The Learning Curve Podcast | Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

'Do what it takes to get the job done' - this is the motto of Robyn Sokol, Managing Director of Emerald Events and Exhibitions.

I love how the driving force behind her starting her own company was her clients.  Before she got started they could see her abilities and strengths but she felt she lacked the confidence.  Today Robin is a fully fledged business owner, with some amazing events completed, works with some very prestigious brands and she can't wait for how the next years will role out!

Robin works in one of the most stressful job descriptions out there.  An event of any size has so many facets and dimensions that the potential for a failure can happen but this is where Robin thrives. She's a details person,  she loves the background operations, she's very open and connected to her clients and she loves seeing a project through to fulfilment. Yes she has days when she's deep into a project, stress levels are high and she questions her chosen career path but when it's all done and the client is more than delighted, that's when she knows she in the right career because she's always wanted to be an event's organiser.

In this episode, Robin takes us behind the scenes of her business story and the core essence of how she creates events which her clients love and want more off.  She shares her best accomplishments and her worst experience and what she learnt.  She tells us about her vision for her business and how her other motto is 'Go by instinct, live by fate'.

One of the key take aways I took from our meeting was the importance of having a vision, a template and a process.  Robin envisions the event and then works her magic with processes and a great team to create the for her client. In any business, the vision is the power house of achieving the goals and she reminded me of how important that was.  

Thank you Robin for your time, energy and insight, I love meeting people that are so passionate about what they do and you are clearly one of those ladies..... thank you!

'The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

I'm delighted to introduce you to Mariam Shibib the CEO and Founder of the Pomegranate Institute, a language institute at its core but so much more than that too.

Mariam story is a great example of someone who has become very clear on her purpose and her own why!  Its a complex journey to get there for each of us but she's found her story and knows what her passion and direction is.

Mariam is from a blended background meaning her ancestry is peppered with a number of cultures and flavours. She's part German, part Syrian and part Iraqi and her husband is from Pakistan. She has spent a lot of time in the UK and now Dubai is her home for her family and business.  

In this episode you will hear about Mariam's humanitarian background and how that has heavily influenced her journey. She tells us the story behind why her business is called Pomegranate institute.  Its a humbling story!  She shares with us how at the heart of understanding people is 'communication' and how the world would be a better place if we took the time to find the ways to communicate with each other.  She tells us why Dubai was right for her business and how key moments in our lives shift our prospective and we need to be paying attention.

It was a delight to listen to her story!  Mariam is a warm and open story teller.  Her voice is very soothing and she articulates her story so eloquently.  I can't wait to spend more time getting to know her. Thank you Mariam for your hospitality.  Your office space is a wonderful place to be in and your team are awesome. Thank you!

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

I was delighted to have MC back on the show - I loved our previous discussion on Success Depends on Mastering Emotions. MC Lessard, is an Emotionologist. A specialist title that I'd only recently heard of.  When I met MC I was confused and intrigued by her title.  Why would one want to visit an Emotionologist? But the more I listened to MC it became even more clear why her expertise is so important today.    

One of the topics we spoke about was our relationship with Food and our emotions, something we are all familiar with.  MC took me an a educational and entertaining journey of getting more conscious with my eating. She introduced me to a four part strategy to help me deal with emotional eating.  I was very surprised to hear her first tip but you know what it totally made sense.  

MC really helped get some clarity around emotional eating and how our brain is very powerful at dishing out the negative thoughts when we eat emotionally but not great at sharing positive emotions when we eat.  She reminds us about a strategy she shares from her first podcast about 'parking your thought' which is very useful when it comes to mindful eating. She asks us to embrace our emotional eating moment and savor the treat - don't see it as a cheat!  She explains her logic behind this in the podcast and personally I'm fully embracing this logic.

MC introduces me to mindful eating and conscious eating. That awareness of what we are eating and how being more mindful means more emotional awareness and with that we have the foundation of emotional intelligence. A skill that  I really think is the secret to a fulfilling life! 

MC once again shared her ideas clearly and helped me understand her tips and strategies.  These strategies though are not a quick fix solution they are all part of our life journey. They need to be worked on daily and made into a habit.  If they become habit they are more likely to stick with us for the long term.

Thank you MC for your insights and wisdom - Through both our podcasts I'm more aware now that emotions and our thoughts play a huge part in how our lives play out!  We need to be continuously aware of them and questions how relevant they are in the moment!  Thank you! 

See more of our episode via our website www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Its a true under current of women in business and I suffer from it too - its that voice in your head that says 'you are charging too much'.  Maybe you are more attuned to your pricing strategy and know what you are worth but I don't think I'm alone when we talk about the struggle of charging for your value of business you give.  We recognise we do it but lack the confidence to change it.  

This is where Maria Pearson walks into my life.  Maria Pearson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Grow.ME An impact development consultancy aimed at helping organisations connect people performance to business results.  She is also the creator of the initiative 'Women-able' - a platform to help women entrepreneurs of the UAE grow their businesses. 

Maria is all about empowering people. She's very passionate about helping people develop their skill sets and be great at what they do so what they do impacts the overall business performance or helps grow their businesses.  Maria helps you dig deep, she helps you answer the tough questions you may not be asking, she gives you the value and attention you need to grow your confidence, build your skill set and coachs you to your business success.

In this episode we discover more about Maria's career and why she started Grow-ME and the Woman-Able initiative.  She then takes us on a journey of helping us to pay more attention to our value and the price we put on our products and services.  Maria helps us recognise the pain points we could be suffering when we talk about our value. She shares how its important to go out to our customers and get a sense of their value drivers in helping us formulate our pricing strategy.

Maria shares how important confidence is when it comes to the topic of value and how you must value your time involved in the work around your product or service not just the product or service itself.  Women are great leaders and I believe can surpass men because of our abilities to juggle, multi-task and follow a well thought out strategy but if we can't get clear on the value we bring to the table and be confident about our prices then we will falter.

Maria and I had met a few times before we conducted this interview and each time she left me with food for thought.  She's a thought provoker, she's someone who is trying to pull you out of your comfort zone and help you find your larger comfort zone. 

Thank you Maria - for your time and your energy. Your successes with Woman-Able 2016 are evidence of how valuable your style, mentor-ship and programme is for women of the UAE to really make an impact and build a business they've always dreamed off.  Thank you.

Listen to more of our interviews via our website - www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

I'd like you to meet MC Lessard, an Emotionologist. A specialist title that I'd only recently heard of.  When I met MC I was confused and intrigued by her title.  Why would one want to visit an Emotionologist? But the more I listened to MC it became even more clear why her expertise is so important today.  

We are emotional beings and the way the world works today we are expected in some ways to disconnect from our emotions and just be.  Can you remember as a kid when your parents might say 'shake it off' or your buddy might say, after an emotional break up, 'get over it, move on' but its these kind of 'brush it under the carpet' attitude that means you don't deal with the emotion, it just sits there and quietly festers, waiting for you to deal with it.  That 'deal with it' moment can be totally unexpected and hit you at a time when you just don't have time to deal with it.  But I know life doesn't always work like that.  Talking with MC I discovered that we should embrace our emotional nature. Don't be scared of it or shy away from it as most of us do, but totally turn and face them. Discover what the emotion means and follow her 3 step strategy to help you move on from each emotion.  

In this interview MC helps us discover the importance of discovering our emotions and connecting to them. We are awesome at connecting with our negative emotions but what about the positive ones, how often you do you let them hang around.  She wants us to feel our emotions, express them, perceive them and learn to leverage them.

What I loved about my interview with MC was that I kind of knew what she meant but her articulation to clarify or simplify a point made getting concepts or connecting with my emotions so much easier.  I felt after this interview that I could deal with my emotions better!

Like MC I want to live to over 100 years old and she believes the secret to getting there is harnessing the power of your emotions and using them. This was a very thought provoking conversation.

Thank you MC for taking us on an emotional journey! (pardon the pun) I can see now through our conversation how powerful emotions can be and how they can dictate our success now and in the future. This is a challenge we've all accepted in our own way and I guess it is one that never has an ending because we are always embracing an emotion along our life path.  Thank you!

More Women Entrepreneur interviews via our website www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com

'The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

I'd like you to meet Tara Rogers - Ellis - The Co-founder of Mojo PR and Board Member of Reach Mentoring. Let me start with this - I openly asked for a job after this interview.  I didn't get one and I know little about Public relations but, really, that would be a lovely company to work at. Tara and her team have such a collaborative energy that I felt completely at home there. Tara is the kind of boss I would like to have. She's been in the industry for some time and she's basically seen it all, she's calm, she's a communicator and she's a solutions person. These are, in my opinion, all the attributes of  seasoned entrepreneur.

​My greatest learning and message that I took away from my conversation with Tara was the power of giving more in value. Tara demonstrated that power when she talks about one client relationship she has in the podcast.  Value shows your commitment to your clients as well as the confidence you have in your product or services. 

​Her work with Reach Mentoring as been her outlet to develop and nurture professional women in the Middle East.  Through this non profit platform, of which she is a co-founder and board member, Reach Mentoring matches mentors and mentees and together they work towards helping the mentee achieve her career goals and objectives.  Tara shares more about how important this journey has been to her in this episode.

In this episode Tara shares more about her career from corporate to going entrepreneurial. She talks about her winning her first client and what that was like.  She shares her scariest decision and what she has learnt along the way.  She shares that belief and passion count for so much and we need to try to remember that when things get tough.  She also gives us a glimpse into her long term vision for Mojo PR and how she is driving that vision forward.

​Thank you Tara for sharing your story with us.  You shared some great advise about the power of value, commitment and learning all of which are primary to our success in what ever career choice or entrepreneurial venture we pursue. I also think you business name 'Mojo' is awesome, it suits your business style and your ethos..  Thank you!

Visit our website www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com - to see more of our interviews with women entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

'The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Meet Ayshwarya Chari - the mum business woman behind Kidore - the UAE's one stop online kids' shop where everything is under AED 100 or US$27/-.  What a refreshing business opportunity to create in an economy where we are usually flooded with high end designer brands which not all of us can afford. 

​Kidore has been very well received by the community. So much so, that Ayshwarya maintains an accessible and open communication with her customers. She's often receiving advice, ideas and feedback from her customers.  She's a leader who is right at the front setting the pace and the direction. She's keen to learn, improve and excel and be a platform that is customer focused and keen to make shopping online accessible to all. She wants all her customers to know they will be heard.  That difference will help her stand out.

​In this episode Ayshwarya share her entrepreneurial journey with us.  She shares how as a young girl she used to dress up in suit and pick up her brief case and pretend to be the boss. She'd imagine herself running a company and making decisions.  When she moved to Dubai her career choice was microbiology but there wasn't much opportunity for that so she went into banking. She loved sales and working with people.  Today she's on to her second entrepreneurial adventure and in the episode she shares her journey, her learning curve and what keeps her pushing and striving for more in her business.

​Persistence has been a core trait to help her achieve the Kidore goal. She recognizes too that as Kidore grows and more opportunities come around she will have to let go a little and this is something she says she needs to work on but that's OK, we all struggle with that. It's a nice problem to have when your business is meeting all its objectives.

Thank you Ayshwarya for sharing your journey with us. You shared some awesome knowledge nuggets and I loved the phrase JOMO - or the Joy Of Missing Out.  A phrase I'll be using when I need to stay focused and don't need to be involved with everything.  My big take away is 'be persistent and keep an eye on your goal' - that's something you have focused on and when I feel like throwing in the towel I will remind myself of this episode. Thanks Ayshwarya.

Don't forget to check out our other episodes of women entrepreneurs in the Middle East via our Website.  www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com

'The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

'Your smile is a reflection of yourself, it's what people see first, why not make it part of your beauty routine' - this is what Maissa Fattal, founder of Ibtisama is sharing with us. She's building a business here in the UAE that makes us all feel great about our smile.  Her teeth whitening products are chemical free, organic and 100% safe.  Maissa recognized that there was a gap in the market for cosmetic treatment for our teeth so she has spent the last year building a business around this.  In the early days she had to spend a lot of time educating her audience that her treatment was not like going to the dentist but more like going to the spa or the beauty salon. 

​Ibtisama is the Arabic word for smile and this is part of her core philosophy for her business. She wants you to leave her outlet knowing that you have given your smile a pampering and feeling great about yourself.

​Before her venture into the cosmetic business, Maissa was a lawyer. Defending the undesirables of this world in her country of Switzerland.  She started her lawyer career at the early age of 21 and by 25 had started her own law firm.  Her legal career solidified some core skills in her and that is determination, discipline and a solutions person. She likes to face her problems face on and works hard to solve them to achieve a positive outcome for us all. 

​Maissa is a strong, focused women and her success in her first year of her business is a reflection of her keenness to follow her passion. She's been on a steep learning curve, learning all that she needs to build her business and achieve success.  As you will hear in the interview she isn't one to give up quickly.

​I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Maissa, she truly is a woman on a mission and keen to spread more smile stories to the people of the UAE. Her energy is motivated and her discipline in strong. I'm sure you will enjoy the lessons she brings to the podcast and her reminder to always challenge our own views about ourselves and our businesses.   Being humble helps us stay grounded and open.  Thanks Maissa.

'The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Meet Assia Riccio - Smith, the founder of Evolvin' Women. A platform designed to help the women of the hospitality industry connect, grow, learn and excel. A platform where knowledge experts can help the women of the hospitality industy evolve.  Assia recognized that as women in the hospitality industry climbed the ladder there was less and less of them.  She recognized there was a gap and a disconnect between women in senior hospitality positions and those in junior positions so she decided to create a space where there could be a space to exchange learning, insight, experiences and advice.  

Assia has this awesome quote which says 'if you are not sitting at the table then you will be on the menu'. Its a phrase that can reflect anyone in any industry.  She's basically saying if you are not present, focused and engaged in your company's business goals then you could miss out not only in opportunities but in personal growth and connection. 

Assia is a natural communicator and people person, I can totally see why she's found herself in the hospitality industry and nurturing people's talents and skills. Evolvin' Women is a reflection of that.  She wants women to own their development by seeking out trainers, coaches, mentors and industry experts through her platform and give them the space to connect and own their futures.  She wants women to embrace their talents and build on them.  She wants women to recognize their failures, learn from the feedback and grow.

In this episode Assia takes us on her entrepreneurial journey from career hospitality girl to a woman driving a new initiative. She gives us insight into what she has learnt and how she plans to help women own their futures and their plans to grow within the hospitality industry.  

Her bubbly personally shines through in this episode and it was a delight to share the space with a woman keen to put women firmly back at the table with the tools and techniques to help them evolve their careers. Thanks Assia.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Meet Claire Donnelly, a solid HR Consultant with over 30 years experience in the profession.  In her words, there isn't a HR problem she hasn't seen.  She is the Co-founder of MHC Consulting who's mission is to give business owner back their freedom and allow them to grow their team and business in a sustainable, manageable and more enjoyable way.

Claire is first and foremost a solution provider.  MHC Consulting aim to go into a business, help discover the root causes of key problems the business owner maybe suffering and help solve them.  They help business owners recognise when they are stuck and spending too much time working in the business as opposed to 'on' the business.  A crucial difference.

Claire takes on the role of an outsourced HR Director for many business owners.  On behalf on a client she will get involved in the HR operations of a business and help the business owner make the right decision so that all HR decisions are cost efficient to the business and have a positive effect on the health of the business.  As she says in the episode HR does affect a company's Profit and Loss Accounts.

Hiring Millennials is also discussed and she gives us some insightful advise on what they are looking for and what a businesses approach and style should be to help employ and retain millennials employees.  

Claire was very open and insightful into the world of HR and how professionals like her do need be part of the corporate decision making because at the end of the day people run your business and the right people will help you grow and build your business.

In this episode Claire shares how she got started in HR and what her career has taught her. She shares how she can help and support SME's and large corporations today. She offers up some great tips and ideas too that we should all be thinking about when it comes to managing your team as well as your business.  

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Claire's journey and discovering the nuggets of knowledge she has in her head.  She's a smart and talented women and would be a great asset to company looking to get advise and direction on their business and HR strategy. 

Listen to more Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East - 2015 & 2016

Meet Warsha Joshi, a season entrepreneur and corporate career lady.  By the age of 26 she had two businesses. In 2010 she started her current venture, www.PlatinumVa.com to provide Virtual Executive Assistance to regionally based consulting firms operating in the GCC.

She helps corporates and business professionals manage their administrative tasks so they can focus on their primary objectives.  Warsha is all about working smarter and through her team of virtual assistance she helps her client's achieve their goals and objectives.  

Warsha has had an amazing career. She started at 16 with her own beauty salon, she then started a beauty training institute. She then went on to work in the corporate world and quickly climbed the ladder. She returned to the entrepreneurial life to start this new venture. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs so dinner time discussion was always focused on tackling business strategy and growing their family businesses.

Warsha is a devoted team player.  She empowers her team with the tools, resources, the right mindset and strategies to help them achieve their highest performances.  Warsha can attribute a lot of her success to moulding a strong, transparent, independent and reliable team.

In this episode we discover more about Warsha and her journey. We learn more about her business and where she sees her business in 5 years. She shares her successes, her key ideas and why now she has become a coach herself to help empower more entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses.

This was very open, warm and enlightening conversations with a very inspired and positive woman. It was great to meet here, chat and also learn that she helps educate 8 orphan girls in India!! Her heart is HUGE!!  

Listen to more episodes from 2015 & 2016 here.

Ever thought about writing a blog?  Channelling your knowledge into a space for all to read?  A space to share your ideas, thoughts and opinions and help others form their opinion on a matter?  Well if you have then this might be a great place to start because Nicholla sat down with Dubai blogger, Helen Farmer - founder of the blog www.themothershipdxb.com to learn more about her blog and what she has learnt along the way.

www.themothershipdxb.com, is a blog that takes a very honest look at living, working and parenting in the UAE, covering everything from family friendly activities to real issues facing mums like us.  She been in the Middle East for ten years, working in publishing and broadcasting, and has one daughter - and another baby on the way!  The Mothership won the Time Out Dubai Kids award for Parenting Blog of 2016. Congratulations Helen! :)

So blogging, is it for you?  lets discover if it is with Helen or if you are already on the blogging journey let Helen share with you some great tips and ideas.  In this episode we spoke about her blog, where it all started, the challenges and successes she has had, how she built relationships with both her community and the brands she works with. I also discover why she called her blog, 'The Mothership'.

​Helen is great at articulating her feelings and thoughts about being a parent and mum here in Dubai.  Her blogging style is open, friendly, completely relatable and funny - all very much attributes of her personality!  Ultimately the key important ingredients in all of her blogging creations is trust, authenticity and relatability.  It's these three words that are deeply rooted in her style and personalty, thus making her a successful blogger and the three words which I truly believe are the powerhouse of blogging.

Helen was great to spend time with. I felt like I had known her for ages.  Even when we first met, we chatted like we were catching up for the two hundredth time. Over tea and spilling honey (that was funny, Helen!) we talked about loads, working our way through an array of topics and ideas.  It was truly a delight to connect and I left that conversation feeling motivated and inspired. Thanks Helen!  
​If blogging is on your agenda then have a listen to this episode and have your laptop ready to write down some key ideas to help you get started.

More of our episode in our collection are here 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Health is the new Wealth.  This is a phrase that I've heard a lot recently. Many of us are recognising the need to upgrade our lifestyle with cleaner eating, more nutrient rich foods, more exercise, a better work/life balance and a positive mindset.  These are the corner stones of a happy and fulfilled life.  But.... we know that this is also difficult to achieve. We live such busy, stressful lives with work and family committments, food on the go, driving from point to point and a real sedentary lifestyle that it is often hard to see the 'corner stones' of life that you want, clearly.  But here is where my next guest has a solution for you!

Meet Gillian she is an inspirational health practitioner, entrepreneur, facilitator, manager and motivator.  She's the lady behind a new revolution in internet wellness and fitness called 'Strippedin6'.  Stripped in 6 is a health and fitness company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In a partnership with Vogue Fitness, one of the fittest teams in the world at the 2016 CrossFit Games, they have developed a system of nutrition and exercise aimed at making you fitter and healthier so that you can love your life.

She has spent her whole career in the sports industry and now its her mission to build a thriving ecommerce business focus on improving your fitness and health. It's a space where you can strip themselves of weight, insecurities, myths, stuck habits and behaviours and help feel more in control of your lives.

Gillian is an ambitious, driven and a solution based person. Her presence and energy is striking and I believe her vision and mission to help us all bring fitness back into our lives will be accomplished.  In this episode she shares her story from starting out at 18 years old doing aerobic classes, to speaking at the UK's House of Parliament on the changing needs of the sports industry to where she is today - an fitness entrepreneur with intrinsic motivation to keep learning. 

Her platform launches January 2017 and she's ready for you.  If health is the new wealth then please go and meet your new wealth manager. 

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

The thought of an uncluttered life with less stuff does sound awesome. Think of the benefits of it, less to clean, less to organise, a home or office system that benfits all, and ultimately the opportunity of time back in your space again.  However, the actual process of decluttering journey does feel a bit painful, time consuming, some feel anxious just thinking about it and some think, 'my house will always feel cluttered.  However, the decluttering journey doesn’t need to be as painful as some make it out to be. Get yourself a declutter professional. Someone who can walk into a room and just see how things could decluttered and reorganised.  

Today's guest is exactly that. Meet Shelina. A lawyer by proffession she took the plunge into entrepreneurship and turned her instinct and passion for decluttering.  She helps her clients feel empowered and in control of their homes and offices. She helps them work through their primary spaces and find organisational solutions that make their lifes easier and spaces are more streamlined.  

Freedom, lightness, space and freshness is what Shelina will bring to your home or office everytime.  She will leave you with a smile even if the process of decluttering has been painful.  Have a listen to her journey from corporate lawyer to professional organiser and how her experiences of being an entrepreneur have been. If you want a declutter day at your home or office then don't forget to contact her for help.  She also writes a blog where she shares awesome tips and resources you can use

IFBB Body Fitness Masters 3rd place ????IFBB Bikini Fitness Masters 3rd place ????Coach ????

Her own adversity has made her so super aware of her own mental and phyisical being that Serene is an excellent teacher to help you push through your own personal barriers and mental restrictions we put on ourselves.  Believe me, when I say a conversation with this girl will pull you out of any 'bad day' you are having and give you that nudge to stop feeling sorry for yourself.  

Listen to Serene story and you will understand why I say that.  She's so motivating, so empathetic, so  engaged with the human spirit that I sat there lost in her conversations and at points lost where I was on my question sheet.  

Her life has been tough. She's seen cancer twice and she's only 36. She was anorexic as a young girl.  She endured self hatred and a negative family dynamic and she says she was a bully. She's been busy.

Within all of this her journey has seen her have her own mental battles to accept her past and open her eyes to a powerful and rich future.  

I initially felt really sorry for her.  What a lot for one person to go through in such a short period of time but she doesn't want my sympathy, she doesn't want the sadness, she wants energy, motivation, happiness and in her words....'suck it up buttercup......'

I thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Serene - she made me feel empowered, she made me feel I could do anything and reminded me that my dreams are my gifts to myself and I should always strive for them.

Thank you Serene for sharing your story and letting us take a mini tour of your life and the lessons you have learnt.  Stay beautiful. 

Listen to more amazing women entrepreneurs of the Middle East here.

I remember when I started my first Facebook Group back in 2010.  I couldn't decide if I should have done a group or a Fan Page. I remember researching trying to change my group to a fan page and couldn't do it unless I started again!  anyway... 6.5 years on I'm glad I didn't.  That group I created called 'Muscat - Where can I find' (MWCIF) is now over 44,000 big and its purpose is to help people find what they are looking for in Muscat.  simple!  Since then that group concept has been replicated in a number of cities and probably by members in cities I don't even know about.  

I love Facebook Groups. I think they are just great spaces to build relationships, find answers, share with a community and feel connected.  I'm part of many Facebook Groups myself and they too have helped me learn, grow, test and discover so much new stuff I may have not have found. I love it when I find someone who has asked a similar question - it reminds me that I'm not alone.

Facebook groups can support your business objectives and can be the right choice for your business.  They are open spaces and I believe today they can create more traction than what Facebook Fan pages can because your audience choose you and identify with your key group objectives as something that could benefit them.  We all know our organic reach of our Facebook posts are really low and if we want traction we need to pay for Facebook Ads that help generate leads or sales.  This is where I think the power of Facebook Groups could come in useful for your business and maybe save you some money along the way too. So here are my 5 ways Facebook Groups can support your business objectives.  

Read More here

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Salma and Veronique are the women behind 'The Pathway Project' a Dubai based business focused on Executive Leadership and Career Development Coaching.

Salma started The Pathway Project in 2012 and Veronique joined in 2014. They were friends first and joined forces to form a strong and dynamic partnership. Finding and choosing a business partner can be a difficult assessment but in this episode we explore their partnership to find out what worked and how they deal with difficult patches.

We also explore their unique business focus.  Both women have a passion and drive to transform individuals to performance to their highest potential by getting them to connect back to their purpose and their why within an organisation.  They are about creating courageous conversations and help people make the right decisions about their career future.

Cultural intelligence is another area they focus on.  They help individuals, businesses and large organisation become more culturally aware and we take a look at this in this episode too.  In the UAE it is not uncommon to have many different nationalities working with each other and this characteristics is going global.  Salma and Veronique themselves are products of growing up, living and working in different parts of the world so they understand the importance of connecting with people from other cultures and finding ways for them to use their differences to make a difference.

This was a very warm, open and in some areas a funny conversations taking a deeper look at their business, their accomplishments, their weaknesses and where they want to take their business next.  A big thank you to Salma and Veronique for allowing us to tap into their lessons learnt and share their knowledge and wisdom.  

More Women Entrepreneurial Episodes here

Most of us today are knowledge seekers.  We are in the pursuit of bettering ourselves. We want to empower ourselves so we can grow, make better decisions and ultimately live a lifestyle we dream off.  As people we are constantly in a pattern of learning. New life chapters start everyday and each come with a new invisible heading with a collection of invisible bullet points under it.  Unfortunately life isn't like a laid out curriculum, though sometimes I wish that it was, so I can tick it off as read, learnt and apply. Anyway.. the point being is we are knowledge seekers and these days we have many ways in which to collect that knowledge.  We can read, watch videos or listen to podcast!!  And this is what this podcast/blo is about because if you are a knowledge sharer and want to add value to your business then podcasting could be your way of streaming up to date audio knowledge to your clients and prospects.

Read more via the blog at www.thelearningcurvepodcast/blog

Listen to Women Entrepreneurs of the Middle East via www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com

Andreas Ekstrom is a Swedish journalist, TED Fellow, author and digital futurist.  He has written a bestselling book about Google – and has since been a leading commentator on all things digital around the world.  His focus is on educating us on working towards digital equality and bringing back the human element back into our digital lives.  He wants us to be aware of how we marry people, people behaviour, digital information and technology to achieve our goals but also how this influences our decision making.  Our discussion today focuses on 'digital influence and digital equality.  I'm asked Andreas to help us become more aware of the power the big digital players have on our lives.

Andreas is coming to Dubai on October 30th for an event with MENA Speakers who are a Dubai based business, run by my Business colleague, Saana Azzam.  MENA Speakers is the leading speakers agency in Dubai. They provide highly experienced and professional public speakers with the motive to educates, engages and empowers the audience.  Saana got in touch with me recently about this really interesting discussion that Andreas is bringing to Dubai and at their event entitled 'The Google Code - Demystifying the Digital Power Players'.  I was naturally intrigued because like many of us Google is my go to search engine and I blindly accept what google shares and tells.  Having watched his TED talks, I was quite shocked by my own thinking as I thought i was quite rational and mindful of my own prospective on the digital influence so I asked Andreas to join me and answer some questions so we can become more mindful of our relationship with these big players.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Lesley Lyle is a Applied Positivity Psychologist and the Director of Positive Psychology Learning.  

Remember the movie - 'Inside Out' - the movie looks at the human emotions and how they impact our decision making.  Lesley has spent her career helping people find ways to be happier and recognising when they are happy.  Happiness does always seem like such a difficult feeling to acquire particularly when we are wrapped in stress and anxiety on a daily basis. 

In this episode we talk about what happiness looks like, how it feels and how we can work to harness that emotion.  The Learning Curve Podcast interviews many women entrepreneurs over the last 18 months and happiness is always something they strive for.  Lesley shares that we should seek happiness in all that we do and not leave it for the 'BIG' chapter changing moments in our life.


We also learn about Lesley's own challenges and her accomplishments that have helped her become the person she is today and are the makings of the person she is choosing to become.

In this podcast we learn more about the energy behind Lesley, where her passion for happiness and inspiring others come from and if she ever doubted herself too.

This is her starting her entrepreneurial journey and learning curve story.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Urooj Kamran Azmi is a senior at Northwestern University’s campus in Qatar, majoring in Communication with a Civic Engagement certificate. Urooj has a passion for film making and community development. 

Her dream role is to be a social entrepreneur and work with minority groups and disadvantage communities and encourage them to use the power of media to help them grow, be inspired and success.  She loves to produce powerful and story telling content which get to the heart of a matter. She's wants to get behind the 'why' of many opinions and pull them all together into film pieces that digs deep and shares the true story behind the people in the story.  

At 22 she has achieved so much and next year when she graduates from North Western University she wants to go back to Pakistan and start driving the key stories she wants the world to hear.  Right now her passion is her education. She loving being educated in something she is truly passionate about. For her, her classes inspire her and create the themes she wants to film and create content for.

In this podcast we learn more about the energy behind Urooj - where her love for film making comes from, if she has ever doubted her passion and why she loves a controversial subject.

This is her starting her entrepreneurial journey and learning curve story.

In this short soundbite episode we get an idea of where Sahiqa gets her entrepreneurial spirit.  To listen to the full audio episode directly - use this link: http://goo.gl/TfksYI

Alternatively check out her webpage on our website: http://goo.gl/V1Gygz

Sahiqa Bennett

Founder of Searchie and Searchie

Website:     www.searchieandsearchie.com
Email:         info@searchieandsearchie.com

Follow us.....
Instagram:  searchieandsearchie

Facebook:  Searchie & Searchie 
Linkedin:     Searchie & Searchie  
Twitter:        @SearchieDubai 

This is a Podcast soundbite on why Sahiqa named her company Searchie and Searchie.  To hear the full episode on her entrepreneurial journey - where we cover all about her business, her ideal client, how she plans to scale up her business, her success tips, and how she has overcome her weaknesses  - check out episode #95 or visit our website www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com to find the episode.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Sahiqa is the Founder of Searchie and Searchie, a head hunter who is passionate about helping clients find a new solution to their stressful recruitment process.  She started her company back in 2014 and can be found across the globe.

What I loved most about Sahiqa was her adaptive leadership style, her being one with the goal and connecting with it to make it happen. It takes strong mindfulness and out of the box thinking to lead a team with that thinking. She very clear about her passion, her identity and who she can help.  With these grounded ideals it make the rest of her work easier. Her clients will get her and people will want to work with her.  People like to work with people who know exactly what the mission. I believe Sahiqa has done that.

By the time the interview was over, I wanted to work for Sahiqa. She has created a working environment where all her team members (who are mums, by the way) can thrive, engage and create the best people they can be. As a mum, myself I know it can be difficult to balance work and family but this team seem to be a great example of how it is possible.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Julie is the Founder of Beeton & Co - a company that assists you with your education and immigration requirements for Canada.

A corporate lawyer by profession Julie shares a great overview of her business and how she is passionate about helping people make the right life decisions for their families and their kids education.  Making life changing decisions takes courage, knowledge and patience and somoone like Julie helps makes this decision making so much easier.

Through our conversation you will learn more about Julie and her style to helping people makes these big life choices.  She's empowered by her legal background, her Canadian connections with educational institutes and canadian immigration processes and gives you the information you need to make informed decisions.

She prides herself on her lawyer roots and is keen to always be a perfectionist in this area however she understand the learning curve of starting her own business and she's consistently learning, growing and powering through the new aspects to business growth she is facing.  

It was a real delight to speak with Julie and learn more about her and her journey.  She loves what she does and I personally feel that passion and drive to serve her clients well will see her become a key thought leader on the subject of Canadian Immigration.

This is her entrepreneurial journey and learning curve story.

The Learning Curve Podcast - Dubai United Arab Emirates

en Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Carrie shares a really great overview of her business and how as she has grown, she’s become more and more clear about her purpose and her direction. Clarity and direction can sometimes really overwhelm any great business idea and so the person can be left feeling deflated or misdirected. Great ideas don’t take off because you don’t know how to level up your business idea.  Through our conversation you will hear about how Carrie identified the pain factors she solves through her business and how she spends her time serving, learning and listening to help her clients and her community unleash their inner artist  and embrace their creative interests.

To nurture, elevate and community are three words that describe what Carrie is doing.  Having these characteristics aswell as an attitude to serve first has ensured she’s been able to create better products to suit her customers and connect with them better on a personal as well as professional level.  Her business is called ‘Artist Strong’ and even that brand came from her community! 

Carrie has worked hard to create trust and authenticity in her community and she’s done this with creating strong connections with her audience. This is primary to any developing business and particularly for Carrie as it helps her build, grow and stretch her business into the platform.

I loved how Carrie articulated her story and helping us understand where she is on her entrepreneurial journey and her learning curve story. She’s a tuned in chick!

More episodes with Women Entrepreneurs here.

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Have you ever thought about the correlation between a weight loss journey and entrepreneurship?  I've recently connected the two.  If you spotted the correlation yourself, then awesome and I'd love to hear how you see them syncing up.   So summer 2016 for me is about 2 key objectives, a) starting my business, and b) weight loss and getting my fitness back.  To achieve both I've been spending the first part of the early morning on the treadmill where for one hour I walk and run to achieve around 9000 steps. My aim is to average around 12000 daily steps.  This morning effort really boosts that number to achieve my daily step count. It also helps with the 2nd objective of starting my business by helping me get clear, having a healthy mindset and achieve my daily 'to do' list about what I need to get done.  Apart from this morning exercise boost, the majority of my day is very sedentary. I spend a chunk of time in front of the computer or in meetings, a car or just relaxing. Its pretty hot outside so going out really isn't advisable so getting my exercise done first thing is crucial. I'm not a afternoon gym person nor an evening person so the mornings gets it done. Read More

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How would you like to go to an event where the speakers or trainers were from the region? Where they 'get' the culture and the conversations. They aren't from across the globe but locally grown, influenced and driven by the issues and drives we have here.  Well this is where my next guest, Saana is putting a marker.  She is the founder of MENA Speakers, a boutique speakers bureau providing the market with moderators, key note speakers, individual trainers and corporate trainers to the business landscape.  Her focus on the arab voices and talent from this region and her vision is to become the biggest exporter of Middle East Voices to the world.

Her learning curve journey doesn't start there because by profession Saana is a Economist and she has received several awards and allocades for her efforts.

Hear her story from Economist career girl to Speaker entrepreneur and her philosophies of running her own business in this fun and inspiration conversation a with motivated lady making waves and helping you access some of the amazing speaking talent from this region.

This is her entrepreneurial journey and her learning curve journey.

More episodes with Women Entrepreneurs here.

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The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

The Middle East also has a weight and obesity crisis. Yes its not just the western world which scores high in the obesity crisis.  Over the last two decades there is increased consumption of fast foods and sugar-dense beverages (e.g., sodas). Simultaneously, technological advances and a more sedentary lifestyle have lead to a decrease in level of activity  This is where my next guest Ola is deeply involved in.  She the Founder of Quality of Life Nutrition and Eating disorder centre and the founder and owner of Primrose Health Shop.  

​She is a Master Practitioner in eating disorders and obesity and understand the importance of combining nutrition and physical needs.  Her Passion is to start a nutrition academy and create a space for more practitioners like her to learn, understand and build their expertise so together they can tackle the obesity crises in Jordan as well as across the region.

This is her entrepreneurial journey and her learning curve journey.

More episodes with Women Entrepreneurs here.

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The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Happiness!  Its an interesting word and a word that weirdly enough can cause a lot of stress too.  How many of you say this...' Ill be happy when...' or 'When I get passed this moment I'l have time to be happy'.... weirdly enough most of us put happiness on the back burner and only create happiness when we've achieved certain things.  And then when we do achieve our goal we could land up feeling bitterly disappointed because how you feel and the outcome are dissimilar. Happiness can seem like a battle of wills BUT... it doesn't have to be that way.  My guest Jo Dee Walmsley is  a professional motivational speaker and facilitator of Laughter Wellness.  Jo-Dee is helping people in business that face stress and other work-related illnesses, to find better ways to live more productive and healthier lives. 

We had a great chat about happiness, stress, cortisol, how to be happy and how techniques like Laughter Yoga can really help you build your own self awareness about how you react in situations and how to achieve better outcomes. Her website is www.simplylaughter.com

We did have a few giggles along the way and she even helped me start to get me into fake laughing which eventually followed into real laughing!!  

This is her entrepreneurial journey and her learning curve journey.

More Women Entrepreneurs of the Middle East here

Have you ever thought about the importance of your voice, your breathing and your voice tones when making a presentation, public speaking, in a meeting or even on a podcast?  I know I hadn't.  In my mind I would just breathe and talk but I have learnt that you can achieve so much more from just taking a moment and getting your breathe under you before speaking.  My next guest Jennifer Lang, a Creative Voice and Communications Coach here in Abu Dhabi took me on a journey to explore this subject some more and share her own entrepreneurial journey too.

She works with women entrepreneurs to help them connect with their voice and how they can communicate more effectively about their business and specifically how they can talk to their audience.  Interesting right?

Her background is Voice Performance but she's also an Opera singer, a Reiki Master, has a Black Belt in Karate and has always been interested in healing. All very strong, focused disciplines.  She's been in Abu Dhabi 18 months and being here has massively contributed to her success.  Its pushed her out of her comfort zone and helped her get clear about her business and what she wants to achieve.  

We had a lovely chat over tea and dates and now and again we introduced her beautiful dog, Lola who just wanted a cuddle! 

In this interview she helps us understand her business, the importance of breathe when we talk, the challenges she has faced and where she sees her business going in the coming years.  Oh and don't forget to check out her Wednesday Wisdom moments on her website. Great video nuggets of knowledge you can use immediately in your day to day speaking life.  Her web address is www.jenlang.com  
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​This is her entrepreneurial story and her learning curve journey.

More women entrepreneurs of the middle east

The Holy Month of Ramadan started last Monday and for the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world it is the month of fasting and prayer.  For those that don't know what Ramadan is, its a time each year when all Muslims fast from dawn until dusk and they must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and drinking alcohol.  Its a month of spiritual reflection, a time to look upon ones own activities and question them and reconnect with your faith and cleanse your soul.  I'm not Muslim but as I've lived in the UAE all my life, its very much part of my yearly calendar and I find the month very important to my own character and soul.  

So I wanted to share with you why Ramadan is a great month for Entrepreneurs even if you are not Muslim and how you can make effective use of the time

Continue to the Blog to read more

How many women do you know that used to have a corporate work life pre-babies and kids and now a few years on would love to get back into the game but can't. 
They can't because full time work in most cases isn't an option. To start with the available childcare options like nursery centres finish earlier than your full time working day allows.  Then after that families need to either employ alternative childcare options, which costs more or ultimately take the decision not to work because there is no flexibility.  Its a real problem which many women in the UAE face. They want to contribute to the household income but can't a) the household income would just be absorbed into childcare contributions and b) a lot of employers don't consider flexible working options an opportunity and so don't offer it.  So what do women do? Well until now most women would just carry on and don't fulfil their own dreams and ambitions.  Angry? Probably.  Frustrated? Absolutely!  

But in walks our 'knightess' in shining armour. No, not a man but a lady who has created a platform to help a) empower more women to get back to work and give flexible or shorter working hours options, b) Encourage  and support companies offering out flexible working positions.  She is my next guest and her name is Helen McGuire.  She is the founder of Hopscotch, an organisation that helps and supports women get back into the workplace by specialising in flexible working.

Since forever, the UAE has been a full time role place and part time wasn't an option but things are changing and it was this change that Helen was experiencing herself.  She's a mum too and she understand what its like to be left out only because flexible hours are not available.  Having completed a lot of research and created a working business plan Helen has gone created another option for women and helping them discover new possibilities.

As a mum myself I was keen to hear the story about Hopscotch, understand how the corporate world is changing in the UAE and her story of how she's bringing change to work options for women and getting women back out there and contributing.

​This is her entrepreneurial story and her learning curve journey.

More Interviews with Women Entrepreneurs of the Middle East

If you are not learning then you are probably not growing.. a really great quote from my next guest Lavni Varyani. The Founder and Principle consultant of Pharma Business Partners.  As you can gather from the company name this leading lady is working in the pharmaceutical industry and helps pharmaceutical companies break into the Middle East Market, helps create the right strategy for them and helps them with their operations.  She's pretty much an end to end business.



She loves the fact that she can shaper her career, finances and her growth but she's very aware of the importance of team engagement and that the right team have really helped her grow and establish her business in a busy market.  She has plans to blend her pharma background with technology so that her industry can start to build in the digitial world.

I laughed though when she said her BFF was Caffiene... that was great!! I think lots of people can relate to that!

In this interview she helps understand her business and the challenges it does face. And she shares he best business advise for any entrepreneur is ............

​This is her entrepreneurial story and her learning curve journey.

More interviews here with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East

Ok..so something slightly different this week.  I'm the podcast partner for the Womens Peak Performance Summit being held in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 28th May. I have been creating the Women Peak Performance Podcast for the show which has meant I've had the opportunity to speak with all the speakers of the event and get a 'sneak peek' into what they will be talking about.  A sort of 'get to know them' before the big day.

At the event we have 8 key 'peak' speakers covering eight key areas of your life from Career to your financial peak.  All the speakers are bringing, inspiration, education and action for us to take away and really help move our own peaks in our lives.

But this week it was announced we were going to have Jairek Robbins attending our event, America's hippest Motivational speaker and performance coach. When I was told i was so hoping I could get a short podcast with him and YES I did!!!  

I really loved what he said and his key message about 'learn it, live it and give it' so I thought would share it on my podcast too because, I think we all need to hear great messages like this and turn the way we do things on our head. He wants us to design our ideal day, and then from there work with our goals and objectives. Quite different ideas from what I have heard in the past but when you hear what he says it does make sense. 

Enjoy this podcast....

More interview with Women Entrepreneurs in the region

''I'm an Aviation Technologies professional with a knack for marrying business and technologies to help businesses achieve their goals and strategies. I'm passionate about the aviation and technology.  I read and learn as much as I can about the industry. I have been credited many times by my colleagues for my wealth of knowledge and understanding.  I want to help companies really see the value in the technologies out there that can help them build greater customer experiences.' 

Read More at the blog

On the 18th April 2016 I put up an episode called 'My 3 take aways on reslience from my interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.  As you can see from the image below, the results as I write this blog we are over 2200 downloads!!  Clearly this is something that listeners are resonating with.  Maybe its the current economic climate or change is heavily in the air this month but this episode has become my top episode and each day there are still downloads being counted.  So I thought, so why not do another podcast on another 4.  I did have many 'take aways' but I only covered the top 3 - so here are 4 more. 

Read the Blog Post Here

Listen to more interview with Women Entrepreneurs from the Middle East here

I was in awe of my next guest Malak Al Akiely.  She has so much responsibilities and yet she made it all sound simple and easy.  This is a lady who knows how to multi-task, focus and get things done.  She the founder and CEO of Golden Wheat for Grain Trading. She's the only woman in Jordan who owns a grain company.  She is the Co-founder and COO of Feeledu.co - an elearning business focused on STEM education in Jordan. She's a business partner in Ayla aviation academy in Nigeria. She's the youngest member of two economic forums for Jordan's vision 2021, she's launching a 'believe in Jordan' initiative to empower women in business intelligence and knowledge creation.  She's a wife and a mum to a 3 year old.  WOW!!  

She was a great guest to have on. Full of energy, has a clear vision and has deep values. She's all about finding the next opportunity and not to rest on your laurels and to be continuously moving forward.  She really does represent the ambition and determination of the women entrepreneurs of the middle East today.  

In this interview she shares how all the businesses she does comes together, her BIG vision and political ambitions for the future and failure is life struggles we just need to keep moving forward. Her closing words were always say what you want and don't be shy about.

This is her entrepreneurial story and her learning curve journey.

More Women Entrepreneurs of the Middle East here 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

How would you like the opportunity to connect with and listen to key experts in your profession?  Ask them questions and really indulge in their knowledge bank.  Sounds great right?  Well my next guest, May Khizam makes this happen.  She brings together knowledge seeker and knowledge disseminators and gives them that opportunity to exchange actionable information. She is the Founder of The Grid Initiative which offers this opportunity via speaker engagements, workshops, seminars and panel discussions.  The other cool side of her business is video marketing and she is at the forefront of helping companies leverage this technology.  The Grid Initiative works with forward-thinking firms and organizations wishing to integrate narrative-based video communication into their online marketing strategy to share industry expertise and further establish themselves as an authority in the market.

Her own entrepreneurial journey started at a young age when her parents were small business owners so she's has always been immersed in the mindset and style.  As an adult she found comfort in the structure of the corporate world so it took a lot of time and energy for her to unlearn the teachings of that world, getting over her own fears and make her way through her learning curve to where she is today.

This is her story. 

More Interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East from 2015 & 2016

Failure and mistakes are not a bad thing!! That is the resounding message I'm getting from the ladies I have interviewed.  They wouldn't be doing what they were doing if they listened to the negative self talk or were self conscious about what they said or did. When they fail or make a mistake, they just stand up, dust themselves off and travel on to the next 'to do' item from their business plan.

I think that is very powerful feedback and one that I'm slowly coming to terms with myself.  At school you are taught to not make mistakes but when you fail your exams or tests, we are taught mistakes and failing are reflections of you not paying attention or studying hard enough. Think of the times you got a big fat red 'F' - on your paper.  Its totally demoralising - What do we do with that feedback? We start the negative self talk....'we are not good enough, we are useless, I'll never go to University, my parents will be so disappointed' and there begins the cycle of negativity. From a young age we start this negative self chatter and so we hide away from new things, new ideas because we clearly failed at something similar!  I remember my dad saying he was awful at maths. But was he awful or did he have a bad teacher or the class was too big or he was too shy to speak up??  Who knows. But those circumstances meant him blaming himself for not being good at maths.  OK.  So we do need to be accountable but 50 years ago there wasn't learning support. You were just expected to get on with it but it still leaves you stained with negative messages ringing in our ears.  I heard Robert Kiyosaki say recently, 'rubbishing failure and mistakes in school is so anti learning'. And I couldn't agree more.

I've been plagued by my own failure and mistake demons.  You know the things you have said or done in the office and you think the whole office is still talking about it months later..... when they are not!!!  Or my own negative self talk that I'm not good enough or feeling nervous or inadequate because of my fears of failure or mistakes.  Its seriously painful and so overwhelming.  It can suck you in and hold you tight for minutes, hours or even days.  I'm sure you can all feel your own negative feelings when you think about your mistakes and failings.

But come on... lets changed that tune!!  Science and cognitive psychology has shown us that what we say to ourselves impacts our emotions.  To 'get' this yourself, the best time to understand this is the morning, when you wake up.   If you start thinking negatively in the morning your tummy might start to get butterflies or you feel your stress levels rising and your just irritated ....and you have just woken up.  I've been that person and I hate getting butterflies in the morning!! I hate that wobblying feeling in my tummy that just hangs there.  In my head I'm stressing about the day ahead, meetings, projects, deadlines...and I've only been awake 30 minutes!!!!  So instead now I get up in the morning and I exercise - and watch a ted talk - that works for me. It totally raises my energy levels, changes my mindset to a 'can do' attitude and gets rid of those butterflies. I've become more aware of my thoughts and work heavily on being resilient constantly.  So how did I get there?  Well this is where I tell you what I learnt from the many interviews I've done with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and how I think you can accomplish whatever you want if you put your mind in the right frame and use your failures to your advantage.

More at the Learning Curve Podcast Blog

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

We all want to be successful right?  We all want to feel secure in our sense of purpose, direction and our goals. But lets be honest how many of us actually go off track often?  I know I have ... many times!  There's nothing wrong with it as we are all human at the end of the day but its so awesome when you can sit down with a leadership coach and them help you reconnect with where you are now and where you want to go 'with purpose'.  Tricia is that awesome person. She dives into your work and experience detail, she cuts out the clutter and helps you find your values, your brand and helps you take the next step. She was the first Business Coach in Dubai in 1993, and has now coached over 6000 Managers in the Middle East.  She's been been one of the top Coaches in the region throughout Dubai’s phenomenal rise over the last 20 years, and she has thoroughly enjoyed the journey.  In this podcast we talk about that journey where it all started in Ashridge business school, to when she decide she was going to make business coaching work.  As a single mum and a young daughter she had to have clear goals, priorities and compartmentalise her life and live the mantra she encourages her clients to follow.  Her ultimate vision now is to be location independent.   

This is her story, her journey and her mission.

More women entrepreneur episodes 2015 & 2016

I LOVE it when I have conversations with young, vibrant and ambitious young women who do not have limiting beliefs or are glazed over by 'what has happened before'.  Rahmeh is that 'driven' woman who is powering through the social norms and making change. She adapting technology to meet social changes, she's riding her own learning curve and taking the best of what she is learning and taking action.   She is Rahmeh, a young pharmaceutical student who happened upon an problem she faced and realised she could make a difference to many more women too in Jordan.  Rahmah Abu Shweimeh is the Founder, Team CEO and Social Communication and Networking Strategist for SheCab, a Jordan based taxi service run by and for women.  As both for profit company and female empowerment initiative. SheCab offers a safe and trusted transportation service for Jordanian women and female tourists, creates new job opportunities and encourages advocacy among Jordanian women.

In this interview we speak with Rahmeh who is at the very beginning of her idea and she shares with us the inspiration, the direction and her plan to get it going.  Her key area of importance include the safety of the women passengers and the women drivers. Her vision is to enhance the transportation service in Jordan and as a women rights activists she keen to firmly put women's strengths and their opportunities firmly on the front seat so more women can benefit.

this is her story, her journey and her mission.

Connect with Rahmeh via our website

More Women Entrepreneur episodes from 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Who LOVES to be pampered?  That feeling of bliss and relaxation after you have had a great thai massage or the light and clean feeling after that facial or wax treatment.  Isn't it just wonderful?!  Well my next guest, Natalya Koroleva, is the Founder & CEO of Wellclubs, a wellness & Beauty E-Commerce Platform. They are helping you connect with your next wellness treatment easily and more efficiently.  From a customer point of you WellClubs, helps you search and find treatment you need at the time and cost you want.  From a partner point of view, her platform streamlines the business to customer connection and opens up another revenue stream.

Natalya is an ambitious, strategic entrepreneur living in Abu Dhabi. Originally from Russia, her early career was in Health Economics. Her husband was offered an opportunity in Abu Dhabi and thus she found herself wondering what she would do next.  The Entrepreneurial energy of the UAE helped fuel her own ambitions and the development of the Wellclubs concept and now is building a platform that helps customers find treatments and businesses reach out to more customers in a very competitive health and beauty industry. Her BIG vision for her business is to take it across the GCC and beyond.

In this episode we talk about the strategic development of Wellclubs, how she is on her own learning curve journey as she is learning and growing with her business within one of the MENA regions fastest growing industries

This is her learning curve story.

Check out more of our Women Entrepreneur interviews here.

​The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Three words I would use to describe Rola and those are Driven, passionate and curious.  She's one lady that loves a challenge and this is totally reflected in her achievements.  She is the Co-founder of MICEit.co - an online solution for event bookings & Management. She's the Founder of Friendture, a one-stop location platform for group activity creation, invitation and management. She's a founding member of Girls in Tech Jordan AND she's an Hadafi Ambassador, a Women Entrepreneurship Programme.  


Her background isnt technology. She comes from a Commercial Management background in the travel industry but didn't want to be an employee her entire life. She wanted to build something and make a difference.  Her inspiration for everything she does is Steve Jobs!  He is her hero and her go to person when ever she's feeling low and demotivated. She's learnt not to procrastinate and just get things done and done today!  When she needs help, she simply asks. She learnt that if she cant' fix something or she has a weakness in an area, she fills it by asking someone to teach her or share their knowledge.

Rola is making waves in Jordan, she's learning, moving forward and striving to see more women in Jordan become part of the technology industry.  In this episode we go behind the scenes of what she does and how she does it.  
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​This is her learning curve story.

More Women Entrepreneur Podcast in 2015 & 2016

Connect with Rola

So last week  - I had a new 'first' in my life!  I walked across the desert from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi.  We were supposed to do 120km but unusual stormy weather across the UAE cancelled 2 days of our journey.  The experience was such a mix bag of emotions. From exciting and nerves at the beginning, too 'I don't want to do this anymore' in the middle, too feeling overwhelmed and teary that we had achieved our objective at the end.

The Women Heritage Walk
The Women’s Heritage Walk (WHW) from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi honors the women of the United Arab Emirates who made this journey twice a year not so long ago.  Forty-four women retraced this historical trek. Expat women accompanied Emirati women walking in the footsteps of their ancestors who helped sculpt this country. This experience was a celebration of the past and an invitation to shape a vibrant future.

My 'Sand sisters' and I took on the dunes of the desert and during the whole walk I was able to assimilate many feelings and thoughts that I could relate back to daily life for women as entrepreneurs!  Women pushing forward, making change and taking action to evolve and grow.  Through this journey I noted words and phrases said by the ladies that reflected life and our work life and how it doesn't matter what you are doing there are key skills that apply everywhere!

Prefer the Read?  Continue reading the blog here

Checkout more of our episodes with Women entrepreneurs from 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Cherine has such a beautiful energy. She has learnt so  much  through her own entrepreneurial journey that she opens up and shares with us. She shows us her vulnerabilities, her fears, struggles, her Vast Vision, her power to push self doubt to the curb and live the life we feel most passionate about.

Growth and learning are like her middle names and she blends that with her creativity to help create a light but conducive structure around her daily life and her coaching schedule.

With all that she is a people person, she's one of those people that you feel comfortable with, telling your life story too and then she helps you recognise the chapters which brought most learning to you so

Check out her part 1 of our interview here.

Check out more women entrepreneurs in the Middle East for 2015 & 2016

​The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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When you think about taking the plunge to entrepreneurship, what are the thoughts that come into your head? Obviously there is a lot of success, passion and positivity, but behind that there's also 'the big fear'.  The fear of failure, getting out of your comfort zone, the doubt, the worry.  There is lots that starts to grow when you start to think about. But what's it really like to be that person, on your journey, having to trust your own intuition, having to trust your own choices and feel that every step you make is closer to your dream and yet you still carry that down.  My next guest, Chérine Kurdi is going to take us on her own journey. That takes us from when she started to have niggly feeling in her career to when she became the transformational coach that she is today. She has built a business that she loves and something that lights her up.  This is her story in a two part series and this part one is the beginning of her entrepreneurial learning curve.

Catch more of our Women Entrepreneur Podcasts from 2015 & 2016

Do check out our Facebook Fan page for lots of articles to help support women entrepreneurs in the Middle East & links to all our podcasts.

We would love to hear from you so do email us via our website or on our Facebook Fan Page.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Victoria's Eureka moment was 'focus everything you do on the clients'.  That thinking and direction has guided her through all the work she has done.  Victoria Tomlinson is Founder and CEO of Northern Lights PR & Marketing.  Victoria's entrepreneurial career is enviable.  She's one of the BBC's expert women, she's one of the world's top leadership experts, she sits on a couple of boards, mentors a number of top executives and she's an author.  I was pretty impressed!  [Her Bio below shares more of her business profile].

What I learnt from my interview with Victoria is that she has two key drivers.  First, her ability to listen, understand and deliver what her clients need to be successful and secondly she's always in a position of learning.  Between her team and herself they are constantly sharing, learning, building, testing and evaluating so that they can consistently be of great service to their clients.  Even in the interview Victoria says that she is still very much at the beginning of her learning curve which I thought was interesting given she's been an entrepreneur since 1990. But it is all about attitude and prospective.

Her secret social weapon of choice is Blogging. This has been a strategic tool in helping her business evolve. She carries a small book where she writes down questions and ideas about future topics to blog about that come straight from conversations with clients and people.  She loves to be of service to her community and add value where she can.

Victoria share her story, her journey and really brings home the fact that failure is just a dip in our learning curve and that learning, challenges, achieving our goals and time will lead us to success.  

This is Victoria' Learning Curve Story

Check out More Women Entrepreneur Interviews in the Middle East from 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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I'm always amazed and in awe of people that have the 'let it go and surrender to the flow of life' thinking and are able to talk and walk that path.  Carolin is one of those people and with it she not only succeeds in the business world but she's has also impacted many others too.  Carolin is the Founder & CEO of two great businesses but deep down she is a teacher, someone who wants to transition energy and knowledge from her or someone she connects with, to you.  She loves to empower women and help them on to their road to success.  

She recognised a gap in the market when she moved to Qatar. She could see that women who had  aspirations and ambition were not being catered for, so she took the plunge herself and started a community for women where they could get together, share ideas, create connections, support each other and ultimate empower each other. That small idea has scaled itself with more collaborations and more partnerships which has been key in the development of her coaching and empowered communities.

All her businesses are ultimately about creating cultures and environments which focus on connection.  Even when I asked her the question about competition, she rephrased it because she doesn't believe in the concept of competition. She prefers complimenting each other and collaboration.  I shared my new word which blends competition and collaboration.  She liked it!

Carolin moves energy, she finds connections and builds bridges between them.  Her other passion is Dance, as she is also a dance therapist. This is her go to space when things are not flowing as they should.  Her long term goal is to facilitate 'real' connections with people because she understands that we are spending too much time at the computer, connecting with people but we are not satisfying our craving for real human connection.

I really enjoyed my conversation with Carolin.  She left me with lots to think about and Im sure she will have that same impact on you.

This is Carolin's Learning Curve Story!

More Interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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'I love it when people come passed in the Mall or in a cafe and say thanks for helping me find a job'.  Its for that reason Elsbeth loves what she does.  She strives to connect Women to jobs in Qatar and further their career.

Elsbeth is the Founder & CEO of Global Women Qatar, Qatar’s first and only recruitment agency to focus exclusively on the recruitment of women.  Elsbeth and her partner recognised a gap in the market for a service focused on the recruitment of women.  A very niche area but they discovered that companies were looking to employ more women in Doha to diversify their workforce.

She has faced a number of challenges in the 4 years the company has existed but Elsbeth has tackled her learning curve of business activities and she has been determined to make her company work and be recognised in the market as a quality recruitment company. 

Elsbeth is a people connector. She studies the requirements of the companies she works with and her potential candidates so she can make the right impact in both areas.  Her gut feeling is a powerful tool in her kit. 
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This is Elsbeth Learning Curve Story!

How would you make your community more sustainable?  Make it not just about creating economic growth and the creation of jobs [which will happen] but more about creating multiple layers of economic, social and environmental value where you and your community all benefit?  Does this sound like something you could do or want to be part of?

My next guest, Dina Sherif, is on that mission.  She is passionate about finding better ways that serve everyone better and her vision is focused on creating sustainable societies.  Her goal is to see her business be leading the way in the commercialisation of social innovations.

Her second business called 'Entrepreneurs with Impact Ventures' is all helping entrepreneurs who build businesses that tackle major issues in society, so entrepreneurs that focus on key industries like Education, Energy, Healthcare and Environment. She wants her business to be seen as the entity that changes the mindset of individuals and businesses within growth markets.

Her third project is at the core of everything she does.  Its aim is to see more women in business. Women are an untapped market and businesses are missing out on potential economic growth.

I thorougly enjoyed my convesation with Dina. She's an Economist, a Researcher, definitely a thought leader and change maker in Egypt and beyond. She is passionate, driven and was full of great nuggets of insight and experience.  She is  one women to watch in the coming years to see how her philosophies, her studies and business insight for this region develops.

More Interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East 2015 & 2016

How many podcasts do you listen too? I bet the number is either none, some or loads!!!  Its really fascinating when you talk to people about podcasting and they are either totally into them or haven't got a clue!! Often the cluelessness is based around the 'Why would I listen to them?' or 'Where do I get them?' or quite plainly 'what is a podcast'.  Living here in the UAE I have to say the latter of those questions is the most common, but then weird things happen like, I get the opportunity to be part of The National newspaper on podcasting. That was awesome by the way! :) So it really is a 'learning curve' when it comes to podcasting!  

So if you are one that sits of the fence as a listener or as someone that could see the medium as a tool then here are my 4 superpowers of podcasts that 'hopefully' will help you jump off the fence to downloading a couple to listen to some or start your own.  Really there are thousands of podcasts. I am part of 4 communities on Facebook where there are podcasters producing shows and episodes and nearly everyday we see a new show launching around another niche area.  From health & wellness to fly fishing, there are literally thousands of podcasts out there!  Check out ITunes or Stitcher and Im sure you will find something you like.

Read the full blog on this article here

Listen to more interviews with Women Entrepreneurs from the Middle East from 2015 ^ 2016

 The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Yes.. Everyday Leen goes home feeling happy she is making a difference in a young persons life.  She's the founder of the Algerian connection for Injaz Al Arab, is a non-profit organization that drives youth education and training in workforce readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship across the Arab World.

Leen has been with the organisation since 2000 but it was her move to Algeria in 2010 that took all her skills and training to the next level when she decided she wanted to start Injaz in Algeria.

Injaz is Arabic for 'Achievement' and it has also been a particular achievement for her too.  She moved to Algeria and had to build Injaz El Djazair from the ground up. She had no key relationships within the private or public sector, she couldn't speak the language, and although she had been with the company 10 years [at this point] she was now taking on not just marketing but all the facets of starting a business.  Needless to say she become frustrated and want to give it all up!  But a chance meeting with ambitious business professional and getting over her own fears, she stepped up to the challenge and today Injaz El Djazair reaches 6000 students across 10 cities.  Her BIG vision is to reach all 48 cities in Algeria and to see the Injaz curriculum part of mainstream school.

This is Leen's story.

More Interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East 2015 & 2016

How many of you would like to see your kid or nieces or nephews or even your friends kids step away from the ipads or computer games and engage in activities like robot building, science, technology, engineering, mathematics and renewable Energy. Interested?  I know I was. I like Ipads but they offer no phyisical interaction, my daughter just sits and stares at it and it offers limited sensory interaction because you can' smell or touch what you are working on or viewing.  these thoughts are very much similiar to Rana, the Founder of The Little Engineer.

Rana was an instructor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the American University of Beirut, teaching in the Mechanical and Engineering Management Department, a mother of three kids decided to launch the Little Engineer venture in Beirut in 2009.

The Little Engineer is dedicated to educating young minds and increasing public understanding and appreciation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) through interactive tailored programs. She focuses on Robotics, Renewable Energy and Environmental related sciences delivered in an easy yet very effective method with a concept of bridging the gap between theory and practice & schools and universities.  Young minds connect with a real life problem and then use the STEM theories to apply to the problem.

For her initiative and business plan, she was recognized as one of MENA's most promising entrepreneurs by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009. She was awarded the “Coup de Coeur Femme by “Medventures” for the Mediterranean in 2010, selected the woman entrepreneur by the American Embassy to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program “IVLP” 2011, won the Cartier Women Initiative for the MENA region in 2011 and the Green Mind Award in 2012. In 2013 The little Engineer signed a strategic Partnership with Airbus Middle East to deliver regional workshop for youth .She is working hard to be a voice of change in the Arab World by investing in young minds. This is Rana, entrepreneurial journey and how she is making a difference in children's future.

Connect and Read Rana's Bio

Check out our other episodes with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East. 2015 & 2016

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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How many tech women entrepreneurs do you know? How many have you read about in the news? Well surprisingly there isn't that many.  Type into Google 'Why are there not many women tech entrepreneurs' and you will be quite surprised to learn that there are quite a few articles about it.  A tech entrepreneur is someone who focuses their business on development of technology to help solve a problem. Surprisingly there are not many. So when we found Doaa in Egypt, the learning curve podcast was excited because here is a women who is by profession a software engineer AND plans to make it her mission to activate the next generation of arab women in technology - I just knew she needed to be on our show.

Doaa, is lover of the STEM curriculum. She's been passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering  and Mathematics.  She wants to help empower more women to be in technology businesses and see them become leaders in business aswell as adding value to the economy.  

Doaa, is leading the charge on this one by creating two platforms that encourage women to become tech entrepreneurs.  She is the Founder of Arab Womenpreneurs Hub, an online hub for women entrepreneurs in the entire MENA region and Co founder of She is Back, a returnship program for women in STEM who have been disconnected from the workforce and are interested to join again.  She's definately a women on a mission and through this interview we learn about her platforms but also about her and the energy and passion behind this women who ceases every opportunity to be an advocate for the Arab women.  Watch this space because this lady is making positive changes in the MENA region.

More information and contact details for Doaa here.

Check out more of our episodes here.

​The First Women Entrepreneur Podcast in the Middle East.

Over the last year I have spoken to 42 different women on the Learning Curve Podcast. From all walks of life across the Middle East. Each time they have shared their entrepreneurial story, their challenges, their successes, how they organize their day, how they see social media, where they seem themselves on their own learning curve and so much more. It’s been an amazing journey and I feel privileged that these ladies have opened up to me so that more women out their can take their own entrepreneurial journey.  Their stories were all so different, so varied, so personal too yet there was a common pattern and this I feel came down to these 5 common traits. 

Read More the full blog post at our website

More Women Entrepreneur Episodes here.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: 
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How would you like to step out of your comfort zone, do something so distant from your 'everyday',  in the pursuit of learning more about yourself and helping you find out if you can push yourself passed your limits?  When we live in a world where 'distraction' is deemed normal, how would you like to spend a bit of time focused on one goal and doing that the best you can and know that this will help you both mentally, physically and spiritually. Well my next guest Jody Ballard, is a women on a mission to help you all learn to reconnect with ourselves. To help us recognise that our abilities to heal, push forward and be the best we can be are all within us.

She is the Founder of the Women Heritage Walk, and its in second year this event is designed for women and assimilates a physical challenge with the cultural and historical components of where we live.  The walk that starts from Al Ain and ends in Abu Dhabi honours the Emirati Women, who not too long ago made this bi-annual trek.  I am taking part in this walk myself and for me this is a personal, mental and physical goal. I've never done anything like this before and yes I'm nervous but I can't wait to get out there, breathe in that warm desert air, hear the silence of the desert and reconnect with myself in an 'undistracted' setting.

Taking place in March 2016, Jody shares with us the story behind the event and the importance of the woman connection.  She takes us back to the first heritage walk sharing with us the conversations of the ladies who took part, how they were feeling, what the dynamic was like, what preparation took place and their scariest moments.  Press play to listen to this interview.

Check out More of our Women Entrepreneur Episodes

How would you like to have a women by your side helping you build your business and make it the success you have always dreamed about?  How would you like to have a women next to you that helps you negotiate better, helps you interpret the feelings and thoughts of the person you are negotiating with, to know if you are heading towards a success conclusion.  Well my next guest Arancha Gayoso, is exactly who you will need.  Her vision is to become your most trusted negotiation advisor.

Arancha is the Founder and Managing Partner of Milvidas, An Executive Management training Firm.  She is also a negotiator advisor in body language. She can analyse people's silences and omissions that help you understand what they are not really saying.

From an early age she was always fascinated by the way people communicate.  Through her education and through her vast experiences she is helping people and more importantly women become better negotiators.  Society and Culture have discouraged women not to be so demanding and so the art of negotiation can be a foreign activity to many.

In this very enlightened and open conversation, Arancha shares her entrepreneurial journey, her own struggles, what she has learnt along the way and some awesome 'go to resources' to help you with your own entrepreneurial journey.  Check out the section near the end about culture and negotiation.  how many of you have thought about that?  Its an eye opener.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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How many of you out there feel disconnected with the styles and fashions that you see on the run way?  How many of you look at it and think, 'I could never wear that!'. Well my next guest, Antoinette Chorlton wants you to see how runway wear can be 'real wear'.  She wants to help women reconnect with their love of fashion and style.

From a young age her dad indulged everything 'fashion'. She shopped with him, got creative and really connected with her style and what would become, 'Antoinette'.  But as her working age got closer her dad wanted her to have a proper career and not go down the fashion route. 

But Antoinette is a savvy, hard working and positive person, skills her father engrained in her.  She did follow her dad's advise but her love of fashion remained.  Today she is an international fashion stylist and the is the founder of 'Glamour on the Go', a style agency focused on fashion events and style presentations.  She is also the co-founder of Moda Africa - an international fashion agency introducing and representing African Fashion Designers globally. And the founder of her newest endeavour - Shop My Closet.  A fashion event for high end & designer pre-loved clothes.

A mum, wife, daughter, & thriving business owner, she is a making 'Glamour' easier to connect with and helping women find their own 'fashionista'.  In this very open and sometimes 'laugh out loud' comical conversation, Antoinette shares her journey with us from her childhood to how she envisions 'Shop My Closet' being a household name in the Middle East.

Visit our website to see more interview with Women Entrepeneurs in the Middle East

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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​In a world where inefficiency can be costly here is a lady who has built her business success of business outsourcing on great advise she received from her mum.  Her mum said, 'success is built on systems, efficiency and economies'.  This key advise has helped her and her partner build a group of businesses that focuses on scalability,creating efficiencies, streamlining processes and helping people save money.  

Anna Heystek is a serial entrepreneur and a business enabler. She has the gift to see where there is a problem and when she sees it, she makes it her mission to fix the problem and make it an efficient working entity again. She loves everything to do with systems, processes, technology, people and people behaviour and loves to take away the pain from people's operational processes. But the journey there hasn't been smooth. She's made mistakes, and had failures but she gets up and does it all again, with all that knowledge and her learning curve tucked in her pocket.  

Anna is an inquisitive and driven women who aspires to be a coach and empower people to reach their full potential.  She reads lots and has been criticised for being too futuristic with things she wants to implement but like some of her business idols she is full throttle with her passion to build businesses that serve and focus on knowing now what we can do tomorrow.

Check out our other women entrepreneur episodes with ladies in the Middle East

​The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.
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Here's the thing.  How often do you feel that an organisation you need help from doesn't hear you?  How often do you feel frustrated and drained from shouting at the organisation. You use all your tools, letter writing, telephone complaining, facebook or twitter and you still feel you are not being taken seriously.  You feel they are completely disconnected from you and the 'value proposition' they promise.  Well my next guest, Janine Bensouda, feels your pain and has made it her mission to put the 'heart beat' back into a brand so the brand can come back to life and hear you.

Janine is the Founder and President of Bensouda Consulting, a Dubai based business focused on re-motivating staff, realigning business processes for efficiency thus improving the company's overall competitive advantage, relationship with their customers and ultimately their revenues and profits.

In the early part of Janine's career, she recognised the disconnect between organisations and customers and felt she could make things so much better.  8 years on, her business model is a reality and with her team she is reigniting that fire and bringing passion back to brands and organisations so customers love them again.

A mum, business owner and an aspiring triathlon competitor she is honing her skill set to make herself and her life more efficient, she goes deep in the interview and really gives us a window into her life on what has worked and what hasn't so we can maximise our opportunity to learn from this lady on a mission.  

Check out the questions we asked her at our website

Check out our other interviews with Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region

How would you like to have access to teachers and private tutors for yourself and your family? Give you children the best opportunities to achieve their educational success?  We all want this. But what if you were not near the private tutors or had location barrier issues?  My next guest Thea, CEO and Founder of Teach Me now has a solution.  Bringing together two of her great passions, education and technology, Thea Myhrvold grand vision is to be the global destination for online education.  Think of it as the Ebay or Trip Advisor for Private tutoring.

Along with her team, Thea has created a virtual platform where you can connect to private tutors around the world and help yourself or your children get the education you want.  To her education is the grounding every person should have in life and it should be accessible to everyone.  In this virtual space teachers and students work one-on-one, in real time using interactive tools so the student achieve their objectives.  Its an awesome idea and I think one that is going to go from strength to strength. 

At  25, this is Thea third Venture and I don't believe it will stop there.  She is blazing a new trail here in the Middle East and making it easier for everyone to achieve their educational objectives and empowering them with the tools they need to help them power through their lives. This was an awesome interview where we learned more about her venture, her ambitions, how she's helping people who need more learning support and what she has learnt along her learning curve journey to bring this amazing technology to the Middle East.

There is a FREE offer with this recording check out our website

Check out more information via our website.

Check out more of our interviews of women entrepreneurs in the Middle East

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region

We had the pleasure to have a double dose of entrepreneurship conversation in this episodes. A chance meeting through a mutual friend brought these two ladies together to create and get going with a new community publication and online directory for Abu Dhabi called Yalla which means 'Lets go' in Arabic.

Not shy to stand away from a challenge this Entrepreneurial duo are marrying their passion for creativity with responsibilities to look after their families.  Both working mums they saw a gap in the market for a family focused publication.  Communication is Abu Dhabi is wide and fragmented so their aim is to make Yalla the 'go to, one stop shop' for all things family linked.

Working as a team to achieve their objectives this was an fun, warm and humorous conversation with two career ladies come entrepreneurs and their story behind where they are now, how they plan to move forward with themselves and their publication and what they have learnt along the way on their own learning curve journey.

Check out our other Podcasts with more Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Stop passed our Facebook Fan Page for some awesome entrepreneurial articles we love to share.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region

But ... in this episode I interview Michael, a gentleman.  He was recently featured in the local weekly magazine here and I was intrigued by his style of entrepreneurship so I asked him to come one.....  rebelling slightly from my niche because I found his story interesting. :)

Michael is the founder and currently a sitting Director of Rise Global, an Australian sports development Consultancy and My Chi Journey a lifestyle, wellness and travel company.  Born in Jerusalem to Palestinian parents and raised and educated in Sydney Australia, Michael has called Abu Dhabi home since 2007. An established serial entrepreneur, humanitarian and wannabe football player, he has devoted his life to making the world a better place. His current project is Palestine MMA, a non-profit initiative established to reclaim sports in Palestine as a means in which everyone has an opportunity to excel. In this interview we learn more from the man behind the ambitious plans to build more business and yet stay very grounded in his focus of valuing time with his family over material wealth and work. He had many golden nuggets of wisdom that just resonated with me and I think with you too.  All his businesses are a reflection of where he is on his life learning curve and how he has been able to learn, adapt and be intuitive too.  A Community connection and people explorer, he a man determined to make give back and flourish in the value he can offer.

Check out more of our interviews from the MENA region on our website too.

Our next Women Entrepreneur in the Middle East is Maria Inglis.  Ladypreneur & Co Partner of Advantage Sports UAE is a lady on a mission.  Based in Abu Dhabi, she's always been driven by her entrepreneurial spirit which was engrained in her through her family business.  Her early career saw her climb the ladder in recruitment and build a business acumen skill set.  This year though has been her steepest learning curve.  In January she was diagnosed with a form of Leukaemia which could have mentally beaten her but her in built desire to overcome her obstacles and find a way over them has seen her turn her health around and rapidly build a competitive business in Sports & Fitness here in the UAE.  In this interview we learn more about how Maria and her husband have taken their business in the last 18 months, what's her secrets to keeping on top of work load and how Leukaemia has made her more determined to see their business grow.  You will be pleased to know that she is in remission. 

Amira Rahim, Artistpreneur and Abu Dhabi's lady of colour has blazed a trail discovering her artistry signature through colour. Colour has become her healer and her therapy. Her early artistic endeavours were trying to be 'picture perfect' and recreating exactly what she was looking at but this work made her miserable and demotivated.  It wasn't until a fellow artist and blogger commented on her use and appreciation of colour which Amira completed resonated with that she realized her relationship with colour was her key to her artistic journey. In this interview we discover more about Amira's Learning Curve of her journey, how she interprets the lessons she has learnt along the way. She share's her project this month called 'Art for Syria' and share's with us why its important not to take yourself too seriously.

​The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: 
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Back in 2012 Loulou won the UAE reality TV show, 'The Entrepreneur' - her prize was Dhs. 1,000,000/- . This took her on the path to creating the Middle East's only virtual skill market place.  Nearly 4 years on she has amassed a community of 70,000 freelancers, 5000 customers and over 9000 posted jobs.  In 2013 she signed up with Eureeca to crowd finance the next stages of development of her business.  With their help she generate over US$100,000 in funds.  She plans to see Nabbesh be a billion dollar business within the next 10 years.  This is her interview of her entrepreneurial journey, her top business advise and what she is doing to keep herself being inspired and moving forward.

Head over to our website to read the transcript:  

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla sat down an had a conversation with Jane Ashford, the Founder & Director of PRO Partners Group.  An expert in company formation, Jane has gained extensive experience in her field over the past decade. Jane has built solid relationships with trusted partners, global organisations and other professionals within the legal profession. To date Jane has assisted in the formation of over 200 Limited Liability Companies, Representative and Branch Offices in the region. Jane has been recognised for her remarkable skills building relationships and providing excellent client services. Jane is focussed on bringing more businesses to the UAE as well as assisting PRO-Partnership clients to establish a presence in Oman and Qatar

Read More at our website.

The Learning Curve Podcast  THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Alexandra Nedellec, the Project Manager for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards.  The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards are an international business plan competition created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women's Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD business school to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs.

The mission of the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards is threefold:

• -To identify and support initial-phase women entrepreneurs through funding and coaching
• - To foster the spirit of enterprise by celebrating role models in entrepreneurship
• - To create an international network of women entrepreneurs and encourage peer networking

The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards aim to encourage the most vulnerable category of entrepreneurs in their most vulnerable phase: women entrepreneurs starting up. Since their inception in 2006, they have accompanied over 150 promising female business-owners and recognized 44 Laureates.

Learn more at the website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Jules Lewis. Founder of Mountain High.  On reaching the summit of a mountain on her 40th Birthday, Jules Lewis had a defining moment of clarity; to shape the experiences she had gained in health, personal leadership and self empowerment she had been immersed in for the previous twenty years into a Company where she could inspire, educate and coach people to reach new heights professionally and personally. Mountain High was created following this climb and in the following ten years, has evolved into the most credible company in the UAE dedicated to delivering Group Coaching, Speaking, Retreats and Expeditions. These portfolio of services are designed to complement one other, and are customized to the Company or individuals’ strategy and focus. Jules has led over 50 expeditions in over 20 countries around the globe to include Polar Expeditions to the Arctic  and Antarctica  training multi-national and diverse teams of men and women to embark on life changing challenges incorporating her  signature ‘Power of Three’ philosophy.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region:  So for this milestone interview (50th episode) I decided I would take the microphone and just hit record.  I've never done a solo broadcast so the anticipation was quite high. I now know how it felt to be a guest on the show.  I decided the best way to do this was to answer the same questions I ask my guests and use that as a catalyst for this solo conversations.  So when the energy felt right and my thoughts were clear (not crystal clear ) but strong enough to take me through a solo broadcast then I went for it. This is my down to earth, honest and open look at the entrepreneurial journey from my prospective.

Read More and Listen at the website.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Natavan Askerova.  Founder & Business Development Director of Acorn Executive Services.  They specialise in providing expat services to new expats arriving in the UAE.  From pre-move assistance, too school assistance, to car rental services and assistance with administration and visa's. Nata is your personal assistant on the ground. She helps you weave your way through the initial confusion of getting settled and creates clarity and a order to your day so you can get on with the reason why you are in the UAE, ie. your job. 

Read More via our website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Maha Al Lamki, Founder & Managing Director of 'M Co Group of Companies in Oman.   Maha Al Lamki is one of Oman’s most successful and trusted interior decorators who draws influence from the world around her. Her use of organic colours and hand-chosen fabrics from around around the world give each of her projects a unique and contemporary feel.As a businesswoman she heads m co, a group of companies that specialise in decor, events and media and digital communications as well as the rental of designer furniture for events and parties. Read More at our Website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Sarah Hawilo, from Lebanon.  She is the co-founder and CEO of serVme, an advanced data analytics that helps restaurants and bars collect, store, and track data about diners to improve their dining experience. The software enhances and simplifies the venue’s operations, lowers the marketing budget through client segmentation, and ultimately increases their revenues. Read More at the website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla had the opportunity to talk with Amira Azzouz, Founder and Chief Editor for Fustany.com.  A leading fashion and lifestyle portal in the Middle East by Arab women for Arab Women.  She is a Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum.  She a two-something ambitious young lady who has a great vision to make her portal a hub for all things empowering for women. This is her story and her insight into what has contributed to her success of Fustany and her advise for women wanting to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. 

Read more about Amira at our website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla sat down with Saniya, the CEO of The Pulse of Life Design House and the Wadi Tribe The Author of the children's adventure series, 'The Adventures of Chee and Dae',.  Based in Oman, she started her entrepreneurial journey at the tender age of 11 years old where she embraced her dreamer and creativity qualities into creating furniture. She knew then being creative would be her life's work.  Today she works on building her business and continue to embrace her love of creative, children and working from the heart. Read More at the website.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla sat down with Dee. The Author of the book, The Blue Campervan. She's also a qualified Hypnotherapist, trained in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping as it is also known, as well as Transactional Analysis.  She's also qualified in many other complementary therapies. She's passionate about empowering people and uses her Hypnotherapy and Coaching skills to help wonderful people improve their self-confidence, success, motivation and self-esteem.  She also works with people who are experiencing anxiety, stress, depression and panic attacks.  Her intention is to help as many people as possible rediscover their zest for life!

Read More at our Website.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla sat down with Azza. Azza Al Mughairy is an Emirati Girl with a collection of accolades on her wall. She's the Ambassador of the Saadiyat Beach Club, a TV Reporter, Radio Host, MC and public speaker.  She's used her skill of public speaking to develop her Ambassadorship and BE a recognised and respected person of the local media.  

Azza is a lady with a grand plan and ambition.  She started her career in banking but quickly saw her way into the hospitality industry when she became the Ambassador of the Saadiyat Beach Club, Abu Dhabi.  In this interview  Azza talks about her Freelance journey, she shares with us how she manages her day as she still has her TV reporting and Radio Host commitments to attend too.  She talks about building her credibility in her business and what she sees as the top 3 skills an Emirati women needs to be successful business woman.  She's a massive advocate of woman taking the plunge into entrepreneurship and she plans to work towards her goals to build a community of amazing Emirati woman doing what they are passionate about.  This is her interview. 

Her questions are on the website.

Nicholla caught up with Jacqueline for a coffee and a 'get to know her' session.  She is a professional Antique Jeweller & Gemologist as well as being the lady behind the Abu Dhabi Woman's Group Facebook Group.  She shares her top advise and insight into helping women discover their own entrepreneurial journey.

Jacqueline is a warm, passionate and driven woman. She LOVES jewellery, particularly gems and antique jewellery.  She knows her product inside and out and continues to be inspired by the beauty of her industry. Most will probably know her for her popular Facebook Group, Abu Dhabi Women's Group.  She's been in the UAE a long time and has built up a great network of colleagues and friends and has become a great source for all things Abu Dhabi. This episode shares her insight & top advise. 'Thanks so much for sharing your journey and top advise Jacqueline'.  Visit Our website to get Jacqueline's details.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Nicholla caught up with Sarah via skype. She is a professional writer & storyteller who is passionate about helping entrepreneur.  She's a regular 'Huffington Post' Contributors. One of her favourite blogs generated 8.2K Facebook Likes and over 5K retweets on Twitter.  She's also been published in The Ages, The Business Woman Media, Rare Birds, Women in Focus, Blog Society and so on.  She specialises in working with entrepreneurs who are driven by a bigger vision than themselves by helping them to tell their stories and change lives.

Ok this isn't an episode about Ghosts, goblins and Halloween this is about the subject of Ghost writing.  Sarah refers to being a ghost-writer as someone who is your 'invisible pen'. Someone who you help you achieve your content strategy goals. Someone who 'gets' your passion and can package up your ideas and your key bullet points into an eloquent way that might be more difficult for you to achieve if you are time deficient, writing isn't your forte or even your English is your second language.  In this interview we discover the real truths behind ghost writing, What they can do for you and what are the advantages of using them.  Go Sarah........... :)

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: We sat down with Manar Al Hinai who is award winning Emirati Writer and Communications Consultant from Abu Dhabi.  She is the Founder of 'Move' Consultancy and has found her niche in bringing together international tastes with local culture through the medium she has loved since a child.

Manar and I were keen to get started as this was our first podcast together and her first podcast episode ever.  She's a young dynamic women with great energy and know how. She's a firm believer in staying focused and being excellent and one or two things.  And this attitude has been reflected in the awards and accolades she has received.  In 2011 she was the Arab Woman of the Year in Abu Dhabi.  In 2012 & 2014 she was included in the 100 most inspiring individuals in the UAE.  She's a women on a mission. This is her interview. 

See more on this episode via our Webpage

Earlier this year I interview Laura Holland, a Dubai based Entrepreneur specialising in nutrition, holistic weight loss & a Well Being Coach. I had read her article in the National , here in Abu Dhabi and wondered if she could elaborate a bit more on her 6 reason's why you might be struggling to lose weight.  I to have had an ongoing weight battle. I consider myself relatively fit but I wasn't losing weight so I wanted to explore this further using this article as a bouncing board.  That is what we did in this podcast.  Have a listen.

The questions I asked her can be found on our website

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: We sat down with Ludmilla Figueiredo, Head of Business Development for Eureeca to find out more about the concept of Crowd Investing and how Investors and business could benefit from this innovative funding strategy.

How would you like to take your business to the next level?  As an entrepreneur have you ever thought about Crowdinvesting? As an investor, looking for opportunities have you ever thought about crowd investing? What is crowdinvesting?  Its a process where by businesses raise capital to expand and grow from a crowd of investors in exchange for shares in the business. Nicholla sat down with Ludmilla to find out more about this concept.  We explored the opportunity for both businesses and investors and how both parties could benefit from Eureeca's funding strategy.

check the website for more details.

The Learning Curve Podcast - THE Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Meet Aline Kamakian - Owner of Fig Holding which has established: Mayrig, Batchig, Made by Mayrig, M Catering and K the kitchen.  Re-capturing her grandmothers recipes she has carved a career spreading her Armenian heritage and the taste of Armenian food through the Armenian restaurant, Mayrig. She is also the co-Author of the book 'Armenian Food' and now she is working to Franchise her Armenian restaurant and take in Global. 

Aline was a fantastic guest.  She shared so much great advise learnt from her own entrepreneurial journey. I felt really quite privileged to be sat next to her hearing all this great information first hand.

She is the co - owner of the first Armenian restaurant in Lebanon and Dubai called Mayrig. Which means 'little mother' in Armenian.  Her Dubai restaurant in in Downtown Dubai on the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard.  She describes herself as a talker not a writer and is passionate about her Armenian Heritage and Armenian Food.  

She's also made the short listed for the caterer awards 2015 . I hope she wins because someone like her leading a unique restaurant with her business acumen would be such a fantastic blend and inspiration for women out there that want to be restaurateurs like her.

Her first job was a financial consultants which she still does today and has a great success of this role too.  It  was a surprising role for a passionate foodie and cook but her story explains this journey too.  She also written a book entitled Armenia Food.  I was super excited as they day I interviewed her was my birthday and she kindly gave me a signed copy. How lucky am I?? :) 

An action based person full of drive and ambitions, she has BIG plans to franchise her restaruant and share a bit of armenia with the world. Enjoy this interview.

Want to set up a company in Abu Dhabi and have a ton of questions? Don't worry we have given you a bit of heads up on some great advise and information from Jenny Hunt. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gateway Group of Companies that specialise in company formation. 

We sat down to have a chat about setting up a business in Abu Dhabi and she shared the key information we need to know to help you make the decisions that are right for you.

See the questions we asked her at our website.  

Meet Sana Bagersh - CEO of BrandMoxie, Managing Editor of Tempo Magazine, Founder of Tamakken & Chair of the Amcham Business Women. A UAE serial entrepreneur with a passion to bring people, culture, innovation and ideas together.

Inside this episode

Influencer, Connector, Bridge Builder, Enabler, Loves to give back. Just some of the adjectives that I would use to describe Sana.  A warm and delightful guest she shared her story with me and showed that if you have a dream, anything is possible.  If you haven't met Sana or have heard of her and would like to know more about her and her ventures then this is the podcast for you.  Our interview was more like a chat over coffee where she really opened up about her entrepreneurial journey from her early days with Gulf News to being a serial entrepreneur and encouraging others to do the same.  I enjoyed her company very much and felt quite ignited after our chat and motivated to make this  podcast show even better.  
Thanks Sana for our time and your wisdom. Keep being amazing.  :) 

Check the question I ask her at our website and details of how to get in touch with her. 

Meet Jenny Hunt, CEO and Co - Founder of 'The GateWay Group of Companies.  She specialises in helping you start your business in Abu Dhabi. She fell into this niche business and is successfully moving new companies into the Abu Dhabi Market.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE

'I was always love how 'things just happen' and meeting Jenny was kind of like that.  I met her to help someone else and quickly learnt about her career and what she did.  Dubai is always on the forefront of business starting up in the region and here I was talking to Jenny who has carved a niche for herself as a 'Company Formation Specialist' in Abu Dhabi.  I just knew she was someone I had to have an 'entrepreneurial journey story' interview with.  Her background is Marketing /Communications and now she helps bridge the gap between company formation in Abu Dhabi and understanding business culture.'  

A people person at heart and a natural ability to spot a niche market and solve a problem she is working towards evolving her business into a 'one stop shop' for all things related to business start up 'onshore' not free zone in Abu Dhabi.  

Check our website for the questions we asked her and her details.

Meet Jo Barnes, the Creator and Founder of Online Marketing Addicts. She's also created, The Social Networking Academy & Jo Barnes Online, Online Marketing Addicts. She helps entrepreneurs and small business owners increase leads, sales and passive disposable income! Using there tested systems and strategies Jo teaches you how to have fun with your marketing campaigns and increase your profits, while working less hours and finding more time to enjoy life!

You know, what its like when you meet one of you 'guru's, one of your 'go to ' people that you just seem to connect with because the way they talk about a subject or share a subject you totally get? Well that was, what it was like when I first listened to Jo Barnes back in 2010.  I don't personally know Jo, but you feel like you know her because the way she talks about social media and entrepreneurship.  So when she agreed to be on my show I was just SUPER-SYKED.  She has created a community for those that need help with social media. Her Facebook Fan Page alone has over 29000 fans so she's definitely doing it right.  She carries her business with her as she travels with her family and works bloody hard but she's done it.  This is her story!  Her 'how I did it'.  She also offers up some great advise and tips. Thanks Jo for being part of my show.  Stay Awesome! :) 

Head over to our website to check the questions I asked her and the show notes. 

Nicholla sat down with Julie Lewis and Anna Heystek, the co-founders of the Woman's Peak Performance Summit to find out what this event is all about, what to expect, who the speakers area and what could be our take away. 

Full of energy and passion, these ladies have created an event which isn't your usual 'sit, listen and take notes' type event. This event will be interactive, inquisitive and developmental master class covering 7 key areas all in one day.  All the ladies that leave today could be going home to make some transformational changes in their lives.  This event is open to all ladies where ever you are in your life.  Check the questions I asked them and listen to the interview below and then sign up below. We will see you there. :)

More information at www.thelearningcurvepodcast.com/episode31

Writer, global nomad, artist, a seeker of human behaviour, Jody Ballard is the son of a Montana Cowboy who has lived in eight foreign countries.  Having moved over thirty times (so far), Jody has emerged not only as a prolific agent of change, but also a master of the inter-cultural and international dynamic.  During those three decades journey Jody founded a thriving business, Strategic Wellness Systems, principally dedicated to the five essential components of health: physical, psychological spiritual, relational and mental. In this episode she shares her experiences and insights on what it is to be an Expat

This is her story and her insight into what makes a successful expat entrepreneur. She has a more holistic approach to entrepreneurship and I think the lesson I learnt from this episode was that we don’t always have to have our foot on the gas and be ‘go go go’ We do need to take a step back now and again and trust that a solution will be found.  Constantly working and pushing forward can be counterproductive.  The second ‘take away’ was that you would think nutrition and entrepreneurship would be quite different subjects but actually there is a similarities and a correlation between them that I never thought about before.  That relationship was brought to light in this interview with Laura Holland.  Her specialty is nutrition, well-being and weigh loss. All of which are goals we have at some point in our life.  They all aim to be us feel lighter, feel better and more in control of our health. As an entrepreneur we aim for success, read more

He is now well known internationally as the 'Global Twitter Marketing Specialist' and I had the honour once again to have a chat about the social platforms or the 'Awesome 8' as he likes to refer to them.  We all like things in bite size informational pieces these days so Keith has done that for us here with a kind of 'roundup' of the tools and some stats and examples around them to help simplify them in our heads..... take it away Keith...

See show notes at The Learning Curve Podcast

Do you worry if you are getting paid what you worth?  Do you understand why it could possibly be like that?  Do you know how to overcome this issue? Annemarie Cross, Money, Marketing and Mindset Business Coach can help. Annemarie has figured out the formula to get paid what we are worth.  You have to listen to this.  Stop Self sabotaging yourself and get a pen and paper because this was an eye opening podcast this was.  Lots of 'Take aways' from this one, with a lot of head bobbing as I could see what Annemarie was saying.  I have more clarity now about a few areas I need to change in my life and in my work.  Who knew, a money mindset could impact us so profoundly!  Even if you don't have clients and you 'self sabotage' yourself when it comes to your relationship to money this episode will help.  Its AWESOME!!! 

See more at The Learning Curve Podcast Website

Rasha Hamdan is a lady on a mission and a leading entrepreneur from Jordan. She is the Founder of Yislamoo. A business that creates greeting cards in Arabic.  "Yislamoo" is an elaborate way of saying thank you in Arabic. It translates to a prayer: “may you be safe from harm”, which is the individual’s way of returning the favor or gift on spot. Yislamoo celebrates the beauty of contemporary Arabic culture and language prevalent throughout all major holidays and occasions.

Yislamoo is dedicated to enhancing social correspondence by helping loved ones, friends, families and colleagues celebrate important holidays and everyday occasions throughout our region, in their own language and their own skin.

Their first edition of greeting cards was produced à la postcard style as an initiative to preserve the earth’s natural resources by using less paper. 

Their newly added free e-card collection is a step further to bring people closer to one another by reaching out in any time or occasion to show someone how special they really are.

This is Rasha's story and her take on succeeding as an entrepreneur. No journey is easy but if you stay focused, remain persistent you can achieve your best and overcome your challenges.

See Show notes and more at the website page. The Learning Curve Podcast

On March 1st for 7 days, 44 Expat and Emirati Women will recreate history and walk in the footsteps on their Emirati ancestors.  Their achievement will be walking the 120km between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.  A journey that was done twice a year by the Emirati ladies not so long ago.  These ladies will take on this journey led by Jody Ballard, the vision and creator of this journey.  this is the interview with Jody who tell us what is about and what it signifies. 

Jody Ballard is the Founder and driver behind this inaugural Women's Heritage Walk 2015.  She's on a mission to help us rediscover the heritage of the Emirati women and connect with the culture as well as finding our own inner brilliance.  She says, 'culture is assimilated' and its true. We all become part of a bigger community when we connect and understand each other more. We are more emphathetic to people and their issues.  

The walk that starts from Al Ain and ends in Abu Dhabi honours the Emirati Women, who not too long ago made this bi-annual trek.  44 Expat & Emirati Women will make this historical journey and walk in the shoes of their Emirati ancestors to celebrate a past and help shape a vibrant future.
  
*This event is closed to new walkers due to logistical reasons but Jody has full intentions of making 2016 event something amazing.  In the interim if you want to join their walk programme you can.

 More details and information on the website, The Learning curve Podcast

Meet Annemarie Cross, a seasoned entrepreneur, and a women that is making a difference to many women and their businesses worldwide.  A mother of 3, she started with her secretarial business and today she is at the heart of a global community of coaches and has one of the top 25 business podcasts in the world.  This is her story and what she has learnt along the way. Listen Now. 

Get more details at our website: The Learning Curve Podcast

Working Mum and serial entrepreneur, Sima Najjar and founder of www.ekief.com has had an incredible entrepreneurial journey. She has achieved amazing success with seeing a problem and creating the solution.  From Jordan, she is a leading Arab women entrepreneur who is one to watch in the coming years.  She says if she was to start again she would begin the same way as she believes going to business school would not have armed her with the lessons and challenges she has faced.  When her own journey for Arabic 'how to' videos failed she decided to solve the problem herself and start a You Tube channel where other Arabic speakers could have a place to go where they could get more 'how to' videos. This is her story of success and what lies ahead for this ambitious lady.

See more at The Learning Curve Podcast Episode.

As an expat one of the key skills to help us connect with our new community is the ability to network or start to build relationships with members of our community.   For some of us (the lucky ones) networking is natural and open while for others its hard. It creates anxiety, fear related thoughts and worry.  BUT.... all isn't lost.  Simon has spent the past two years talking to some of the world’s greatest networkers to find out how they do it and now he is sharing what he has discovered with us.  In  my interview with Simon he breaks downs those barriers and simplifies the process with his 10 magic tips to networking. Get familiar with these and you will succeed at networking.'   

Read More at our Website The Learing Curve Podcast

This is a conversation with Stephanie Ward of FireFly Coaching. Who is a Marketing Coach to Entrepreneurs.  We take a deeper look at 'Creating your marketing statement'. The statement that clearly identifies who you are and what you do so potential clients 'get' what you do.  Its a critical sentence in this world of flooded marketing messages and one that Stephanie breaks down for us so we can evolve and get on with building our brand and our business.

Read More at 'The Learning Curve Podcast'

This is a conversation about her journey from corporate America to her Coaching company in Holland. She shares her insight and knowledge into what she thinks make a great entrepreneur and how her own experiences have help her become a recognised marketing coach entrepreneur.

Stephanie Ward is a Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create a meaningful and prosperous business. Stephanie helps her clients attract and maintain a steady stream of cool clients. She does this by helping Meaningpreneurs (small business owners who find their work meaningful) get clear about their businesses and then generating marketing ideas that are a superb fit for them.

See More at The Learning Curve Podcast