Made in Dubai with Spencer Lodge

Sami Kayyali is the founder and managing director of Rekarda, one of the most specialist communications businesses in the UAE. But the work he does is not what most people think. He is not building slides. He is sitting behind the scenes of the rooms where the most consequential decisions in the region get made, shaping how CEOs, government entities and multinational boards communicate before they...

Dennis McGettigan is the founder and CEO of McGettigan's, one of the most  recognisable  hospitality brands in the UAE. But the story behind it starts in Dublin, in a house with ten children  run  "like a business", where the kitchen was locked at 7pm and every kid got jobs and five pounds a week. His father started as a dishwasher on the QE1 at nineteen, bought his first pub for eight thousand po...

In 1981, a young Emirati woman convinced her father to let her travel to America to study. On her very first exam in a class of 75 Americans, she came first. That woman is now Vice Chancellor of the University of Sharjah.   Dr. Amina Al Marzouqi's story is one of the most inspiring journeys Spencer has covered on this show. After graduating in the US, she came home and was made deputy director of...

Known to millions as Mrs. Moneypenny from her  16 year  Financial Times column, Heather has been an investment banker, executive search entrepreneur, Edinburgh Fringe performer, off Broadway actress, PhD holder, chartered accountant and now Provost of Heriot-Watt University Dubai, overseeing 5,500 students and 600 staff. She qualified as a chartered accountant three weeks before her 60th birthday....

Most people arrive in Dubai thinking the opportunities will find them. Jason Grundy has spent 25 years watching that assumption  play  out badly.   As Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa at Robert Walters, Jason has seen every side of the hiring market. The candidates who oversell themselves. The companies that leave great people waiting a month for feedback and wonder why they lost t...

Eight years. Four hundred episodes. And Spencer still  can't  quite believe it.   For the 400th episode, Spencer sits down to reflect on the podcast that has shaped him as much as he has shaped it and revisits four conversations that moved him, changed him, and that he  hasn't  been able to stop thinking about.   None of this happens without the people who have shown up every single week for eight...

"The Doctor Is Not Always Right"   Hein Van Eck  is a healthcare actuary by training ,  a breed of thinker who sits at the intersection of data, ethics, and human  behavior.  He started in insurance in South Africa, was handed his career-defining job after answering a single ethical question  correctly, and  has spent the last 20 years on the provider side watching an industry transform in real ti...

Katy Keenan has turned the British Chamber of Commerce Dubai into one of the most respected business communities in the UAE 1,200 members across 29 sectors, a board that's now 50% women, record profits donated to charity, a 98% satisfaction rating, and a LinkedIn following that grew from 6,000 to nearly 33,000 with no marketing budget whatsoever. Just authentic storytelling, genuine relationships,...

Ossama El Samadoni leads GBM, one of the most respected technology organisations in the region, with over 300 employees, triple-digit million dirham revenue, and clients across the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Russia. The disappointment that derailed his dream is exactly what built him. But this isn't a story about career pivots. It's a conversation that should make every business leader in thi...

He opened his first venue from a counter so small it could barely fit a table. No hotel background. No hospitality degree. Just restlessness, a borrowed chef, and a bet on Dubai. Twenty years later, he runs 112 venues across 26 countries, employs over 7,000 people worldwide, and is navigating one of the most uncertain periods this city has ever seen.   In this episode, Spencer sits down with Anton...

He arrived in Abu Dhabi in 1981 when roads turned to soft sand and ceilings collapsed because villas were built with saltwater cement. He  came for  six months. He never left. Forty-five years later, he just took his company public at a  $1.5 billion   valuation  and  he's  71 years old with zero plans to stop.   In this episode, Spencer sits down with Fayez   Ibbini , founder of Alpha Data, one o...

He grew up on a council housing estate in the Shetland Islands. His family were coal miners and civil servants. He had no connections, no privilege, and no clear path. Today, he runs one of the UAE's largest education groups — 36 schools, 36 nurseries, 50,000 students, and a publicly listed company worth over a billion dirhams.   In this episode, Spencer sits down with Alan  Williamson , CEO of Ta...

This episode explores the connection between mind and body, the truth about stress and illness, and why Dave believes: "You either make yourself sick… or you make yourself healthy." In this episode, Spencer sits down with Dave Catudal, a serial entrepreneur, health coach, and supplement formulator whose life has been shaped by loss, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of understanding the human b...

What does it really take to build one of the most powerful personal brands in the world?   In this episode, Spencer sits down with  Alex Hirschi , known globally as  Supercar Blondie , one of the most successful automotive content creators and entrepreneurs today.   But behind the supercars and global audience of over 130 million followers is  a very different  story.   From moving to Dubai in her...

How do you go from leaving school early to leading one of Dubai's top hospitals?   In this episode, Spencer sits down with  Kimberly Pierce,  CEO of  King's College Hospital Dubai , whose journey into leadership was anything but planned.   From describing herself as a "bad girl at school" who left before finishing year ten  to returning  to night school to earn her qualifications and pursue nursin...

  What if the challenges you were given were actually your biggest advantage?   In this episode, Spencer sits down with  Ahmed  Ben  Chaibah , an entrepreneur who turned ADHD and dyslexia into the very traits that fueled his success. What many see as limitations, he learned to use as a competitive edge.   From early struggles in school to building a business empire spanning  33 countries , Ahmed's...

What  should schools  really be teaching the next generation?   In this episode, Spencer sits down with  Tomas Duckling, Headmaster of  one of the most prestigious schools in the UAE, to explore the pressures shaping modern education, the role of parents in an increasingly competitive system, the impact of technology and AI on learning and why the future of education must focus on building  good h...

Modern medicine has achieved incredible breakthroughs. But what happens when someone challenges the entire system?   In this episode, Spencer sits down with  Barbara O'Neill , one of the most talked-about and polarizing figures in the global wellness space. Loved by many and criticized by others, Barbara has built a massive following by encouraging people to question mainstream health advice and e...

Cancer is not a foreign invader. It is a failure of defense.   In this episode, Dr. Patrick Soon- Shiong , surgeon, scientist, inventor and one of the most influential figures in modern medicine, lays out a radical idea: your body already knows how to defeat cancer. The question is whether we are activating it… or suppressing it.   Born in apartheid South Africa and driven by what he calls a duty...

  Success looks impressive. Impact  feels different.   In this episode, F adie  Musalle t  shares his transformation from a troubled youth in Miami to a purpose-driven entrepreneur and philanthropist in Dubai. This is not just a business story. It is a story about redemption, faith, resilience, and choosing to build a legacy that serves others.   This conversation explores what really shapes a man...

Trauma changes you. For some, it becomes a weight that never lifts. For others, it becomes a catalyst. In this episode, Dr. Gian Power shares the deeply personal story that shaped his life and leadership journey. From childhood shyness and quiet ambition to navigating the devastating and unresolved murder of his father, this conversation explores how unimaginable loss can redefine purpose. Dr. Gia...

  Hypnosis is often misunderstood and dismissed as performance or placebo.    In this conversation, Ebrahim Turner, widely known as the "billionaire hypnotist," breaks down what hypnosis really is and why it has become one of the most powerful tools for personal and professional transformation.    From rewiring habits and addressing deep-rooted trauma to improving performance in business and high-...

  In this conversation, Lousin Mehrabi sits down with Spencer Lodge for an open and reflective discussion that goes beyond surface-level success. Through thoughtful questioning, Lousin encourages Spencer to open up  about the gap between external achievement and internal fulfillment and how family expectations, particularly his relationship with his father, shaped his drive and self-perception.  ...

Charlie Mullins is a deeply contradictory and complex figure - from a deprived council-estate childhood in south London to founding a plumbing empire, cashing out for £148 million and remaking himself as a global-living, politically outspoken tycoon. He embodies both the grit of old-school trades and the excesses of modern wealth. His post-sale life is marked by public provocation - from giant ant...

This episode isn't about motivation. It's about perspective. Cyrus Rustom shares the moments that reshaped how he sees life — from joining the Marines at 16 to escape chaos at home, to surviving an accident he was certain he wouldn't live through, to rebuilding everything afterward. We talk about business failures, discipline myths, opening a company one week before Covid shut the world down and w...