exhausted that I have to
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take a break. I think sometimes my challenge comes into
378
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motivating myself, especially when it's the weekend. So like Fridays
379
00:24:32.670 --> 00:24:34.730
and especially when it's a Monday, I have to like
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really motivate myself. Started with my work. I will do
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00:24:38.190 --> 00:24:40.980
my work, but it'll be slow because I prioritize other
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things over this. But the more I work on this,
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the more I'm actually understanding the business and the more
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I know of what opportunities I need to tackle next.
385
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And all of these ideas are there in my head.
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And now I just need to like work on implementing
387
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them because everything that is happening right now is a
388
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little slow. The developer is still working on the website.
389
00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:09.019
The SEO people are working on the backlinks, which we've
390
00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:12.089
told them to update, but that's something that needs to
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00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.730
be done. And so, yeah, I'm supposed to be the
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one who's supposed to tell everyone. I'm supposed to be
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the one who's supposed to follow And tell everyone to
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get things done. So I think getting motivated to sort
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of get interested in a business that requires so much
396
00:25:33.210 --> 00:25:36.990
of you can be exciting, but at the same time
397
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can be a challenge as well when you are doing
398
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multiple things at the same time.
399
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Absolutely. It's very multifaceted. It sounds like there's so many
400
00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:51.240
hats you have to wear. so many stakeholders, including your
401
00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.559
own family members that you have to make sure like
402
00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:58.240
checking the boxes. So it sounds like a really exciting challenge. Um,
403
00:25:58.579 --> 00:26:02.480
in the chat is curious about your experience with tech
404
00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:06.000
and design versus in the U S versus Dubai. If
405
00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:09.220
you have any, any, uh, insights you'd like to share
406
00:26:09.289 --> 00:26:10.329
on the differences there.
407
00:26:10.349 --> 00:26:24.269
Um, so I can't really say, uh, much about because
408
00:26:24.369 --> 00:26:29.609
in US I worked on products such as a messaging
409
00:26:29.750 --> 00:26:37.349
app and as product and I didn't really use AI
410
00:26:37.630 --> 00:26:42.690
as much in that sense and here I I think
411
00:26:42.710 --> 00:26:45.079
it depends from business to business, but again, there are
412
00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.859
a lot of AI communities here in Hawaii. So I
413
00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.940
get to learn so much. I have to like course
414
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.940
for workshop and I've gotten like, and using that, I mean,
415
00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:57.279
I went to that workshop and I created an entire
416
00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:04.140
internal operating system, just using cursor credits and it's functional
417
00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:06.819
right now. The only thing is that the developer needs
418
00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:10.920
to add from the backend and But I think there's
419
00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:15.740
a lot more opportunity when it comes to tech here
420
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:19.390
in Dubai. People don't really and I used to think
421
00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:23.829
that as well that Dubai is really not tech first
422
00:27:23.910 --> 00:27:28.910
or tech forward because it's adopting tech and it's not
423
00:27:29.250 --> 00:27:32.880
as tech savvy as any other country because in India
424
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we have Google Pay, we have UPI, we can make
425
00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:40.049
payments using our phone. We don't really need to have
426
00:27:40.069 --> 00:27:42.809
a credit card and stuff like that. And the US,
427
00:27:42.829 --> 00:27:45.529
we have Dell. Sure, we don't have anything like that.
428
00:27:45.569 --> 00:27:47.710
It needs to be a bank transfer or cash payments.
429
00:27:48.339 --> 00:27:51.660
So there are a few things wherein Dubai is still growing.
430
00:27:51.880 --> 00:28:01.140
And because they really, really look at privacy and security.
431
00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:07.200
And there is like double, two-factor authentication, three-factor authentication, even
432
00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:10.470
for bank applications, which is not really there in, like
433
00:28:10.509 --> 00:28:15.680
my chase or stuff like that. But I think there
434
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:17.400
are so many things that we want to work on
435
00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:19.700
here in Dubai. But at the same time, there is
436
00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:23.160
so much growth potential here, which I think is a
437
00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:25.740
little saturated in the US. And that is because it's
438
00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:32.099
already very tech savvy. And learning anything there, I almost
439
00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:35.519
feel like everything is already done. And whatever I'm thinking
440
00:28:35.660 --> 00:28:40.130
about is like, I'm like two years old. I'm thinking
441
00:28:40.190 --> 00:28:43.250
two years before so not like thinking two years ahead
442
00:28:43.690 --> 00:28:48.589
but here I feel like there's a opportunity to advance
443
00:28:48.730 --> 00:28:52.970
in tech because everything is growing and there is a
444
00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:58.480
lot more potential in me to do that advancement as
445
00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:04.299
well that's amazing I hope that answers the question.
446
00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:08.599
I think it definitely did And it's so fascinating too,
447
00:29:08.630 --> 00:29:11.519
to have the experience from the US, from Dubai and
448
00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:14.079
your experience in India to see like how it all
449
00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:18.509
kind of fits together. It's really exciting the opportunities that
450
00:29:18.529 --> 00:29:20.990
you're seeing in Dubai for what you can bring into
451
00:29:21.029 --> 00:29:25.269
the space and what's coming next. I think we've we've
452
00:29:25.309 --> 00:29:28.710
talked about so many amazing things about your family business, about,
453
00:29:29.690 --> 00:29:33.029
you know, designing for business. I'm curious if you have
454
00:29:33.190 --> 00:29:38.009
like how how can designers create real business impact? Do
455
00:29:38.029 --> 00:29:41.259
you have any like specific examples? of ways you've seen
456
00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:45.559
the business improve or any other insights around like how
457
00:29:46.059 --> 00:29:47.960
to impact business as a designer?
458
00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:56.220
So like I mentioned before, I actually used to underestimate
459
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.269
how valuable our design skills actually are. So when I
460
00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:03.180
started working on this business as well, I thought that
461
00:30:03.619 --> 00:30:07.380
I called myself a website designer for this business because
462
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:14.140
that's all I was going to be. But over time
463
00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:18.980
doing all of this, I realized that the skills we
464
00:30:19.049 --> 00:30:23.990
have as designers, like how we understand people, how we
465
00:30:24.029 --> 00:30:29.369
simplify complexity, how we have ability to spot problems insights
466
00:30:29.470 --> 00:30:33.490
or friction and figure out opportunities, they are not just
467
00:30:33.529 --> 00:30:37.930
limited to apps and websites because businesses also have journeys.
468
00:30:38.910 --> 00:30:45.759
Operations and systems also have issues and opportunities and there
469
00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:49.980
are gaps in that as well. So that made me
470
00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:53.259
completely change the way I saw my role and also
471
00:30:54.039 --> 00:30:58.859
My dad never really thought of design as just website design.
472
00:30:58.900 --> 00:31:01.730
He was like, OK, design. So what exactly are your
473
00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:04.049
skills as a designer? That was the question he used
474
00:31:04.069 --> 00:31:07.059
to ask me. And I used to always say whatever
475
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.599
I knew what design really was. But it's like, no,
476
00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:15.279
think beyond that. This can't just be, you can't just
477
00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:16.960
be relying on, and that was the time I was
478
00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:20.240
not even like, I was struggling with jobs in the US.
479
00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:22.519
So he's like, you can't just think of yourself as
480
00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:25.700
a website designer and stop there. Like there is more
481
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.740
to you and you have learned so much. You have
482
00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:31.599
done undergrad and masters. You've probably done more than that.
483
00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:34.059
And you can use that to do so many other things.
484
00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:36.960
This is not like the end of it. And that
485
00:31:37.029 --> 00:31:42.250
is when he gave me the role of business, business
486
00:31:42.349 --> 00:31:46.190
growth designer that's he renamed it to business growth no
487
00:31:46.369 --> 00:31:49.369
brand growth design some that but it was just growth
488
00:31:49.410 --> 00:31:52.609
designer so like I am a designer but I am
489
00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:56.670
using my design skills to help grow our business and
490
00:31:56.890 --> 00:32:00.380
I never thought that makes sense because I don't have
491
00:32:00.410 --> 00:32:04.240
sales experience I don't have marketing experience I don't know
492
00:32:04.299 --> 00:32:06.559
how meta ads work I don't know any of that
493
00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:09.539
I learned all of that while doing this And also
494
00:32:09.579 --> 00:32:11.980
because I was given a task that I needed to
495
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:15.500
increase these many followers. I needed these many leads. I
496
00:32:15.539 --> 00:32:17.769
needed to do this. I needed to do that. And
497
00:32:17.809 --> 00:32:20.490
by doing all of that, I started to realize that
498
00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:25.150
there is so much more and I can create value
499
00:32:25.549 --> 00:32:29.730
for the business without just being a website designer. There
500
00:32:29.809 --> 00:32:34.029
is so much more to it. And now I just
501
00:32:34.829 --> 00:32:38.299
feel like if I would have started this a year
502
00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:40.819
ago or two years ago, I would have learned so
503
00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:43.759
much more. I wouldn't be stuck on just finding roles
504
00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:45.660
for website design then. And I would have just like
505
00:32:46.460 --> 00:32:51.140
opened up my search to a lot of other different things.
506
00:32:53.970 --> 00:32:59.190
That's amazing. I love, it sounds like you've had such
507
00:32:59.450 --> 00:33:02.369
a big impact on this company. And like, it's so
508
00:33:02.410 --> 00:33:04.710
special too, that it's your family business. I feel like
509
00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:10.500
it makes it even more like, celebratory. I wanted to
510
00:33:10.740 --> 00:33:13.410
open it up to everyone in the audience here. If
511
00:33:13.630 --> 00:33:17.329
anyone has any questions they haven't gotten to share, any
512
00:33:17.450 --> 00:33:20.549
insights in response, or if maybe you've designed your own
513
00:33:20.609 --> 00:33:24.210
family business, I'd love to open it up to the group.
514
00:33:24.470 --> 00:33:27.210
If you would like to raise your hand or write
515
00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:31.440
in the chat, this is a great time since we're
516
00:33:31.460 --> 00:33:35.619
nearing the end of our time together. but I know
517
00:33:35.650 --> 00:33:38.299
we've already had some great questions from our audience today.
518
00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:39.319
So thank you.
519
00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:44.380
All so much. All right. I know you mentioned earlier
520
00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:48.589
that you work on a design studio. I'm curious more
521
00:33:48.619 --> 00:33:52.630
about that and maybe how that fits into this family
522
00:33:52.670 --> 00:33:54.089
business design project.
523
00:33:55.869 --> 00:34:02.430
So when I moved to Dubai, I was again trying
524
00:34:02.730 --> 00:34:07.549
for jobs because Um, in the, in the way you
525
00:34:07.589 --> 00:34:10.489
need to have GCC experience or you need to know
526
00:34:10.630 --> 00:34:15.340
Arabic first positions. And, uh, I came during the time
527
00:34:15.449 --> 00:34:19.760
when the hiring season was sort of not at its peak.
528
00:34:19.820 --> 00:34:25.219
It was dying down a bit. Um, so the best
529
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.340
thing that I could do that time was take up
530
00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:32.179
projects like freelance projects. And to do that legally, you
531
00:34:32.219 --> 00:34:39.340
need to have, um, a trading license here, a freelance license,
532
00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:43.900
a freelance visa here in Dubai. And I did that.
533
00:34:43.940 --> 00:34:46.679
And when I did that, I started also posting about
534
00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:50.260
it on my Instagram. And a lot of people saw.
535
00:34:50.929 --> 00:34:54.289
And a few of my friends reached out to me saying,
536
00:34:54.610 --> 00:34:57.309
asking me if I can do what they wanted me
537
00:34:57.349 --> 00:35:00.309
to do. And I said, yes. And that is how
538
00:35:00.349 --> 00:35:03.449
I got my first project. And then someone else who
539
00:35:03.469 --> 00:35:06.639
I'd worked with before said, again, reached out to me
540
00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:09.989
asking if I could work on one of their extended projects.
541
00:35:10.550 --> 00:35:12.429
And I'm like, yeah, I can take that up. I
542
00:35:12.530 --> 00:35:14.429
don't really mind. But the thing was, I used to
543
00:35:14.469 --> 00:35:17.650
do all that free of cost almost when I was
544
00:35:17.690 --> 00:35:20.530
in the US because I took that as an opportunity.
545
00:35:21.329 --> 00:35:24.309
But this time, because I officially started my own studio,
546
00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:28.590
I told people that I will be charging a bit
547
00:35:28.989 --> 00:35:32.300
because now I am officially having my own studio and
548
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:37.250
I'm running that and everything. for the quality of work
549
00:35:37.309 --> 00:35:41.010
and everything and taking up clients and all. So I,
550
00:35:41.050 --> 00:35:44.139
that is how I work on clients. And right now
551
00:35:44.179 --> 00:35:48.199
I'm working with three of them, but honestly speaking, I
552
00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:51.199
feel like I did take them up, but I feel
553
00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:53.449
like there are too many at the same time because
554
00:35:53.619 --> 00:35:57.329
the projects are too huge. And I have to learn
555
00:35:57.409 --> 00:36:02.260
how to, that taught me how to prioritize projects as well, because, um,
556
00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:07.260
Three projects, three different kinds of projects. One was an
557
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:11.630
architecture studio design. The other one was a SaaS product,
558
00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:14.190
which is so huge that I'm still working on it.
559
00:36:15.030 --> 00:36:18.190
And the other one was one of them, a car
560
00:36:18.250 --> 00:36:21.889
rental project that I had website redesign and the content
561
00:36:21.909 --> 00:36:25.090
strategy and everything that just keeps going on. Another one
562
00:36:25.150 --> 00:36:28.309
is a personal website. So there are things going on.
563
00:36:28.329 --> 00:36:32.920
I'm still learning how to prioritize all of that. Uh,
564
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.039
but it is fun. Um, and I don't feel like
565
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:38.820
I'm wiling my time away doing nothing. So even though
566
00:36:38.840 --> 00:36:43.440
I don't really, um, so sometimes you feel like you
567
00:36:43.539 --> 00:36:45.929
invested so much time in the U S and didn't
568
00:36:45.949 --> 00:36:47.949
get much out of it. But now that I've come
569
00:36:47.969 --> 00:36:52.150
here to Dubai, I feel like I'm doing so much more. Uh,
570
00:36:52.250 --> 00:36:54.210
so my two years didn't go in vain. I spent
571
00:36:54.250 --> 00:36:57.130
a lot of things there and then I'm just using
572
00:36:57.170 --> 00:37:01.739
that here and it's working very well in that sense. So. Yeah,
573
00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:05.130
it's fun. I wouldn't really say it's exhausting because I
574
00:37:05.309 --> 00:37:10.110
love doing what I do. So there are so many
575
00:37:10.170 --> 00:37:13.570
design communities, AI communities, tech communities here in Dubai. I
576
00:37:14.050 --> 00:37:16.519
end up meeting a lot of great people here and
577
00:37:16.539 --> 00:37:21.159
I learn a lot from them. So all of that
578
00:37:21.340 --> 00:37:25.000
also helps me with my business. Someone wanted a WordPress
579
00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:28.570
website and I met someone who knew how to fast
580
00:37:28.610 --> 00:37:35.070
forward the WordPress. designing and I used that and it
581
00:37:35.110 --> 00:37:38.190
worked for me like I spent way less time sort
582
00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:41.769
of working on that project than I would have.
583
00:37:41.789 --> 00:37:45.429
I totally second Moyai's comment in the chat we love
584
00:37:45.469 --> 00:37:48.940
your willingness to try to expand your skill set and
585
00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:51.980
make an impact it is so clear that like you
586
00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:55.929
are really trying like putting your foot into all the water,
587
00:37:56.030 --> 00:37:59.130
like whatever that saying is, like making sure that you
588
00:37:59.170 --> 00:38:00.869
have the impact you want to make and that your
589
00:38:00.889 --> 00:38:03.610
design skills are having the impact you want them to.
590
00:38:04.030 --> 00:38:07.079
It is so exciting to see. And Eunji has her
591
00:38:07.179 --> 00:38:09.679
hand raised, so I would love for her to ask
592
00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:10.320
her question.
593
00:38:10.340 --> 00:38:15.579
Yeah, thank you, Kusheli and Sarah, for this awesome conversation.
594
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:21.639
I remember talking to Kusheli a year ago when she
595
00:38:21.659 --> 00:38:25.039
was still in the U.S. and stressed out about her
596
00:38:25.320 --> 00:38:29.099
visa in the U.S., having to leave the country and
597
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:32.710
not knowing what to expect. And it's awesome to see
598
00:38:32.949 --> 00:38:39.230
how you're literally making your life on your own. But
599
00:38:39.269 --> 00:38:43.800
I think it's also very clear, like you said, that
600
00:38:44.030 --> 00:38:47.360
your time in the U.S. wasn't a waste for you.
601
00:38:47.380 --> 00:38:50.699
I think you were planting a lot of seed for
602
00:38:50.739 --> 00:38:54.030
you to harvest maybe now.
603
00:38:54.050 --> 00:38:57.130
And I know a lot.
604
00:38:56.949 --> 00:39:02.130
Of people in your shoes a year ago, but they're
605
00:39:02.269 --> 00:39:07.750
going through the stressful time now. What type of advice
606
00:39:07.829 --> 00:39:10.030
or tips do you have for them who are in
607
00:39:10.050 --> 00:39:13.039
the similar situation as you were a year ago?
608
00:39:13.059 --> 00:39:19.070
I mean, I think the only thing is to Never
609
00:39:19.170 --> 00:39:22.409
really gave up on anything. I, the only way I
610
00:39:22.469 --> 00:39:26.460
could do that was by journaling and I've journaled a lot.
611
00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:30.269
I would talk to people, but that wouldn't really. help
612
00:39:30.329 --> 00:39:33.639
me anyways, because I knew that I had to work
613
00:39:33.659 --> 00:39:37.599
on myself, myself, like I couldn't talk to people and
614
00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:40.199
then get it would be fine for me. At the
615
00:39:40.219 --> 00:39:42.739
same time, after a few days, I would just be like,
616
00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:44.539
I don't really know what I'm doing. It would be
617
00:39:44.579 --> 00:39:50.329
the same cycle repeated every time. So The one thing
618
00:39:50.349 --> 00:39:52.989
that I did was get out of my comfort zone.
619
00:39:53.030 --> 00:39:56.190
And my comfort zone was always my house. But I
620
00:39:56.289 --> 00:40:00.010
went to a lot of events. I put myself out there.
621
00:40:00.030 --> 00:40:03.199
I spoke to people. And that is how I got
622
00:40:03.300 --> 00:40:05.579
a few leads. Even though it didn't work out, I
623
00:40:05.619 --> 00:40:08.800
still went out there. And it made me feel like
624
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:12.800
I am someone who could be given this role. It
625
00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:16.730
didn't feel like a rejection. Even though I didn't really
626
00:40:16.769 --> 00:40:19.929
get it, I was considered for it. So I think
627
00:40:20.230 --> 00:40:22.829
there is no risk in putting yourself out there. Like
628
00:40:23.190 --> 00:40:25.829
at one of the events, the person literally told me,
629
00:40:26.329 --> 00:40:27.929
if you are looking for a job, if you're looking
630
00:40:27.989 --> 00:40:30.239
for anything, be very direct and tell the person that
631
00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:33.000
you want it. And you never know, like you won't
632
00:40:33.019 --> 00:40:35.579
even meet the person the next time, but just try
633
00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:38.619
your luck. Just talk to them, ask them. There is
634
00:40:38.699 --> 00:40:42.019
no harm in doing any of that because everyone is
635
00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:45.739
the same on the same, on the same lines and
636
00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:49.030
same words. So You don't really have to feel very
637
00:40:49.389 --> 00:40:55.809
stressed or worried about what the other person might think.
638
00:40:56.429 --> 00:40:58.550
And that is what I struggled with a lot. Like,
639
00:40:58.730 --> 00:41:01.590
what if someone says this, what if someone says that?
640
00:41:02.349 --> 00:41:06.210
But then I stopped doing that. And I think also
641
00:41:06.230 --> 00:41:10.469
just give it time. Everybody says that. But I think
642
00:41:10.489 --> 00:41:12.489
that's the only thing that works. And another thing that
643
00:41:12.510 --> 00:41:17.219
worked for me was praying. It sort of made me
644
00:41:17.260 --> 00:41:21.239
feel like there was someone at me and I got
645
00:41:21.820 --> 00:41:26.599
this feeling of getting healed slowly and slowly while chanting
646
00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:30.400
and doing all of that. So I think all of
647
00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:36.610
that helped me calm down. And yeah, now I don't
648
00:41:36.650 --> 00:41:40.130
feel as bad about the things, but I also realize
649
00:41:40.349 --> 00:41:43.369
how far I have come and I'm always going to
650
00:41:43.389 --> 00:41:47.800
be very grateful to everything. Because I also met, like
651
00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:52.739
I also got into design community in US, right? Like
652
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.460
I met you guys there and then I came for
653
00:41:55.500 --> 00:41:58.219
a few events and then I'm sure, but I'm somehow
654
00:41:58.260 --> 00:42:00.239
still a part of it, even though I cannot attend
655
00:42:00.300 --> 00:42:02.619
any of the events because they happen at like 4 a.m.,
656
00:42:02.619 --> 00:42:06.699
5 a.m., 3 a.m. my time. But it's like, I'm
657
00:42:06.739 --> 00:42:08.639
so grateful to also be a part of this community
658
00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:10.730
because I get to speak about all of this as well.
659
00:42:10.869 --> 00:42:15.230
So again, like whatever happened before, a year ago, you
660
00:42:15.269 --> 00:42:17.449
might not know what impact that's going to make the
661
00:42:17.489 --> 00:42:20.250
next year. So just keep doing whatever it is that
662
00:42:20.269 --> 00:42:25.630
you're doing and don't worry about how that's going to, like,
663
00:42:25.650 --> 00:42:28.880
don't think about, there is no guarantee that whatever you do,
664
00:42:28.900 --> 00:42:31.579
you'll get the results the next day. So just don't
665
00:42:31.820 --> 00:42:35.099
end up wanting to do something, hoping that the next
666
00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:38.860
day something happens because of it. So I think that's that.
667
00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:46.119
I love that. That is such wise insight. I hope
668
00:42:46.219 --> 00:42:49.449
everyone takes that to heart. It also reminds me of
669
00:42:49.670 --> 00:42:52.469
the saying they say about pop stars, like it takes
670
00:42:52.469 --> 00:42:55.829
10 years to be an overnight success. And I think
671
00:42:55.849 --> 00:42:58.030
that speaks truly to what you were saying, like don't
672
00:42:58.070 --> 00:42:59.809
expect it to pay off the next day. But if
673
00:42:59.849 --> 00:43:02.909
you keep trying and you know where your heart is,
674
00:43:02.969 --> 00:43:05.210
you'll get there. I love that.
675
00:43:07.090 --> 00:43:10.550
And I always believe in whatever is meant for you
676
00:43:10.929 --> 00:43:16.389
will not pass by you. And so, and that just
677
00:43:16.570 --> 00:43:19.190
does not work if you sit down and do nothing. Obviously,
678
00:43:19.309 --> 00:43:23.360
you have to do something, but also believe that it
679
00:43:23.389 --> 00:43:26.079
will happen. It has to happen because that thought was
680
00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:27.900
planted in your head for a reason. So it is
681
00:43:27.940 --> 00:43:29.820
going to happen. It's just going to take time, but
682
00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:30.340
it will happen.
683
00:43:32.340 --> 00:43:34.000
I love that. And I feel like you are like
684
00:43:34.039 --> 00:43:39.530
the shining example of that being true. Is there anything
685
00:43:39.570 --> 00:43:41.789
you feel like you haven't gotten to share with us
686
00:43:41.829 --> 00:43:43.789
today or that you'd like to kind of close this
687
00:43:43.889 --> 00:43:44.230
out on?
688
00:43:45.630 --> 00:43:48.789
No, I think the questions that you asked were really,
689
00:43:48.829 --> 00:43:52.579
really spot on and great because I got to talk
690
00:43:52.679 --> 00:43:55.880
not just about what I'm working on, but like how
691
00:43:55.940 --> 00:43:59.780
I'm working on things. So that got me reflecting on
692
00:43:59.820 --> 00:44:02.360
the work that I've done as well. in the company,
693
00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:06.139
which makes me feel great because now that I talk
694
00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:09.920
about it, I can feel like I've done work. Because
695
00:44:09.980 --> 00:44:13.380
when you're working for your family, you, like my dad
696
00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:15.699
always tells me good job, good job. But again, like,
697
00:44:15.980 --> 00:44:17.880
because it's family, so they'll tell you you've done a
698
00:44:17.909 --> 00:44:20.820
good job. If someone else, when you talk about it,
699
00:44:20.869 --> 00:44:23.110
and then someone tells you, you've actually done this, and
700
00:44:23.170 --> 00:44:25.250
I'll be like, oh yeah, you think so too? Okay,
701
00:44:25.269 --> 00:44:28.949
then I think I've done a good job.
702
00:44:28.969 --> 00:44:32.329
I love that. It has been so inspiring to hear
703
00:44:32.369 --> 00:44:34.750
your story, all the impact that you've had on your
704
00:44:34.789 --> 00:44:38.250
family business, and all the work and passion that has
705
00:44:38.289 --> 00:44:41.210
gone into making this happen. It is so clear how
706
00:44:41.250 --> 00:44:45.070
much you care about, one, your family business, two, your design,
707
00:44:45.469 --> 00:44:47.780
and three, who you are as a person and what
708
00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:51.139
you bring to these companies and operations. It is so
709
00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:55.679
exciting to see how thoughtful you've been about it and
710
00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:59.719
how much care you've brought to each interaction. I really
711
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:03.510
appreciated how you spoke about how like design is more
712
00:45:03.550 --> 00:45:06.269
than just a website in so many ways, like thinking
713
00:45:06.329 --> 00:45:08.929
about the full user experience end to end and how
714
00:45:08.969 --> 00:45:13.050
that starts and ends. This has been so exciting. I
715
00:45:13.130 --> 00:45:16.239
love your advice, especially for people who maybe were in
716
00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:19.519
your shoes a year ago. So Kushali, thank you so
717
00:45:19.579 --> 00:45:22.480
much for being here with us today. This has been amazing.
718
00:45:23.139 --> 00:45:25.619
And I hope you everyone here has a wonderful day.
719
00:45:26.739 --> 00:45:29.960
Thank you so much for having me and I had
720
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.340
a great time. You were a great host. Thank you.
721
00:45:35.260 --> 00:45:35.760
Thank you.