Ep1 – Taking Risks In Your Career – With Maha ElSalhy, CCO at Fortis – Everything is Personal – Fortis

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I worked so hard because I was going to be the youngest pilot in the world,
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not only the Middle East.
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And I saw Tom Cruise the other day,
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and you dream of making your parents happy,
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you know?
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There is a very strong stigma about salespeople.
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I made so much money.
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Hi,
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you're listening to Everything is Personal by Fortis.
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I'm Victoria Bilausova,
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Chief HR Officer.
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Here I talk to successful professionals from tech companies.
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I want to find out.
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What they did to build a career in Dubai.
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And I want to find out at what point everything went right.
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From game-changing decisions to lucky breaks,
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when covered,
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what made it all work.
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This podcast is proudly presented by Fortis Digital Solutions,
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a company that bridged the gap between businesses and their digital-savvy customers.
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We'll have businesses thrive in the digital world,
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turning their dreams into reality.
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My first guest is Maha El-Salhi,
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the chief commercial officer of our team here in Fortis.
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Six years ago,
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she decided to leave her career in television and film production and start over in technologies.
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She was 25 years old,
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and at first she thought,
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maybe I'm too old for that.
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Of course,
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she wasn't,
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but she needed a lot of courage to start over again and succeeded.
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How did she do?
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Let's find out.
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Hi,
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Mafa.
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Good morning.
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How are you today?
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Very good.
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How are you?
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Fine.
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Thank you.
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It's Monday.
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It's Monday.
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I've heard that you don't like Mondays.
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I do not like Mondays.
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No,
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I've been for working forever and I still can't get myself to wake up on Monday excited.
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Unlike my sister.
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Yeah,
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yeah.
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She is super excited on Mondays.
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She's just like,
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yes.
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I'm going to office I'm gonna see my all my colleagues and I'm like yeah a new week you start okay okay so let's talk about you because the aim of this interview is to know you so please tell me about your
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family because you know it's very important part of us yeah yes yes
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I I come from a very interesting family I think we're a great
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subjects for a comedy show you know like everyone in this family it has a completely different direction so I'm the oldest of three so I have a younger sister and then I have a youngest brother and we are a very different
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family everyone has their personality and I respect my dad so much for giving us that room you know everyone can be whoever he wants you
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He raised us on certain morals,
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on certain behaviors,
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and then they gave us that room.
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to explore what we want to explore.
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So if you see all three of us,
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everyone has a completely different direction in life.
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We look different.
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We are not copy-paste from each other.
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We have different personalities.
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Even what we wear or what we eat or what we like is not a copy-paste.
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And I appreciate that because it's not very common in Arabic cultures.
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you raise your kids gender different so females are different males are different and our house it wasn't like that we all had the same opportunities and we all had the same rules and sometimes these rules were a bit strict yeah too strict yeah but with
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age it kind of changed so we kind of had more room
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as we grew and
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I really appreciate that something very funny about my parents so my mom is a very cute we always refer to her as like a 16 year old
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a teenager who's talking an old woman's but yes still still he's very young she has a very young soul she loves to you know travel she loves to go out with her friends she doesn't have the responsibility streak so she's very irresponsible somehow i
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remember when i was in school my mom had cancer back then and she was not in the best place medically let's say mm-hmm
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which is unfortunate.
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But she would be very excited about doing things that are breaking the rules,
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and I am someone who follows the rules.
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So you'd see the school call me,
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and they're like,
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Hey,
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Ma,
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your mom needs you immediately.
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And you're like,
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okay,
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something really bad happened,
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right?
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crazy like something the worst you always expect the worst when you're in that kind of mindset right so
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I go down and they're like someone is going to be waiting outside on the street and I see my mom hiding behind her car hiding behind the wall and she's just waiting there so I go to her and I'm like is everything okay are you okay yeah and she would say yeah I just wanted to have breakfast come let's have breakfast
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and i'm together yes she just wants to go out and have fun and when i'm at school there's no one yeah i'm at school i'm studying so i think that was very it describes my mom in a very brief
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way she's very live now like yolo you only live once and it also is because of all her experiences right yeah so she's been through a lot you
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And she overcompensates that with like doing a lot of like,
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let's go out,
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let's do fun things,
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let's live life.
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And I love that it balances out our family.
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Yeah,
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it's great because when you're a mom,
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when you have a definite role,
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normally it's another picture of this role in our life.
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You were also talking about your father.
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How did he influence you?
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So my dad was not very religious when we were younger and then with time he became closer to God and the closer he became he realized how important it is the role of women in Islam.
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Like the Prophet was married to a businesswoman,
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she was older than him.
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That was his first wife,
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right?
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Yes.
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get to marry four wives based on a lot of rules and regulations but his first wife was a business woman who was smarter than him stronger than him she was very popular in the business market and she was trading so she was actively interacting with a lot of people so the
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more religious he became the more this idea was very strong for him that you know what I want my daughters to be strong if they choose to
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I'm not compelled or it's not compulsory for me to work it's an option and a choice that I make so it's an option and a choice that you have if you want to but you're not blocked from you know being strong
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on the contrary you have to be strong and all the men in your life are there to support you financially emotionally and
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on every aspect so my dad was very big on that in the beginning it was a struggle so I remember I was supposed to become a pilot because I graduated from school when I was 14
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I was studying like so many years I was very smart apparently that's what people used to say and then when I graduated I had a free scholarship to a full-on scholarship a free scholarship yeah you
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to become a pilot because I was going to be the youngest pilot in the world,
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not only the Middle East.
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And my dad was very supportive.
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He wanted me to do that.
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But you know,
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when your parents want to say no.
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But they want to be supportive at the same time,
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but they want to protect you at the same time.
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Like me sometimes with my daughter.
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So my dad at that time did not want to break my heart.
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And he knew this was a huge step for me,
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but he couldn't do it.
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So he kept telling me,
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yeah,
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you're going to do it.
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You're going to do it.
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But then one day I'm like,
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I'm packing my bags and I'm going to become a pilot.
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And he's like,
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maybe not now.
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now maybe later i feel like this is not the best for you at this stage because he was scared i was the oldest now when you're older you see this perspective obviously when you're young you don't see it like that at all all you see is my dad is destroying my life that's all you see drama my absolutely 100 and you take it to the maximum like i'm
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going to leave this house i'm never going to return you're no longer my parents but today when you think about even
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I don't have kids but I can still feel and understand where he's coming from from my relationship with my sister from my relationship with my brother you have that protective instinct with time and now you understand where they're coming from so
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he was still very supportive throughout the years if I go to him with advice he would not tell me which way to go but he would give me the place and the space to think
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so he would stimulate your brain like what do you think is the best way why do you want to do this and ask you the questions that you should ask yourself without directing you in any direction i appreciate that
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It changes the male figure perspective in your life.
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Yeah,
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because sometimes
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I just show the direction to my daughter,
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you know.
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But yes,
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it's very important to ask and to just,
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you know,
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to switch on the brain of your child.
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Yes,
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I think that helped me a lot,
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honestly.
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over the years you should do it yeah yeah it makes a difference yeah that's true
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very different things.
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Some of them would sell like ice cream and candy for kids.
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Some of them would sell like souvenirs,
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Dubai stuff.
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And it was also a tourist stop.
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So one day I wanted to buy something.
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And my dad was very disciplined with us when it comes to money.
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We had an allowance,
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we get an allowance,
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we need to figure out how to break it down.
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We need to figure out how to spend it.
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So at that point,
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I decided.
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I want to buy something and it was a little bit more than my allowance,
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which was back in the day,
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25 dirhams a month.
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So I used to take 25 dirhams a month and I wanted to buy something for,
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let's say,
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500 dirhams,
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which was a lot.
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So I didn't save for it and I didn't plan myself.
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So I needed to figure out a way to make money.
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And when they dropped me to Mudhif City,
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I looked at one of the kiosks and I said,
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you know what,
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I want to build.
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that kiosk i want to not build it but i want to sell something there i see they're making money they're taking money from me so i want to be the one taking money from other people and i went to the department of economics to
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get a license ah really because you need a license to open any business in bubay right and they it is true yes any business you want to open even if it's a kiosk you need a trade license
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So I went to the economic department to understand better.
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My mom used to drop me there.
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I would go ask everyone like,
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how do you do this?
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How do you do that?
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And someone found me or referred me to someone else and they're like,
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hey,
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we have a program for young entrepreneurs.
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Would you like to participate?
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We give them free licenses.
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And I was like,
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yes,
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I want a free license.
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I want to start selling stuff.
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And they asked me,
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do you have a sponsor?
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Or do you have money?
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Capital.
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And that's the first time I understood what does capital mean,
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right?
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I'm like,
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no,
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I'm just going to put some stuff in the kiosk and I'm going to sell it.
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And they said,
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no,
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you need like a sponsor or you need a...
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something capital you need something to sell right so i got uh back then i'm a bit older than i'm supposed to announce but you know the yellow pages uh-huh yeah so i got the yellow pages and i started making calls on every number from the first page so i opened the first page to unknown people to unknown people just surrounding people i called all family of obviously i called all friends i
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asked everyone if they want to participate in this as a group you
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And finally I found someone,
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I reached someone who was with an A because I was still in my A
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And it was called Alia Al Qamar,
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Alia the moon
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And it was a shop for
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Arabic perfumes
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And you know Bukhur,
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Dukhoon,
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it's the incense you put on charcoal
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And they were extremely popular with this generation at that time So they said we will sponsor everything
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we will sponsor all your products,
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we will sponsor all the,
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and we'll give you a little bit of cash to just get things moving.
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I made so much money.
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I think this was my biggest and first interaction with sales.
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And I realized,
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wow,
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you know,
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you can do so much with it.
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And I was interacting with people and I love people.
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I just love talking to people.
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I love,
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you know,
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interacting with people.
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And
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when we go through that,
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it exposed me to the idea of sales,
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even though I didn't know what was sales back then.
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So interesting.
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So you was like a start-upper,
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yeah?
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Yes,
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from the beginning.
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Yeah,
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your own start-up.
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Maha,
246
00:14:41.747 --> 00:14:43.791
what was your next step in sales?
247
00:14:44.011 --> 00:14:46.956
Because you know it was successful,
248
00:14:47.076 --> 00:14:49.941
so I think that you continued,
249
00:14:49.981 --> 00:14:51.784
you proceeded in sales,
250
00:14:51.864 --> 00:14:52.125
right?
251
00:14:53.107 --> 00:14:54.028
It's very interesting.
252
00:14:54.069 --> 00:14:59.961
I did not continue in sales because at that time I really did not know this was a career.
253
00:15:00.263 --> 00:15:02.760
I thought you just open a shop and you stand in it,
254
00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:02.981
right?
255
00:15:03.302 --> 00:15:04.087
I was very young.
256
00:15:04.147 --> 00:15:06.121
I was maybe like 12 at that time.
257
00:15:06.463 --> 00:15:07.033
Ah,
258
00:15:07.033 --> 00:15:07.278
really?
259
00:15:07.278 --> 00:15:07.461
12?
260
00:15:07.801 --> 00:15:10.001
I graduated from school when I was 14.
261
00:15:10.261 --> 00:15:12.361
And this was in my last years of school.
262
00:15:12.802 --> 00:15:13.371
So I was very,
263
00:15:13.452 --> 00:15:13.920
very young.
264
00:15:14.382 --> 00:15:16.441
I didn't understand what it was exactly.
265
00:15:16.988 --> 00:15:18.901
So I finished and I went to university.
266
00:15:19.081 --> 00:15:21.361
It means I have to be an engineer or a doctor.
267
00:15:21.801 --> 00:15:23.531
A doctor was a bit too long for me,
268
00:15:23.612 --> 00:15:25.201
so I chose the engineering line.
269
00:15:25.981 --> 00:15:26.744
And when
270
00:15:27.085 --> 00:15:31.461
I studied engineering and I got a little bit of an exposure to engineering,
271
00:15:31.601 --> 00:15:32.621
I didn't really like it.
272
00:15:33.384 --> 00:15:35.201
I wasn't passionate about anything.
273
00:15:35.726 --> 00:15:37.381
So I wasn't looking for something.
274
00:15:37.841 --> 00:15:41.720
You know when you're going to a career fair and you're looking at things and you're like...
275
00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:47.125
we had in school career days and everyone would dress up in something that they want to be.
276
00:15:48.027 --> 00:15:49.532
I did not have that passion.
277
00:15:49.974 --> 00:15:53.165
I did not feel like there was something inside me calling.
278
00:15:53.345 --> 00:15:59.365
I feel like this is a very social media thing that is new or something that is inherited in you.
279
00:15:59.445 --> 00:16:01.095
So your dad is a doctor,
280
00:16:01.135 --> 00:16:02.040
so you become a doctor.
281
00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:02.945
Your dad is a policeman,
282
00:16:03.105 --> 00:16:04.391
you become a policeman and so on.
283
00:16:04.853 --> 00:16:07.204
But I did not have that passion in me.
284
00:16:07.978 --> 00:16:09.525
and I realized when I was older,
285
00:16:09.625 --> 00:16:10.931
it's okay not to have a passion,
286
00:16:10.991 --> 00:16:11.373
by the way.
287
00:16:11.513 --> 00:16:13.573
It's completely fine not to have a passion.
288
00:16:14.294 --> 00:16:17.913
It's important to find your skills and improve them.
289
00:16:18.634 --> 00:16:20.546
So when I went into engineering,
290
00:16:20.667 --> 00:16:21.653
I learned a lot of skills.
291
00:16:21.793 --> 00:16:24.701
I learned how to become a problem solver,
292
00:16:25.423 --> 00:16:27.629
how to fix things,
293
00:16:28.130 --> 00:16:29.293
how to find the solution.
294
00:16:30.074 --> 00:16:31.524
Even when you're looking at a problem,
295
00:16:31.564 --> 00:16:32.793
you're not looking for a problem.
296
00:16:32.933 --> 00:16:34.473
You're always looking for a solution.
297
00:16:35.018 --> 00:16:36.473
And when you're looking for a solution...
298
00:16:37.704 --> 00:16:38.305
And it makes,
299
00:16:38.406 --> 00:16:41.615
and you take that aspect and you plant it across your life,
300
00:16:42.016 --> 00:16:42.437
it's very,
301
00:16:42.537 --> 00:16:43.861
very life-changing.
302
00:16:44.383 --> 00:16:45.521
Let's just put it that way.
303
00:16:45.883 --> 00:16:47.201
I never worked in engineering.
304
00:16:47.541 --> 00:16:49.400
I studied media after that.
305
00:16:49.922 --> 00:16:51.311
And after I studied media,
306
00:16:51.532 --> 00:16:52.760
I did what everyone did.
307
00:16:53.022 --> 00:16:54.611
And I worked in what I studied,
308
00:16:54.651 --> 00:16:56.361
which was filmmaking and media.
309
00:16:57.223 --> 00:16:57.363
So
310
00:16:57.845 --> 00:16:58.769
I worked in
311
00:16:59.853 --> 00:17:01.721
NBC for three years.
312
00:17:02.165 --> 00:17:03.641
I was an assistant producer.
313
00:17:04.041 --> 00:17:05.321
I was working on sets.
314
00:17:05.484 --> 00:17:06.258
I was working in...
315
00:17:07.507 --> 00:17:09.337
on film productions.
316
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:10.797
It was very nice.
317
00:17:11.317 --> 00:17:12.066
And at that point,
318
00:17:12.167 --> 00:17:12.774
I realized,
319
00:17:12.774 --> 00:17:12.997
you know,
320
00:17:13.277 --> 00:17:17.697
engineering was helping me because my job was to solve problems at the last minute.
321
00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:20.717
Or my problem was to always think of plan Bs.
322
00:17:21.297 --> 00:17:24.016
And I'm very grateful that I studied that.
323
00:17:24.317 --> 00:17:26.030
I also studied media,
324
00:17:26.271 --> 00:17:28.836
which was helpful because I know how to do things now.
325
00:17:29.421 --> 00:17:31.597
I know what is happening on a set,
326
00:17:31.717 --> 00:17:33.017
what is wrong and what is right.
327
00:17:33.649 --> 00:17:33.934
But...
328
00:17:34.784 --> 00:17:35.506
After that,
329
00:17:35.806 --> 00:17:38.373
I woke up one day and I was like,
330
00:17:39.295 --> 00:17:41.801
I really don't like doing this anymore.
331
00:17:42.642 --> 00:17:44.067
I didn't know what I wanted to do,
332
00:17:44.208 --> 00:17:47.841
but I knew I didn't want to do this in particular anymore.
333
00:17:48.445 --> 00:17:49.460
So I woke up and I said,
334
00:17:50.574 --> 00:17:55.263
hey why don't you change and back at that point I was
335
00:17:55.865 --> 00:17:56.726
24 maybe
336
00:17:57.247 --> 00:18:09.560
25 but I felt like oh my god I'm gonna change my career now I'm so old now obviously now when I think about it yeah I wasn't that old you know I wasn't old at all actually
337
00:18:10.082 --> 00:18:19.792
I was still young and I'm still young but when you're younger again that's the perspective that changes with time yeah you think you're very old and you think life is over
338
00:18:20.277 --> 00:18:24.753
but it's not it's absolutely not there is still much more to come
339
00:18:28.273 --> 00:18:48.620
do you think there is a right age to change your career you know there's a lot of these motivational videos that you saw on instagram i don't really believe most of them i think they are somehow washed out like oh you know oprah winfrey started when she was like 40 or something and people can be very old i think it's not the
340
00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:56.129
number you know it's how much you have planned left right so i think of it in a different way
341
00:18:56.948 --> 00:18:58.741
how long do I want to be working for?
342
00:18:59.603 --> 00:19:03.961
Do I work because I want to work or do I work because I have to work?
343
00:19:04.562 --> 00:19:08.021
So there are people who come and work a nine to five governmental jobs.
344
00:19:08.121 --> 00:19:09.728
I call them the governmental jobs,
345
00:19:09.829 --> 00:19:12.481
even if they are working in a private company.
346
00:19:12.584 --> 00:19:13.281
You want to leave.
347
00:19:13.842 --> 00:19:16.120
You are not passionate about what you do.
348
00:19:16.924 --> 00:19:18.901
You don't know what you're passionate about.
349
00:19:19.102 --> 00:19:21.281
I do not know what I'm passionate about till today.
350
00:19:21.882 --> 00:19:25.000
But if tomorrow someone comes up to me and tells me,
351
00:19:25.475 --> 00:19:25.600
Ma,
352
00:19:27.048 --> 00:19:27.650
you know what,
353
00:19:27.991 --> 00:19:30.561
I think you might be a really good pilot.
354
00:19:31.022 --> 00:19:31.143
And
355
00:19:31.647 --> 00:19:32.999
I still think about it today,
356
00:19:32.999 --> 00:19:33.221
you know,
357
00:19:33.341 --> 00:19:36.741
like I had an opportunity to be a pilot when I was younger.
358
00:19:37.543 --> 00:19:38.670
And everyone comes and says,
359
00:19:38.791 --> 00:19:38.911
oh,
360
00:19:38.972 --> 00:19:40.401
you're going to spend so much money.
361
00:19:40.541 --> 00:19:42.281
You know how much money you're spending on that.
362
00:19:42.744 --> 00:19:48.761
And then you'll only have 10 years left as a pilot because you can't fly after a certain age.
363
00:19:49.887 --> 00:19:51.137
I really don't mind it.
364
00:19:51.417 --> 00:19:55.012
If it is going to be something I want to explore,
365
00:19:55.534 --> 00:19:56.117
then why not?
366
00:19:56.758 --> 00:19:56.941
Like,
367
00:19:57.083 --> 00:19:58.017
what are you going to lose?
368
00:19:58.681 --> 00:19:59.176
Some money.
369
00:19:59.737 --> 00:20:01.704
You can make more money later on,
370
00:20:02.186 --> 00:20:05.137
either in the new job or in the same job if you return to it,
371
00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:06.677
or a completely new job.
372
00:20:06.1000 --> 00:20:08.575
It's like starting your own business,
373
00:20:08.655 --> 00:20:08.837
right?
374
00:20:09.118 --> 00:20:09.754
Just do it.
375
00:20:10.338 --> 00:20:11.284
even if it doesn't work,
376
00:20:11.364 --> 00:20:12.732
what's the worst that could happen?
377
00:20:12.833 --> 00:20:13.391
You will learn.
378
00:20:13.692 --> 00:20:14.558
When I was younger,
379
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.252
I started an online e-commerce before there was online e-commerce.
380
00:20:19.675 --> 00:20:20.892
That was in 2007.
381
00:20:21.814 --> 00:20:22.757
In 2007,
382
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:23.902
I went online,
383
00:20:24.243 --> 00:20:26.312
built a website with my own hands,
384
00:20:26.773 --> 00:20:29.152
started promoting it on Facebook and Instagram,
385
00:20:29.312 --> 00:20:31.391
and I made a lot of money out of it.
386
00:20:32.013 --> 00:20:32.797
At that time,
387
00:20:32.797 --> 00:20:35.592
when I used to tell people I'm going to build a website,
388
00:20:36.373 --> 00:20:37.091
they would go like,
389
00:20:37.903 --> 00:20:38.184
what?
390
00:20:38.485 --> 00:20:38.605
No,
391
00:20:38.866 --> 00:20:40.190
who would order from you?
392
00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:41.032
Who would trust you?
393
00:20:41.614 --> 00:20:43.920
Who would even complete an order?
394
00:20:44.120 --> 00:20:44.802
And it worked.
395
00:20:45.484 --> 00:20:47.048
And today it's the same thing.
396
00:20:47.148 --> 00:20:48.873
Sometimes as a human,
397
00:20:50.237 --> 00:20:51.320
I sit there and I say,
398
00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:52.161
you know,
399
00:20:52.201 --> 00:20:52.462
Mahay,
400
00:20:52.502 --> 00:20:53.786
you won't be able to do it.
401
00:20:54.188 --> 00:20:54.850
It's normal.
402
00:20:55.974 --> 00:20:57.439
I'm not a superwoman,
403
00:20:57.459 --> 00:20:57.700
you know,
404
00:20:58.181 --> 00:20:59.625
I get these ideas where
405
00:21:00.146 --> 00:21:04.258
I will fail and I will not succeed and this might not work.
406
00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:05.100
But
407
00:21:06.147 --> 00:21:19.600
two very important things first of all a support system so you me having someone like my sister telling me just do it what are you gonna lose right and the second thing is yourself you need to also be
408
00:21:20.755 --> 00:21:35.819
discipline internally to take risks that's what differentiates people who succeed and people who never try there there's no failure there are people who try and people who don't try and the the age doesn't matter right absolutely
409
00:21:35.899 --> 00:21:49.252
not even if i am 40 and i decide one of the things that i might try is being a fashion designer right what i want is the small task i want to make a dress for myself
410
00:21:49.980 --> 00:22:04.246
that's what I want so I want to take a course and study how to make a dress if that turns into something that I make someone else a dress that's a different direction right but at least I did something that I want and
411
00:22:04.367 --> 00:22:06.176
anything can be turned into a business
412
00:22:06.989 --> 00:22:13.428
Everyone cannot do everything and therefore you have a skill that you can give to someone else.
413
00:22:13.851 --> 00:22:14.788
And that's the whole point.
414
00:22:15.292 --> 00:22:16.988
It's about self-reflection.
415
00:22:17.288 --> 00:22:17.410
Yeah,
416
00:22:17.471 --> 00:22:18.767
you think a lot of it.
417
00:22:19.188 --> 00:22:22.808
So how did you realize that it's not yours?
418
00:22:23.448 --> 00:22:33.788
Because it's very important to understand yourself and to feel and to notice your thoughts and emotions and etc.
419
00:22:34.550 --> 00:22:36.427
Not all people can do it.
420
00:22:37.221 --> 00:22:51.872
sometimes they work that's it they come at home and etc but yeah you are you know about the self-reflection yeah so one day I was working on set and when you're working on set you
421
00:22:52.295 --> 00:22:59.228
can be filming at night and you're the last one that leaves because you're in the production team so you can leave at 2am
422
00:23:00.151 --> 00:23:01.875
And then if you have a morning shoot,
423
00:23:02.296 --> 00:23:06.807
you have to be there before sun because you want to catch the sun from the beginning of the day,
424
00:23:06.908 --> 00:23:07.048
right?
425
00:23:07.792 --> 00:23:11.048
So this would be my full on journey every day.
426
00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:13.860
I would be living on sets.
427
00:23:14.541 --> 00:23:15.405
For everyone,
428
00:23:15.485 --> 00:23:16.269
it was like,
429
00:23:16.370 --> 00:23:18.078
this is what people work for,
430
00:23:18.219 --> 00:23:18.400
right?
431
00:23:18.902 --> 00:23:22.480
So when you're sitting there talking to other people about not feeling it,
432
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:23.946
everyone would tell you,
433
00:23:23.987 --> 00:23:24.188
like,
434
00:23:24.570 --> 00:23:26.040
you're meeting all these stars.
435
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:26.785
You're,
436
00:23:26.826 --> 00:23:27.049
like,
437
00:23:27.151 --> 00:23:27.700
on set.
438
00:23:28.082 --> 00:23:28.346
You're,
439
00:23:28.406 --> 00:23:28.711
like,
440
00:23:28.711 --> 00:23:29.360
on production.
441
00:23:30.282 --> 00:23:33.058
You're doing what a lot of people are dreaming of,
442
00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:33.500
right?
443
00:23:34.224 --> 00:23:35.840
And I think this is the problem.
444
00:23:37.087 --> 00:23:52.195
everyone's dream does not mean it's my dream that's true what you and this is the same point right if i see people doing it on social media for example traveling i thought traveling was my thing for the longest time because
445
00:23:52.215 --> 00:23:58.520
you know you see a lot of people doing it but doesn't mean that it's for me it could be you
446
00:23:59.351 --> 00:24:13.515
for everyone else except me and i don't have to fit that stereotype so when i realized it's okay not to be like everyone else and it's okay to want things that are only mine it's
447
00:24:13.615 --> 00:24:16.648
not everyone else's dreams i realized
448
00:24:17.682 --> 00:24:18.852
I don't want to do this.
449
00:24:18.992 --> 00:24:22.652
I'm doing it because it's glamorous for everyone.
450
00:24:23.372 --> 00:24:25.832
And it's something that I sit with my friends and I say,
451
00:24:26.192 --> 00:24:26.333
hey,
452
00:24:26.474 --> 00:24:30.112
I was on set and I saw Tom Cruise the other day on film.
453
00:24:30.694 --> 00:24:31.618
But in reality,
454
00:24:31.719 --> 00:24:34.272
it's not what I want to do.
455
00:24:34.392 --> 00:24:35.571
I'm not happy doing it.
456
00:24:36.095 --> 00:24:37.352
It pays you very well.
457
00:24:37.853 --> 00:24:38.851
You've got a lot of money.
458
00:24:38.994 --> 00:24:39.484
But still,
459
00:24:39.565 --> 00:24:39.872
like...
460
00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.431
it's not what I want to do.
461
00:24:42.632 --> 00:24:44.350
And it's not what I'm best at.
462
00:24:44.992 --> 00:24:45.417
It's not,
463
00:24:45.903 --> 00:24:46.692
it's my skills.
464
00:24:46.872 --> 00:24:49.051
My skills are being used in a very good way.
465
00:24:49.633 --> 00:24:49.915
But
466
00:24:50.298 --> 00:24:52.052
I think I can do something else.
467
00:24:52.413 --> 00:24:53.385
And it's okay to try,
468
00:24:53.709 --> 00:24:53.952
you know.
469
00:24:54.594 --> 00:25:01.072
There's no problem with me like stopping and starting from scratch and trying something else.
470
00:25:01.435 --> 00:25:01.919
And by the way,
471
00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:03.432
if it fails or if it doesn't work,
472
00:25:03.492 --> 00:25:04.330
you can always go back.
473
00:25:05.415 --> 00:25:06.608
It's not the end of the world,
474
00:25:06.669 --> 00:25:06.931
you know.
475
00:25:07.572 --> 00:25:08.071
And that is...
476
00:25:08.513 --> 00:25:11.668
very important that is a day where i woke up and said
477
00:25:12.878 --> 00:25:14.145
I don't want to be on set till
478
00:25:14.506 --> 00:25:16.010
2am. I don't want to wake up at
479
00:25:16.451 --> 00:25:19.641
5pm. I don't want to be meeting all these nice people.
480
00:25:19.701 --> 00:25:20.584
They're wonderful,
481
00:25:20.685 --> 00:25:21.046
but
482
00:25:21.788 --> 00:25:23.273
I want to do something different.
483
00:25:23.454 --> 00:25:24.156
I want to try.
484
00:25:24.317 --> 00:25:25.617
I didn't try other stuff.
485
00:25:26.349 --> 00:25:42.064
and I did you're a brave woman yeah all the truth after the film production you didn't have a job and you joined the company marketing position right no actually after I was done with
486
00:25:42.865 --> 00:25:43.186
media
487
00:25:43.608 --> 00:25:53.346
I jumped to marketing interviews when I was interviewing for marketing people used to push me to sales so everyone who interviewed me at that point
488
00:25:54.639 --> 00:26:08.459
wanted me to join them but in sales everyone used to say you're so good you're going to be so good at sales and i didn't understand why would i be good in sales also please bear in mind there is a very very
489
00:26:09.901 --> 00:26:19.892
strong stigma about sales people so in our world in our culture in our society sales is usually uh
490
00:26:21.841 --> 00:26:38.524
look down on our job it's not a very esteemed job you know and it's also for people have not the nicest qualities you know oh you're gonna be a liar you're not gonna be truthful to people which is very common about sales but
491
00:26:38.725 --> 00:26:44.502
i disagree obviously but you can be a salesperson you
492
00:26:45.730 --> 00:26:47.582
but no one ever promotes it to you.
493
00:26:47.822 --> 00:26:49.279
So like we said earlier,
494
00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:49.542
you know,
495
00:26:49.642 --> 00:26:54.322
like you can't go to a career fair in university and they would tell you,
496
00:26:54.862 --> 00:26:55.024
hey,
497
00:26:55.044 --> 00:26:56.439
do you want to be a salesman?
498
00:26:56.883 --> 00:26:58.078
Even if you want to study it,
499
00:26:58.159 --> 00:26:58.402
right?
500
00:26:58.826 --> 00:26:59.921
There is nothing to study.
501
00:27:00.142 --> 00:27:01.541
If you go to business school,
502
00:27:01.742 --> 00:27:02.105
there is
503
00:27:02.790 --> 00:27:04.522
HR, there is management,
504
00:27:05.145 --> 00:27:06.662
there is marketing,
505
00:27:07.143 --> 00:27:08.062
but there's no sales.
506
00:27:08.961 --> 00:27:10.652
Although it is the core of business,
507
00:27:10.873 --> 00:27:11.054
right?
508
00:27:11.155 --> 00:27:12.314
It's the core of every business.
509
00:27:12.514 --> 00:27:14.094
So if you actually end up in sales,
510
00:27:14.314 --> 00:27:17.934
you either end up in sales because you have no other options in the world,
511
00:27:18.618 --> 00:27:20.613
or it's because you're really good at it.
512
00:27:21.135 --> 00:27:24.454
And someone discovered that you're good at it at a certain point,
513
00:27:24.534 --> 00:27:25.349
like what happened to me,
514
00:27:25.451 --> 00:27:25.614
right?
515
00:27:26.116 --> 00:27:27.082
So I was in an interview,
516
00:27:27.767 --> 00:27:28.794
and then I was with someone.
517
00:27:28.876 --> 00:27:29.264
He's like,
518
00:27:29.264 --> 00:27:29.632
you know what?
519
00:27:30.688 --> 00:27:31.671
take a risk with me,
520
00:27:32.655 --> 00:27:33.397
let's try,
521
00:27:33.738 --> 00:27:34.340
I'm telling you,
522
00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:36.106
you're going to be a very good salesperson.
523
00:27:36.971 --> 00:27:38.106
And I joined that company.
524
00:27:38.586 --> 00:27:39.382
He believed in you,
525
00:27:39.422 --> 00:27:39.586
yeah?
526
00:27:39.749 --> 00:27:39.942
Yes.
527
00:27:40.529 --> 00:27:41.620
Your potential,
528
00:27:41.681 --> 00:27:42.126
let's say.
529
00:27:42.326 --> 00:27:45.536
And he thought I had so much potential,
530
00:27:45.596 --> 00:27:48.626
I just needed to know how to sell.
531
00:27:49.413 --> 00:27:50.006
The process.
532
00:27:50.169 --> 00:27:51.106
100%.
533
00:27:51.792 --> 00:27:52.235
Till today,
534
00:27:52.316 --> 00:27:53.486
I'm extremely grateful.
535
00:27:54.026 --> 00:27:55.655
And till today,
536
00:27:55.735 --> 00:27:57.163
it's something that I always do,
537
00:27:57.605 --> 00:27:57.806
right?
538
00:27:57.806 --> 00:27:59.865
I always take risks on new.
539
00:28:00.458 --> 00:28:01.020
employees,
540
00:28:01.643 --> 00:28:04.614
new team members that I want them to join.
541
00:28:04.875 --> 00:28:08.814
If I see the set of skills that I want in people,
542
00:28:09.395 --> 00:28:12.674
I know they would have the potential for growth.
543
00:28:13.194 --> 00:28:16.934
So I think he did not only change me by giving me the opportunity,
544
00:28:17.094 --> 00:28:19.062
but he also guided me,
545
00:28:19.384 --> 00:28:20.026
mentored me,
546
00:28:20.147 --> 00:28:21.834
showed me exactly how to do things.
547
00:28:23.655 --> 00:28:25.063
And when I joined Sayers,
548
00:28:25.244 --> 00:28:26.149
I skyrocketed,
549
00:28:26.209 --> 00:28:26.370
right?
550
00:28:26.770 --> 00:28:28.916
So I was growing so fast,
551
00:28:29.177 --> 00:28:31.483
so quickly from one job to another,
552
00:28:32.124 --> 00:28:33.929
internally and externally,
553
00:28:34.029 --> 00:28:34.230
right?
554
00:28:34.771 --> 00:28:36.963
It's because I knew what I am good at,
555
00:28:37.164 --> 00:28:38.290
not what I'm passionate about.
556
00:28:38.532 --> 00:28:39.410
That's a different story.
557
00:28:39.870 --> 00:28:42.255
But what I'm really good at,
558
00:28:42.897 --> 00:28:44.921
and I forgot about the stigma,
559
00:28:45.843 --> 00:28:49.110
what the society thinks is okay or is not okay.
560
00:28:50.765 --> 00:29:10.181
sales not being the the best option for you and finally having someone to give me that chance so someone gave me that chance guided me mentored me and now i'm doing the same with people as well right and i'm i hope the people that i'm doing this with will do it with the next round
561
00:29:10.201 --> 00:29:17.238
of people and so on i think that all have um you know some people in our life that uh um
562
00:29:17.987 --> 00:29:18.127
One,
563
00:29:18.288 --> 00:29:18.568
you know,
564
00:29:18.769 --> 00:29:23.442
that believe in us and they change our destiny sometimes.
565
00:29:23.925 --> 00:29:24.086
Yeah,
566
00:29:24.227 --> 00:29:25.860
I have the same example.
567
00:29:26.242 --> 00:29:27.105
I'm lucky because
568
00:29:27.506 --> 00:29:32.740
I had the great bosses in my professional life and one of my bosses,
569
00:29:33.462 --> 00:29:37.050
he suggested me to be the trainer,
570
00:29:38.252 --> 00:29:41.940
to train people because he saw that.
571
00:29:42.999 --> 00:29:43.662
I have this,
572
00:29:43.903 --> 00:29:44.185
you know,
573
00:29:44.406 --> 00:29:46.174
set of skills to be the trainer.
574
00:29:46.674 --> 00:29:46.875
And,
575
00:29:47.177 --> 00:29:47.459
you know,
576
00:29:48.122 --> 00:29:48.645
he told me,
577
00:29:49.168 --> 00:29:50.194
do you want to be the trainer?
578
00:29:50.834 --> 00:29:52.004
I told him,
579
00:29:52.065 --> 00:29:52.468
okay,
580
00:29:52.569 --> 00:29:53.093
let's try.
581
00:29:53.659 --> 00:29:54.893
And then...
582
00:29:55.472 --> 00:30:05.626
he mentored me one hour per day he spent with me and he was you know for me like
583
00:30:06.508 --> 00:30:09.092
I tested all all my skills
584
00:30:09.453 --> 00:30:23.594
I tested all part of this training on him okay and he was a big boss but he spent one hour per day with me just to support me because you know he asked me some difficult questions and I said
585
00:30:24.746 --> 00:30:27.834
And when I conducted my first training,
586
00:30:27.994 --> 00:30:28.936
I was ready,
587
00:30:29.237 --> 00:30:29.458
you know,
588
00:30:29.478 --> 00:30:33.759
I was thankful to him that he believed in me and he supported me.
589
00:30:34.363 --> 00:30:35.495
That's why it's very important.
590
00:30:36.142 --> 00:30:36.966
And as you told,
591
00:30:37.489 --> 00:30:37.770
for me,
592
00:30:37.810 --> 00:30:39.980
it's also very important.
593
00:30:40.302 --> 00:30:40.531
And so.
594
00:30:41.365 --> 00:30:44.676
I also invest a lot of time for my employees,
595
00:30:44.736 --> 00:30:45.779
I mean for my team.
596
00:30:46.762 --> 00:30:48.609
If I see that there is a potential,
597
00:30:49.051 --> 00:30:50.275
there is a set of skills,
598
00:30:50.697 --> 00:30:54.676
sometimes I spend a lot of hours to support and to teach.
599
00:30:55.762 --> 00:30:57.775
It's very important for our teams.
600
00:30:58.882 --> 00:31:00.551
So what about your parents,
601
00:31:00.974 --> 00:31:01.999
especially your father?
602
00:31:02.482 --> 00:31:04.437
What was his reaction?
603
00:31:05.022 --> 00:31:08.500
My parents'reaction to me being a
604
00:31:09.945 --> 00:31:33.318
joining sales was very funny actually I joined so also I moved from a very nice job very well paid to a very poorly paid job in sales because I'm changing careers which is fine you're starting from scratch right yeah so I go back to them I'm super excited I'm like hey um I just got a job and they're like yeah wow what is it and I'm like uh sales and
605
00:31:33.318 --> 00:31:36.310
they look at me and they're like you're gonna be a salesperson you
606
00:31:36.906 --> 00:31:57.566
like an encyclopedia salesperson you know the ones that come and knock on your yeah and you're wearing these suits and i'm like i know for something yes and offer you like a product i'm like some weird product yes and i'm like no no i am working in a tech company and they're like oh so you're selling software it it
607
00:31:57.767 --> 00:32:01.142
sales and to them they said it in a way where it's like
608
00:32:02.018 --> 00:32:06.633
we didn't work so hard and you're so smart for you to end up in sales,
609
00:32:06.693 --> 00:32:06.894
right?
610
00:32:07.622 --> 00:32:08.194
It's very funny.
611
00:32:08.374 --> 00:32:08.758
Today,
612
00:32:08.980 --> 00:32:10.394
they don't think like that at all.
613
00:32:10.534 --> 00:32:10.735
Today,
614
00:32:10.775 --> 00:32:11.558
they're very like,
615
00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:12.442
wow,
616
00:32:12.843 --> 00:32:18.734
my daughter is a chief commercial officer or my daughter does this and does that.
617
00:32:18.874 --> 00:32:19.598
But in the beginning,
618
00:32:19.618 --> 00:32:22.193
it wasn't easy at all for them to accept it.
619
00:32:24.054 --> 00:32:30.434
It's because of the same stigma or perception that sales is something about.
620
00:32:30.958 --> 00:32:32.730
the person who is knocking at your door.
621
00:32:32.951 --> 00:32:33.460
Exactly,
622
00:32:33.583 --> 00:32:33.970
exactly.
623
00:32:38.534 --> 00:32:38.655
So,
624
00:32:38.736 --> 00:32:38.958
Maha,
625
00:32:38.978 --> 00:32:40.210
what was your next step?
626
00:32:40.651 --> 00:32:42.121
Moving from that company,
627
00:32:42.161 --> 00:32:47.369
which was a great opportunity because it put my foot at the beginning of the road of sales,
628
00:32:47.429 --> 00:32:47.610
right?
629
00:32:48.273 --> 00:32:54.230
I moved to another tech company and it was quite a different experience.
630
00:32:54.770 --> 00:32:55.942
That company was...
631
00:32:57.450 --> 00:33:01.746
one of the most toxic work environments that can ever happen to anyone.
632
00:33:03.694 --> 00:33:04.404
It was so bad.
633
00:33:05.226 --> 00:33:06.210
Unfortunately,
634
00:33:07.194 --> 00:33:12.226
it was so bad to the point that when we left and a big group of us left together,
635
00:33:12.907 --> 00:33:18.166
we used to all meet and talk about how toxic the work environment is.
636
00:33:18.347 --> 00:33:20.421
And when we joined new working environments,
637
00:33:20.461 --> 00:33:21.065
we were like...
638
00:33:22.338 --> 00:33:23.219
Is this real?
639
00:33:23.539 --> 00:33:24.360
Do people like,
640
00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:26.242
you are completely brainwashed.
641
00:33:26.382 --> 00:33:28.383
You're feeling miserable all the time.
642
00:33:28.484 --> 00:33:30.705
And you are feeling like you're not enough.
643
00:33:31.366 --> 00:33:35.029
You are feeling like no matter how much and what you do,
644
00:33:35.830 --> 00:33:36.931
you're always on the edge.
645
00:33:36.931 --> 00:33:37.151
You know,
646
00:33:37.171 --> 00:33:38.212
you're always stressed.
647
00:33:38.592 --> 00:33:39.513
You're always anxious.
648
00:33:39.653 --> 00:33:40.273
You're always,
649
00:33:40.574 --> 00:33:45.678
and that was created by the management and by the company itself.
650
00:33:46.360 --> 00:33:49.631
So what happened is a lot of people would leave,
651
00:33:49.912 --> 00:33:51.798
like they would come six months and leave.
652
00:33:52.451 --> 00:33:53.946
They would come a year and leave.
653
00:33:54.648 --> 00:33:56.846
I stayed in that company for two years.
654
00:33:57.667 --> 00:33:59.598
And everyone kept asking me,
655
00:33:59.598 --> 00:34:00.262
you know,
656
00:34:00.323 --> 00:34:00.504
Maha,
657
00:34:00.584 --> 00:34:00.826
why?
658
00:34:01.147 --> 00:34:01.369
Yeah,
659
00:34:01.369 --> 00:34:02.605
the same question I have.
660
00:34:02.827 --> 00:34:03.095
Why,
661
00:34:03.177 --> 00:34:03.466
Maha?
662
00:34:03.966 --> 00:34:04.187
Yeah,
663
00:34:04.368 --> 00:34:04.568
like,
664
00:34:04.689 --> 00:34:09.285
why would anyone be okay having such a horrible work environment,
665
00:34:09.365 --> 00:34:09.526
right?
666
00:34:10.569 --> 00:34:12.119
At that time in my career,
667
00:34:12.260 --> 00:34:13.086
it was a choice.
668
00:34:13.747 --> 00:34:17.766
I can either sit and ignore the talk.
669
00:34:17.947 --> 00:34:18.912
You don't ignore it,
670
00:34:19.032 --> 00:34:21.586
but like try and deal with the toxicity.
671
00:34:22.737 --> 00:34:39.922
but learn because that company was massive learning bank in my career it taught me how to work in any environment that's number one yeah and the job that I did at that point was managing business accounts channels and alliances so
672
00:34:40.745 --> 00:34:49.648
I would manage resellers or I would manage other partners that we work with and when we do that you
673
00:34:50.276 --> 00:35:09.855
you are learning how every company operates and every project you get is a completely different business process so you're learning so much so at that time you either go the easy way which is like i'm gonna leave i'm gonna find an easier job i'm gonna find a better job or
674
00:35:09.835 --> 00:35:13.933
you know what you stand your ground you be a little bit stronger
675
00:35:14.852 --> 00:35:35.356
you learn as much as you can because those two years are equivalent to seven years or 10 years somewhere else and that's exactly what happened you know I stayed two years there and it was equivalent to 10 years somewhere else and that is the case with every place you go to but that place in particular was quite different because
676
00:35:35.858 --> 00:35:42.649
I was learning like there is no end to it and then once you're done with it you're done with it you're like
677
00:35:43.708 --> 00:35:44.088
I'm okay
678
00:35:44.990 --> 00:36:02.858
I've learned enough and you need to balance also your mental health right you don't want to suffocate because at the end of the day it's just a job it's your career yeah but it's just a job it's just a milestone in the middle of a
679
00:36:02.898 --> 00:36:05.265
lot of things yeah okay
680
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.282
So what was your next step?
681
00:36:12.382 --> 00:36:13.784
And after this company,
682
00:36:14.205 --> 00:36:14.846
you moved,
683
00:36:15.286 --> 00:36:16.168
as far as I know,
684
00:36:16.288 --> 00:36:22.397
to another company where it was completely different corporate culture,
685
00:36:22.397 --> 00:36:22.557
right?
686
00:36:22.717 --> 00:36:22.898
Yeah,
687
00:36:24.120 --> 00:36:25.102
I was very lucky.
688
00:36:25.162 --> 00:36:28.989
I actually moved to a job where I stayed for like 20 days.
689
00:36:29.630 --> 00:36:33.577
But the difference was that company was toxic with no...
690
00:36:34.532 --> 00:36:39.764
learning curve yeah it wasn't like the two years so i stayed with them exactly for
691
00:36:40.505 --> 00:36:58.060
32 days one month and two days and then i woke up and i was like yep no it's not gonna add any value to my career see your biggest goal is your career it is where you want to be after five years or 10 years it doesn't have to be an exact picture you know but
692
00:36:58.080 --> 00:37:00.873
it's more of like where i want to be you
693
00:37:03.129 --> 00:37:15.841
learning wise or knowledge wise or experience wise and this is what I always focused on I didn't focus on a title right I focused on where I wanted to be knowledge
694
00:37:16.342 --> 00:37:29.481
I wanted to have this much knowledge or this much knowledge it's what you call now experience right so once I left there I moved to that short period job there it did not have an added value so I left them you
695
00:37:30.176 --> 00:37:32.913
I moved to the company after that.
696
00:37:33.114 --> 00:37:38.273
And that company is my favorite company in the world.
697
00:37:39.033 --> 00:37:41.812
It's the best work environment that I've ever had.
698
00:37:42.614 --> 00:37:45.408
The culture in the company was very healthy,
699
00:37:45.669 --> 00:37:46.553
was very supportive.
700
00:37:47.154 --> 00:37:48.212
They wanted you to grow.
701
00:37:48.453 --> 00:37:49.452
They wanted you to learn.
702
00:37:49.954 --> 00:37:51.733
They had a budget for your education.
703
00:37:52.033 --> 00:37:52.295
You know,
704
00:37:52.476 --> 00:37:54.593
they made sure to check in with you.
705
00:37:54.773 --> 00:37:57.123
Your manager has to check in with you and tell you,
706
00:37:57.846 --> 00:37:58.027
hey,
707
00:37:58.810 --> 00:37:59.473
how are you?
708
00:38:00.540 --> 00:38:06.037
on a personal level because they understand your personal level affects your work level
709
00:38:06.741 --> 00:38:08.569
They check in with you on your work level,
710
00:38:08.609 --> 00:38:10.517
but everyone checks with you on a work level.
711
00:38:10.619 --> 00:38:11.006
How are you?
712
00:38:11.537 --> 00:38:12.374
Are you okay?
713
00:38:12.537 --> 00:38:13.728
Is this too much work?
714
00:38:14.657 --> 00:38:18.909
But no one checks in with you to check your emotional stability,
715
00:38:19.451 --> 00:38:20.815
your mental stability,
716
00:38:21.517 --> 00:38:22.681
if you need any support,
717
00:38:22.721 --> 00:38:27.689
if you're going through a rough patch at home that might affect your work.
718
00:38:28.177 --> 00:38:28.378
To me,
719
00:38:28.781 --> 00:38:30.169
after all that I've seen,
720
00:38:30.632 --> 00:38:31.376
it was the dream.
721
00:38:31.827 --> 00:38:32.813
The dream company,
722
00:38:32.833 --> 00:38:33.074
you know,
723
00:38:33.175 --> 00:38:34.301
it's where you want to be.
724
00:38:34.843 --> 00:38:36.060
And it's what I want.
725
00:38:36.181 --> 00:38:37.791
If one day I have my own company,
726
00:38:38.113 --> 00:38:39.280
this is how I want it to be.
727
00:38:39.941 --> 00:38:46.961
Because when I got another offer and it was double what I'm getting at that healthy company,
728
00:38:47.825 --> 00:38:51.261
it took me two months to decide that I'm going to leave.
729
00:38:51.381 --> 00:38:52.541
Two months of negotiation.
730
00:38:53.561 --> 00:38:53.682
And,
731
00:38:53.822 --> 00:38:54.084
you know,
732
00:38:54.646 --> 00:38:57.481
this is when you realize it's not about money.
733
00:38:58.443 --> 00:39:12.521
you know how a lot of people especially HR you know when you meet someone and you don't want them to tell you oh I'm joining you because of the money yeah yeah sure you know you really don't want to you want someone who is part of even if it's true even if it's true you
734
00:39:12.561 --> 00:39:17.517
have to say no it's not the money I just love you as people yeah but this was the case you know
735
00:39:18.098 --> 00:39:25.290
I love them as a company an environment people career progression a lot of things right mm-hmm
736
00:39:26.669 --> 00:39:27.596
and then you decide,
737
00:39:27.677 --> 00:39:28.201
you know what?
738
00:39:28.401 --> 00:39:28.523
No,
739
00:39:28.787 --> 00:39:29.781
I don't want to leave here.
740
00:39:30.681 --> 00:39:33.940
And all of that is usually because of a good manager,
741
00:39:34.020 --> 00:39:34.201
right?
742
00:39:34.843 --> 00:39:37.176
This manager in the healthy company,
743
00:39:37.316 --> 00:39:38.141
in my perspective,
744
00:39:38.761 --> 00:39:40.680
was someone who taught me,
745
00:39:41.362 --> 00:39:43.637
he taught me the best way to do a presentation,
746
00:39:43.678 --> 00:39:44.181
for example.
747
00:39:44.844 --> 00:39:49.521
He had a consultancy background and they only do presentations all day long.
748
00:39:51.414 --> 00:39:52.578
It's a very simple skill,
749
00:39:52.779 --> 00:39:53.020
right?
750
00:39:53.341 --> 00:39:55.289
But I want to tell you that this very simple skill
751
00:39:56.501 --> 00:40:00.477
saved so much of my time and made me communicate my ideas better.
752
00:40:00.739 --> 00:40:01.537
It's a very small thing.
753
00:40:01.837 --> 00:40:03.476
But there is a manager who's going to tell you,
754
00:40:03.937 --> 00:40:04.139
hey,
755
00:40:04.422 --> 00:40:05.855
let me show you how to do it.
756
00:40:06.319 --> 00:40:07.556
So you know how to do it.
757
00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:10.057
And there's a manager who will come and say,
758
00:40:10.481 --> 00:40:11.796
you don't even know how to do this.
759
00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:16.037
It's such a small thing and you don't even know this.
760
00:40:17.021 --> 00:40:18.137
How did you end up here?
761
00:40:18.278 --> 00:40:19.132
Because I had both,
762
00:40:19.274 --> 00:40:19.437
right?
763
00:40:20.243 --> 00:40:22.196
And when it's like this.
764
00:40:23.392 --> 00:40:35.849
it's your choice to learn from both by the way yeah how not how to do and how not to do yeah absolutely so today as a manager i will never go to any of my employees and say hey
765
00:40:36.972 --> 00:40:42.708
How are you not capable of understanding something so easy and simple?
766
00:40:43.838 --> 00:40:44.889
It's not the right way to do things.
767
00:40:45.011 --> 00:40:45.889
It's very toxic.
768
00:40:46.838 --> 00:40:47.889
That is the nice part of it.
769
00:40:48.232 --> 00:40:49.889
This was not even the toxic part of the job.
770
00:40:50.433 --> 00:40:52.869
I hope this was the way they communicated at a certain point.
771
00:40:54.205 --> 00:40:58.321
and it adds a lot of value to him as a person.
772
00:40:58.501 --> 00:40:59.196
I respect him,
773
00:40:59.257 --> 00:40:59.441
right?
774
00:40:59.843 --> 00:41:01.821
I put him in a very high place.
775
00:41:02.241 --> 00:41:04.141
And if he wakes up one day and say,
776
00:41:04.281 --> 00:41:04.402
Hey,
777
00:41:04.442 --> 00:41:04.664
Maha,
778
00:41:04.886 --> 00:41:06.840
I need you to help me.
779
00:41:07.644 --> 00:41:09.621
I need you to come work as my assistant.
780
00:41:10.427 --> 00:41:12.401
And I have jumped in my career.
781
00:41:12.621 --> 00:41:17.129
I know I will get so much added value as his assistant to learn from him,
782
00:41:17.512 --> 00:41:19.001
to get that exposure from him.
783
00:41:19.081 --> 00:41:20.391
And I will do it for sure,
784
00:41:20.694 --> 00:41:21.541
100%.
785
00:41:21.727 --> 00:41:21.999
Mm-hmm.
786
00:41:23.013 --> 00:41:24.464
Hope he will not call you.
787
00:41:25.270 --> 00:41:26.363
I hope he will not call me.
788
00:41:27.349 --> 00:41:28.564
I don't think he will call me.
789
00:41:30.693 --> 00:41:31.642
He might join us,
790
00:41:31.702 --> 00:41:31.945
you know.
791
00:41:32.326 --> 00:41:33.143
I might bring him.
792
00:41:33.506 --> 00:41:33.788
Okay,
793
00:41:33.828 --> 00:41:35.744
please bring him to us.
794
00:41:36.427 --> 00:41:37.332
But yeah,
795
00:41:37.332 --> 00:41:39.605
we don't want to lose you.
796
00:41:40.328 --> 00:41:40.470
Okay,
797
00:41:40.470 --> 00:41:41.379
I'm staying for a bit,
798
00:41:41.379 --> 00:41:41.865
hopefully.
799
00:41:47.737 --> 00:41:57.772
you know i would like to add something that might be a segment if you guys are okay with it i want to say that you know it's not easy it looks super easy it's not
800
00:41:58.708 --> 00:41:59.289
impossible,
801
00:41:59.730 --> 00:42:00.673
but it's not easy.
802
00:42:00.813 --> 00:42:01.194
You know,
803
00:42:02.317 --> 00:42:02.658
today
804
00:42:03.239 --> 00:42:05.766
I meet a lot of people and they sit with me and they say,
805
00:42:05.807 --> 00:42:06.289
oh my God,
806
00:42:06.329 --> 00:42:07.053
you're so successful.
807
00:42:07.093 --> 00:42:08.340
It's because you were so smart.
808
00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:10.308
And there are a lot of challenges.
809
00:42:10.348 --> 00:42:11.171
You're a female,
810
00:42:11.211 --> 00:42:12.014
you're Arab,
811
00:42:12.054 --> 00:42:14.723
you are working in a sect that I did not study.
812
00:42:14.964 --> 00:42:16.108
I did not study tech.
813
00:42:16.429 --> 00:42:18.075
I'm not from a technology background.
814
00:42:18.677 --> 00:42:22.931
I remember I used to sit down in my toxic job every day.
815
00:42:22.991 --> 00:42:26.181
I would come back from seven till one or 2 p.m.
816
00:42:26.342 --> 00:42:27.185
and I would sit.
817
00:42:27.945 --> 00:42:28.848
and 2 a.m.
818
00:42:28.948 --> 00:42:35.369
sorry and I would sit and I'm just studying because I did not understand anything anyone was saying
819
00:42:36.236 --> 00:42:38.249
I really had no idea what they're talking about.
820
00:42:38.570 --> 00:42:41.109
When they said a server and they said server rooms,
821
00:42:41.209 --> 00:42:41.612
and I'm like,
822
00:42:41.713 --> 00:42:43.889
I have no clue what they're talking about.
823
00:42:44.590 --> 00:42:44.932
Today,
824
00:42:45.173 --> 00:42:51.047
I sit in the middle of product teams building products with startups and companies,
825
00:42:51.128 --> 00:42:51.309
right?
826
00:42:51.914 --> 00:42:53.449
I help enhance these.
827
00:42:53.912 --> 00:42:56.409
And I understand how to deal with tech.
828
00:42:56.849 --> 00:42:57.469
And it's not because...
829
00:42:58.675 --> 00:43:00.278
I was only lucky.
830
00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:02.863
I wouldn't say that it's not luck,
831
00:43:03.564 --> 00:43:05.768
but I don't think it's luck either.
832
00:43:05.909 --> 00:43:06.189
You know,
833
00:43:06.730 --> 00:43:08.313
it's that middle ground of...
834
00:43:09.601 --> 00:43:11.473
I worked so hard.
835
00:43:12.097 --> 00:43:13.773
I worked on personal growth.
836
00:43:14.335 --> 00:43:16.153
I worked on personal education.
837
00:43:16.395 --> 00:43:18.853
And I focused on growing as a person,
838
00:43:19.676 --> 00:43:23.353
not as a name or a title or a position.
839
00:43:24.055 --> 00:43:27.251
And I think that is what makes it or breaks it,
840
00:43:27.291 --> 00:43:27.533
you know?
841
00:43:27.914 --> 00:43:28.793
It's really not easy.
842
00:43:28.854 --> 00:43:29.793
I skipped so many.
843
00:43:30.154 --> 00:43:30.577
I skipped,
844
00:43:30.698 --> 00:43:32.693
I missed my university gala dinner.
845
00:43:33.314 --> 00:43:35.593
I missed a lot of social interactions.
846
00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:37.150
I missed a lot of...
847
00:43:37.896 --> 00:43:38.458
outings,
848
00:43:38.538 --> 00:43:39.381
parties,
849
00:43:39.902 --> 00:43:40.364
nights,
850
00:43:40.484 --> 00:43:43.132
late night gatherings that people are doing because
851
00:43:44.215 --> 00:43:45.080
I had a choice,
852
00:43:45.181 --> 00:43:45.422
you know,
853
00:43:45.683 --> 00:43:46.669
I wanted something.
854
00:43:46.950 --> 00:43:53.289
I'm doing it now because I've reached that stage where I can take a little bit of a step and balance things out.
855
00:43:53.812 --> 00:43:54.949
But you can't have everything.
856
00:43:55.430 --> 00:43:56.349
We can't be selfish.
857
00:43:56.791 --> 00:43:58.089
You can't have everything in life.
858
00:43:58.389 --> 00:43:59.249
So you need to prioritize.
859
00:43:59.589 --> 00:44:00.173
You need to say,
860
00:44:00.575 --> 00:44:01.360
I want one,
861
00:44:01.562 --> 00:44:01.763
two,
862
00:44:01.964 --> 00:44:02.206
three,
863
00:44:02.448 --> 00:44:02.629
four.
864
00:44:03.234 --> 00:44:03.426
Now.
865
00:44:03.776 --> 00:44:03.988
Now.
866
00:44:04.754 --> 00:44:05.648
And then change it.
867
00:44:05.909 --> 00:44:07.609
And it's okay every year to change it.
868
00:44:07.951 --> 00:44:09.460
And you need to change as a person,
869
00:44:09.501 --> 00:44:09.762
you know,
870
00:44:09.843 --> 00:44:10.869
being a good person.
871
00:44:11.613 --> 00:44:26.879
you can be in sales and not be a liar by the way today people who i talked to last year know that i will give them the honest truth and i build a full-on relationship and a reputation my personal reputation that is linked to
872
00:44:26.919 --> 00:44:38.889
that people know you're hardworking you're smart you're not gonna lie to them you're gonna be very honest and transparent with them and all of that plays a role into you becoming
873
00:44:39.457 --> 00:44:41.149
what you define as successful.
874
00:44:41.729 --> 00:44:45.909
I think what makes me successful today is two things.
875
00:44:46.090 --> 00:44:49.509
When I reflect on who I was 10 years ago as a person,
876
00:44:50.271 --> 00:44:50.695
I was,
877
00:44:51.098 --> 00:44:51.704
for example,
878
00:44:51.966 --> 00:44:52.229
rude.
879
00:44:52.980 --> 00:44:53.220
Today,
880
00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:54.001
I'm very nice.
881
00:44:54.121 --> 00:44:55.583
I work hard on being polite.
882
00:44:55.603 --> 00:44:57.025
It doesn't come to me naturally.
883
00:44:57.826 --> 00:44:59.608
But this is part of my success.
884
00:45:00.229 --> 00:45:01.430
I'm family oriented.
885
00:45:02.151 --> 00:45:04.034
I was not family oriented.
886
00:45:04.194 --> 00:45:06.637
I worked on establishing a family oriented.
887
00:45:06.657 --> 00:45:08.299
I think that is successful for me.
888
00:45:09.300 --> 00:45:16.691
I am in a place where I have so much experience that I can support everyone that comes across my way.
889
00:45:17.312 --> 00:45:18.634
And that's how I look at my job,
890
00:45:18.754 --> 00:45:18.975
right?
891
00:45:19.315 --> 00:45:20.457
I look at my job as
892
00:45:20.837 --> 00:45:21.959
I'm adding value to
893
00:45:22.601 --> 00:45:37.226
place of work and they are adding value to me in a lot of different things and that's why I'm successful there are so many things but I feel like the personal reflection of success by my traits you know
894
00:45:38.296 --> 00:45:38.538
I am
895
00:45:39.919 --> 00:45:53.840
smarter than what I was I am kinder as a person because it's very important to be kind you know when you're smart and have a big title and you have all of these things and you have money and you have a
896
00:45:53.881 --> 00:46:08.114
lot of friends around you and you live in a city that is very glamorous with colors and lights and like expensive things it's very important to keep yourself kind and humble and it's okay to not
897
00:46:08.522 --> 00:46:24.244
be wearing the most expensive bag or driving the most expensive car in the group and you're not having that internal struggle of unhappiness i think that made me successful and that made me happy
898
00:46:24.747 --> 00:46:26.779
and grateful for what i have
899
00:46:31.592 --> 00:46:32.356
After all that,
900
00:46:32.456 --> 00:46:34.807
when did you realize you did everything right?
901
00:46:35.429 --> 00:46:39.227
I have a quality that helped me reach where I am.
902
00:46:39.407 --> 00:46:40.392
And at the same time,
903
00:46:40.532 --> 00:46:43.747
I feel like it's something that is what I want to work on now.
904
00:46:43.887 --> 00:46:44.926
I am working on now.
905
00:46:45.431 --> 00:46:45.745
It's
906
00:46:46.791 --> 00:46:51.187
the fact that I always feel like me as a person can be better.
907
00:46:51.848 --> 00:46:54.647
So where I am today is never enough.
908
00:46:55.267 --> 00:46:59.867
It can be a very toxic trait because you're never giving yourself a break.
909
00:47:00.749 --> 00:47:01.733
You're never breathing,
910
00:47:01.974 --> 00:47:02.256
you know,
911
00:47:02.637 --> 00:47:04.667
you're never taking a sick day.
912
00:47:05.508 --> 00:47:10.721
I've never in my life took a sick day till last week when I had like a lung infection and I was like,
913
00:47:10.801 --> 00:47:11.887
I have to take a sick leave.
914
00:47:12.410 --> 00:47:14.817
So for me to celebrate my success,
915
00:47:15.238 --> 00:47:17.945
I think my first moment realizing that,
916
00:47:18.186 --> 00:47:19.691
I had a call with my dad and I'm like,
917
00:47:19.691 --> 00:47:19.872
hey,
918
00:47:20.053 --> 00:47:26.740
someone wanted to do a business deal with me and I had an investor and they wanted to put so much money and I'm like,
919
00:47:26.860 --> 00:47:27.964
I don't have time for this.
920
00:47:28.768 --> 00:47:29.491
And they were like,
921
00:47:30.014 --> 00:47:32.607
we want to try and they kept pushing and pushing.
922
00:47:33.144 --> 00:47:34.514
and my dad was like,
923
00:47:34.975 --> 00:47:35.097
oh,
924
00:47:35.300 --> 00:47:35.624
okay,
925
00:47:35.827 --> 00:47:36.355
good luck.
926
00:47:36.475 --> 00:47:37.415
He doesn't say anything.
927
00:47:37.536 --> 00:47:37.934
Like we said,
928
00:47:38.075 --> 00:47:39.935
my dad doesn't stare you in any direction,
929
00:47:40.316 --> 00:47:41.655
and he doesn't show you emotions.
930
00:47:42.037 --> 00:47:42.342
He's like,
931
00:47:42.403 --> 00:47:42.586
oh,
932
00:47:42.667 --> 00:47:43.114
good luck.
933
00:47:43.898 --> 00:47:44.935
I don't know what will happen,
934
00:47:45.135 --> 00:47:45.520
but like,
935
00:47:46.066 --> 00:47:48.495
I hope it finishes because if this finishes,
936
00:47:48.837 --> 00:47:49.755
I can go see them.
937
00:47:49.855 --> 00:47:51.033
I can go visit them in Egypt.
938
00:47:51.957 --> 00:47:52.669
So I was like,
939
00:47:52.669 --> 00:47:53.055
let's see.
940
00:47:53.756 --> 00:47:55.715
And then my mom calls me,
941
00:47:55.775 --> 00:47:56.235
and she's like,
942
00:47:56.295 --> 00:47:56.477
Maha,
943
00:47:56.700 --> 00:47:59.793
you have to tell your dad to stop talking about your...
944
00:48:00.659 --> 00:48:10.030
businesses because he is telling everyone how successful you've become and you might get the bad eye,
945
00:48:10.110 --> 00:48:10.572
right?
946
00:48:10.853 --> 00:48:11.395
The hasad.
947
00:48:12.421 --> 00:48:13.607
as we call it in Arabic,
948
00:48:13.667 --> 00:48:14.330
someone might
949
00:48:14.959 --> 00:48:18.355
يحسدك so I reply to my mom and I'm like mom,
950
00:48:18.476 --> 00:48:21.343
I think this is the first time that he was ever proud of me,
951
00:48:21.505 --> 00:48:25.831
let him and you also enjoy it this is a moment where
952
00:48:26.194 --> 00:48:34.131
I have been dreaming of my entire life to see my parents proud of me or having a fight because
953
00:48:34.642 --> 00:48:48.698
hide your success because we don't want it to to like be looked at in a bad perspective and you know it's it's very hard um arabic families do not express their love in the european
954
00:48:48.779 --> 00:49:02.339
way we're very like we don't hug so much we don't we don't say i love you as much so it's not only me by the way you'll notice it in my generation specifically your parents don't show you
955
00:49:03.006 --> 00:49:17.454
their love in that way so when my parents were proud of me and even the way they showed it they never came and told me hey i'm proud of you you know like good job or anything they were having an internal struggle an internal fight and
956
00:49:17.916 --> 00:49:27.212
it reached me that they're proud of me i was like that's very nice because you never get that and you dream of making your parents happy you know you wanna you
957
00:49:27.379 --> 00:49:44.139
buy them the best car and buy them the nicest house and make sure they're comfortable and you're working towards that in your life and I feel part of my success is because of that because I want to make sure I'm working so hard I'm making sure that my parents are happy
958
00:49:44.440 --> 00:49:49.255
they're comfortable they're they're in a in good health they're taken care of you know
959
00:49:49.785 --> 00:49:50.828
Even if they refuse it,
960
00:49:50.868 --> 00:49:52.051
and of course they refuse it,
961
00:49:52.051 --> 00:49:52.312
you know,
962
00:49:52.332 --> 00:49:53.033
like their parents,
963
00:49:53.074 --> 00:49:53.234
like,
964
00:49:53.254 --> 00:49:55.239
I don't need anything from you kind of thing,
965
00:49:55.339 --> 00:49:56.282
but you still want to.
966
00:49:56.542 --> 00:49:59.341
And I think that's also a very important drive for me.
967
00:50:00.246 --> 00:50:01.002
So nice.
968
00:50:01.583 --> 00:50:01.885
You know,
969
00:50:01.986 --> 00:50:03.742
the tears came to my eyes.
970
00:50:03.822 --> 00:50:04.300
Me too.
971
00:50:08.894 --> 00:50:09.536
Thank you very much,
972
00:50:09.596 --> 00:50:09.857
Maha.
973
00:50:10.259 --> 00:50:13.270
We learned a lot about the courage to change and resilience today.
974
00:50:13.692 --> 00:50:14.110
Thank you.
975
00:50:14.791 --> 00:50:17.778
It was everything is personal by Fortis Digital Solutions,
976
00:50:17.919 --> 00:50:22.410
a company that bridged the gap between businesses and their digital savvy customers.
977
00:50:22.990 --> 00:50:25.280
We help businesses thrive in the digital world,
978
00:50:25.762 --> 00:50:27.650
turning their dreams into reality.
979
00:50:28.470 --> 00:50:33.790
Fortis commits to supporting and evolving alongside entrepreneurship in the MENA region.
980
00:50:34.154 --> 00:50:35.690
Interested in joining our team?
981
00:50:36.163 --> 00:50:39.358
Subscribe to our LinkedIn page at Fortis Digital Solutions.
982
00:50:39.698 --> 00:50:41.438
The link is in the episode description.
983
00:50:41.898 --> 00:50:43.937
This podcast is produced by HatchUp.
984
00:50:44.478 --> 00:50:46.958
Executive producer Alexandra Volkova.
985
00:50:47.318 --> 00:50:49.037
Producer Darya Sanikova.
986
00:50:49.438 --> 00:50:50.878
Editor Livia Stivo.
987
00:50:51.438 --> 00:50:53.578
Sound engineer Mikhail Vasiliev.
988
00:50:54.058 --> 00:50:56.078
Composer Ksenia Kazantseva.
989
00:50:56.558 --> 00:50:58.458
Cover illustrator Brian Sung.
990
00:50:58.901 --> 00:50:59.828
And I'm your host,
991
00:51:00.170 --> 00:51:01.117
Victoria Belausova.
992
00:51:01.566 --> 00:51:03.171
For more episodes and updates,
993
00:51:03.212 --> 00:51:06.182
subscribe to Everything is Personal on your favorite platform.
994
00:51:06.583 --> 00:51:07.402
Thank you for listening.