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Before George Harrak was helping shape the future of fintech in Saudi Arabia, he was serving customers in his family's corner shop in Australia and watching his parents work from before dawn until late at night. The lessons they passed on weren't about banking or technology, but about hard work, resilience, humility, and treating people well. Today, George leads Jeel, the digital accelerator of Ri...

Jason Graystone grew up on a South London estate, hiding behind the sofa while bailiffs knocked at the door for unpaid electricity bills. Years later, he became financially free by 29. But this conversation isn’t just about money, but about the fear that drove him there in the first place.  Joining host Robyn Abou Chedid on #TheBrandofYOU, Jason gets deeply honest about financial freedom, identity...

Some of the best leaders don't start their careers looking like future leaders. Chris Radoszewski certainly didn't. A failed business venture. A stint as a bartender. No clear roadmap. Fast forward a few years and he's helping scale Uber, leading hypergrowth businesses, and hiring hundreds of people across multiple markets. The question is: what changed? Joining Mohammad Osama on #AboveCLevel, Chr...

Most people think leadership is about having the right strategy. Adil Paracha sees it differently. For him, it’s much simpler and much harder than that. If nothing gets delivered, nothing else matters. In this episode of Above C-Level, Adil Paracha sits down with host Mohammad Osama to share what leadership means beyond the job title. This isn’t their first conversation. Over 20 years ago, Osama s...

Taleen Marie was “big” in LA. Signed to Jamie Foxx’s label, performing, and living the life most people dream about. A professional singer who opened for Christina Aguilera and even performed for Pope John Paul II, her career was already on a global stage. Then she moved to Dubai… and everything changed. No industry, familiarity, or even version of herself that fit anymore. Little did she know, th...

His first game made $2.47. Not $2,470. Not $247. Just $2.47. Before Forbes 30 Under 30, before scaling across 40+ telecom operators, and before building a gaming company that actually worked, Houcem Maiza was just a 19-year-old with an idea… sitting alone in his parents’ garage after his co-founders didn’t show up. On paper, none of it made sense. No experience. No roadmap. No idea how to even bui...

The first time Spencer Lodge went live on social media, there was only one person watching. His mum… asking him why he wasn’t wearing a tie. No audience. No traction. No personal brand. Just consistency and a willingness to show up anyway. Years later, he has the businesses, the podcast, and the visibility most people chase. From the outside, it looks like success. But what stayed with him most wa...

Change doesn’t fail because of strategy decks. It fails because of people. And more specifically, how leaders handle them. In this week’s episode of Out of Office, Kat Kearsey, Senior Director of Change Management at Marriott International, lets us in on what really happens inside large organisations when transformation is announced. The town halls. The strategy rollouts. The polished messaging. A...

He pitched his idea to 200 people. Most said no, some didn’t even reply, and only a few entertained the meeting and walked away. Despite this, he kept going. Before CLÉDOR, the $120M in funding, and the $250M returns, Omar Gull was climbing fast inside some of Dubai’s biggest real estate names. Promotions came quickly. The titles grew. On paper, his career looked perfect. But he knew something was...

Gen Z aren’t “difficult”. They’re just done accepting what previous generations tolerated. In this week’s episode of Out of Office, Preeti Bahuguna, Senior HR Director at The First Group, challenges the way organisations are thinking about the next generation of talent. From mental health and setting boundaries to employer branding and why culture is now a deal breaker, this is a conversation both...

For most of her life, Sarah Lindsay was known for one thing. Olympian. Three times over. But when her athletic career ended, she did something unexpected. She stopped talking about it altogether. She didn’t introduce herself as an Olympian. She didn’t use it in business. She didn’t even want to be associated with it. What the outside world saw as success, she carried as shame. In this episode of T...

She was kidnapped as a child. When she returned, everything had changed. The world she came back to no longer felt familiar, and she struggled with a deep sense of not belonging, even among her own family. That feeling stayed with her, shaping her independence, her mindset, and her drive to carve out her own place through her career. In this episode of Above C-Level, Axis Communications Executive...

Hiring for diversity is often misunderstood. It’s not about ticking boxes or lowering standards. It’s about building a fair process that still hires the best person for the job. In this episode of Out of Office, Jihan ElSaghir, Regional HRBP - Bayer Middle East, shares an honest perspective on how diversity and inclusion actually play out in hiring decisions across the Middle East. From unconsciou...

Some people build success once. Others have to rebuild themselves along the way, shaped by circumstances that force them to grow up early and carry weight long before they are ready. This conversation with Dariush Soudi is about the second path.  Long before founding the Gladiator Summit, becoming an investor, author, and speaker, Dariush’s life was shaped by loss, responsibility, and the instinct...

Being confident isn’t what’s getting leaders hired anymore. In fact, it might be doing the opposite. In this episode of Out of Office, Fareeseh Chaudhry, HR Business Lead at Haleon, gets real about how leadership hiring really works in the Middle East, and why polished CVs, big titles, and scripted answers are no longer enough.  We talk about: ↳ Why leadership hiring in the Middle East feels harde...

James Lafferty did not reach the top by blending in. As a 4x Forbes CEO and Powerlifting Olympian, he learned early that the gap between the top 1% and everyone else has very little to do with talent and everything to do with how you train, think, and show up under pressure. In the first episode of Above C-Level, James sits down with Mohammad Osama for a honest conversation on why the best CEOs th...

Hip hop, basketball, and fatherhood shaped Big Hass in ways he never saw coming. What began as a young love for music eventually led him to become one of the most recognisable voices in Arabic Hip Hop in Saudi Arabia, yet the story behind that journey is far more personal than many realise. In this episode of The Brand of YOU, Big Hass sits down with Robyn for a conversation filled with honesty. T...

On paper, the GCC looks like a job seeker’s paradise. In reality, some roles attract 1500 applicants or more, turning hiring into a crowded, confusing maze for both companies and candidates. In this episode of Out of Office, Iyas Seidan, Managing Partner at Ember Enablement, takes us inside the real hiring world that candidates never get to see. He lifts the lid on what happens when HR is buried u...

Hiring in the Middle East is changing fast, and as Kirsty points out, the real story sits somewhere between the rise of AI and the power of genuine human connection. In this episode of Out of Office, Kirsty Koen, Group CHRO at IDS Borjomi International, talks through the unwritten rules of hiring in the region, why some candidates move forward easily, and why others fall out of the process without...

Public speaking is something we all do, but for Saana Azzam, it became a business, a career, and a way to reshape how an entire region finds its voice. She built a platform that turns people’s stories, ideas, and expertise into paid opportunities and meaningful impact. In this episode of The Brand of You, Saana Azzam, Founder of MENA Speakers, joins us to uncover the craft behind speaking, and how...

The conversation around working mothers in the Middle East has evolved, but the reality often tells a different story. In this episode of Out of Office, Lamisse Muhtaseb, Managing Director, People and Purpose at Deloitte Middle East, shares an honest look at what it means to return to work as a mother in today’s job market. We reveal: ↳ The hidden challenges mothers face when re-entering the workf...

A single mum with relentless drive turned her hustle into a business that went on to win Shark Tank. Now, she’s showing what real success looks like beyond the show, and how she became the brand that made it all possible. In this episode of The Brand of You, we sit down with Bana Idris, Founder of B Bronzé, to talk about the journey behind the glow, from building confidence to finding stillness in...

The Middle East job market isn’t what it used to be. Power has shifted, AI is creeping into hiring decisions, and many are realising that the so-called “Promised Land” comes with its own fine print. In this episode, we sit down with Rooslán Totrov, Global Executive Talent Acquisition Leader, for a brutally honest take on what’s really happening behind closed doors. From companies posting fake jobs...

It's not easy working in male-dominated industries. And it's even harder when you're figuring out who you are in the middle of it all. But Emirati women today are showing what's possible: building creative careers, breaking norms and defining empowerment in their own way. In this episode of The Brand of You, we sit down with Jouhayna AlMheiri, the UAE’s youngest female Air Traffic Controller, who...

Across the Middle East, the way people work and why they work is changing fast. From the rise of AI to a new wave of Gen Z talent entering the workforce, the region is at a turning point where progress, purpose, and people all collide. In this episode, we sit down with Sherif ElOgeiry, General Manager, HR and General Affairs at Daikin Middle East and Africa, to discuss how AI, cultural shifts, and...