Dariha Erketaeva is a humanitarian professional from Kyrgyzstan – a country that, she says, “very few people know about”. Throughout her career and many negotiations, she's often found it challenging to be taken seriously as a young woman, as a person from a distant Asian country, or as a non-Arabic speaker. In this episode, Dariha reflects on how the way one looks, acts, and is perceived by a counterpart can impact dramatically the outcome of a negotiation process, and how she found practical solutions to overcome the problems.