#MySarwaStory

“Having cash might be valuable but it can also devaluate.” In this episode, Ahmad Halawa joins Shereen Abdulla to discuss his approach to building personal investment assets and operating a popular supper club.  Chef Halawa is known for his levant-inspired cooking (rumor has it, his kunafa is BOMB!)  and takes foodies on a culinary journey at the supper clubs that he hosts in his Dubai villa. On t...

“The building block of growing wealth is increasing income, lowering your expenses, and using that gap to invest in something that will provide you more wealth.” In this episode, Elie Irani joins host Shereen Abdulla to discuss building wealth through exchange traded funds (ETFs). Elie Irani is an IT professional who’s been in the industry for over 20 years. By night, he educates people on the bas...

“You can be a mother and you can have a job.” In this episode of #MySarwaStory, we sit down with Nour Arida – one of the most recognized female Arab faces across the Middle East. Nour is a corporate fashion buyer turned entrepreneur.  On the show, we cover: How Nour pivoted from having a corporate career in fashion to being a model and entrepreneur Nour’s views on what being financially independen...

“Yes, I am egoistic. Try to drive a Ferrari and not be egoistic,...But they [cars] don’t make you who you are.” In this episode, Ahmad Haffar joins Shereen Abdulla to discuss his journey to becoming a self-made millionaire (literally!) without a high school degree!  Ahmad is a renowned Lebanese-born voice-over artist who is better known as the Voice of Dubai. His voice can be heard in countless pl...

“Straight on we knew my money is his money and his money is my money. It comes naturally.”  In this episode, The Hennaoui Family joins Shereen Abdulla to discuss planning your finances as a young couple with a newborn baby. Ali and Walaa Hennaoui are a couple popularly known for being social media content creators. They also have day professions as their own main jobs and are the parents of an ado...

“The word risk has a lot of difficult ideas around it. Risk can often be managed. If you can manage risk because you understand it, then it becomes a safer investment.”  In this episode, Anas Bhurtun joins Shereen Abdulla to discuss crypto investing and hacks for the crypto newbies.  Anas is a crypto-enthusiast and content creator. He’s passionate about providing information about cryptocurrencies...

“I gotta make sure that I can add a future that he has some stability to." In this episode, Salman Qureishi joins Shereen Abdulla to discuss how he manages his finances as a freelance comedian and actor. You can catch Salman doing stand-up digs and improv theatre in several venues across Dubai. He also runs a comedic podcast “Expat Brat” talking about global pop culture, with a pint of humor....

Sarwa in Arabic means wealth. We want to showcase the “Sarwa” stories of trailblazers from all walks of life, backgrounds, career pursuits here in the Middle East, and discuss what it takes to be successful — while digging deeper into how their evolving financial skills have enabled them to thrive. Learn the financial habits, hacks, and attitudes of people in the Middle East to help you better man...