Exciting Summer Surprise! While our podcast is taking a short break for the summer, we've got something special for you. Joining us on this episode is none other than Gary Vaynerchuk for an insightful conversation from Cannes Lions in France in June. We were both on a panel at SRMG Beach, discussing all things culture and tech. Gary delivers his trademark raw and practical knowledge bombs. Get ready for an epic podcast episode! Don`t miss our signature Rapid-fire questions in the end &...

Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Lynn Al Khatib, Head of Communication at Chalhoub Group, the largest luxury retailer and distributor in the Middle East and North Africa. She has over 15 years of corporate and brand communication experience. Together, we dive into the fascinating world of communication strategies, industry insights, and talk about her journey from a corporate...

Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Christiana Maxion, The Dubai Matchmaker. And as she likes to say, "I am a native New Yorker rewriting the blueprint of the Dubai dating universe". From climbing the career ladder in education to establishing her own successful matchmaking agency, Christiana's journey is nothing short of remarkable. Tune in as we discuss her empowering approach to...

Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Nadine Kanso. She is an amazing designer and artist that has reimagined calligraphy by incorporating Arabic into her rings and necklaces. Nadine illuminates eye-catching letters and meaningful phrases, adorning them with diamonds and fascinating gemstones. We talk about her story, the power and importance of Arab culture. And how Nadine is using her art...

Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Mohanad Al Hattab, one of the most prominent and talented comic influencers in the Arab world. He finds joy and fulfillment from making people laugh, including myself. I can't count how many times he made me laugh with his characters and stories. Let's learn with someone that mastered comic timing, cultural relevance, digital platforms and...

Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Zahra Abdalla, someone I personally have been following and enjoying her approach to cooking. She considers herself a modern-day Bedouin.  About Zahra Abdalla Her culinary journey started with her online blog in 2010 and soon thereafter she presented her own cooking shows on MBC3 and hosted the fourth season of a food and travel documentary show called...

I’m joined today by Gregg Pearce, Head of du’s Small Offices, Home Offices and Small Enterprises segment — known as SoHo and SE. He is accountable for the end-to-end performance of the SOHO & SE segment, improving market penetration, and evolving the customer experience and value propositions for their clients. Gregg is an customer-focused and target-driven transformational leader, with a proven ability to build a high performance culture. He is skilled in defining and implementing...

Joining me today is Mark Azzam, Founder and Owner of Back to Games and Gameinox, Partner and Director at Boardgame Space Games Distribution. From a young age, Mark found himself traveling to imaginary realms inspired by elements of science fiction and fantasy. This also included gaming with his mother, where they played everything from snakes and ladders to chess. After traveling the globe for more than 18 years as a pilot, Mark launched Back to Games in 2015. Serving thousands of gamers and...

Joining me today is Omar Almheiri, founder and Chief Technical Officer at Letswork. Omar graduated in 2017 from Northeastern University in Boston with a degree in electrical engineering. Right after graduation, he was selected for the E25 entrepreneurship program at EMAAR, where he launched Letswork, an app that helps people gain access to the best workspaces in the UAE. In this episode, we’ll learn more about the evolution of co-working in Dubai, how Omar and his team handled the...

Joining me today is Asma Lootah Founder & Owner of The Hundred Wellness Centre. Everything started in 2002, when she discovered and fell in love with Pilates. Asma has won numerous awards for her work at the Hundred, in 2010 she was awarded the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders for the best business in healthcare by the Crown Prince of Dubai. She is dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of people in the UAE through her centre. Her work at The...

Joining me today is Mona Mirza, Founder CEO of Biolite Aesthetic Clinic. Having worked in the beauty industry since the age of 18 in London UK, Mona’s experience spans over 30 years. She began her career as a cosmetologist & at the start of the beauty laser revolution in the 90’s was one of the very first licensed laser & IPL supervisors / practitioners in the UK, fondly known as the IPL queen by her clients. Her love for treating skin began as a personal journey which culminated into...

Joining me today is Yousef Al Gurg Founder & Owner of Gravity DXB, A one of a kind gym in UAE to encourage training through calisthenics, a workout technique that solely uses one's body-weight. Yousef is a former football team member of Al Wasl club and a mountaineer. Despite a back injury, he has successfully scaled Aconcagua, South America's highest peak. This is part of our special series in partnership with du Business called Inspiring Growth, to celebrate entrepreneurship and...

Today we are joined by multimillionaire entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk all the way from the UAE. Known for his motivational talks and digital content creation, GaryVee has had a profound impact on people's lives all over the world and never stops motivating others with his willingness to share his own experiences. Starting off as a young business mind, first with his father’s business and then expanding into his own empire, GaryVee shares what interests him about Dubai, what brands in the...

Joining me today is Ibrahim Al-Mallouhi, founder of The Espresso Lab. His early relationship with the rich world of coffee led him to a journey of diligence that combined specialized academic studies and practical experience, as he traveled to visit the most important coffee farms and international coffee shops globally. This is part of our special series in partnership with du Business called Inspiring Growth, to celebrate entrepreneurship and highlight business success. We’re featuring...

This Ramadan we teamed up with du Business for a special series called Inspiring Growth, to celebrate entrepreneurship and highlight business success. We feature eight successful entrepreneurs and innovators who shared their personal stories to help others learn valuable lessons. Throughout the show, we will focus on growth, exploring the path of how they turned their dreams into reality.  We hope this proves to be both inspirational and valuable for those who are facing their own personal...

Today, we are joined by the world leader in speed-reading, memory improvement, and optimal brain performance! With over 7 million podcast downloads and the the author of the NY Times and #1 WSJ bestseller, Limitless - Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, Unlock Your Exceptional Life. About Jim Kwik Jim Kwik is a business coach, entrepreneur, and literal genius. He is the Founder and CEO of Kwik Learning, an online brain training and learning company that teaches people how to make the...

In Season 6 of Savvy Talk, we are bringing you conversations with experts! Today we are joined by Dr. Russell Kennedy where we explain what anxiety is, and how it recruits our brain and body to react in specific ways. And as always, we cover behavioral tools and steps that can assist and help you understand when the anxiety ‘alarm’ goes off and how to manage it by understanding it. He explains that all anxiety is some form of separation anxiety and we can heal. About Dr. Russell Kennedy Dr....

Today we are joined by Dr. Deepak Chopra where we discuss how you can take control over your mental and spiritual well-being by starting with your mind and breath. He discusses his new book “Living in the Light” and how he believes the Metaverse and AI will help with wellness and longevity. Lastly, Deepak shares the core principles of Yoga - that are deep rooted in science and how you can practice simple habits to improve your life.  Dr. Deepak Chopra is the Founder of The Chopra Foundation,...

Michele Vig, an accomplished executive in corporate America for two decades, founded Neat Little Nest to pursue her personal passion of helping people free themselves from clutter and create the beautifully organized spaces they've always desired. Michele is one of only a few KonMari gold-level certified decluttering professionals and one of Minnesota’s top 50 women in business as well as a featured “40 under 40” in Minneapolis Business Journal. In this episode we talk about her personal...

In today's episode, I am sharing a conversation that I had with Andy Krainak during the Art D'Égypte 2022 Talks Series in Cairo. The theme of our talk was The Secrets of Building & Launching a Successful NFT/Web3 Project.  Andy Krainak serves as the President of VeeFriends. Andy is an experienced digital and brand strategist with a 8+ year work history in Personal Branding, Growth Marketing and Social Media Advertising and served Gary Vaynerchuk's personal brand team (Team GaryVee) before...

In today's episode, because I am obsessed with books, I want you guys to meet Salma ElWardany. Egyptian-Irish-South Asian writer, poet, and BBC radio host Salma has presented two TEDx Talks, collaborated with Edinburgh University on the Dangerous Woman project, and partnered with The British Library and The Wellcome Collection. She routinely collaborates with international brands to increase awareness through poetry and dialogue. She is the author of the amazing book These Impossible...

On today’s episode of SavvyTalk season 5, I’m joined by Avery Akkineni, President of Vayner3, a VaynerX consultancy leading the mission to guide the world's largest intellectual property owners in navigating the next iteration of the internet, Web3. Avery is a leader, a mentor, and an investor in leading Web3 projects and communities, as well as an active advisor for leading Web2 & Web3 platforms. Avery is an active advisor and board member on various tech platforms, including the Web3...

I am so happy to be joined by Karen Wazen, a person I admire so much. Karen received me in her beautiful home in Dubai. We had the chance to talk about a lot of things you don't usually see her talking about but that are a big part of her life. I had no idea about her personal connection with sunglasses -- where the inspiration and idea came from for KW Eyewear and her future plans for the brand. We had lovely interruptions — it’s as real as you can get being a mom. This is a good one — I...

I talked with an astronaut!  Welcome to SavvyTalk season 5, new episode is out! I'm joined this time by Sara Sabry, the first Arab, Egyptian and African woman to ever go up in Space. She made history on August 4th of 2022 by flight on Blue Origin's NS-22 mission, this day forward we all stand on her shoulders. All little girls and women of the region and beyond are proud, inspired by her achievement and as she said: “They can finally see themselves represented in space”.  I had the chance to...