Starting her career with the leading hotels of the world, Dagmar previously worked in various luxury properties in France, Switzerland and her native Germany. Her first General Manager position was at Hotel Chateau Grand Barrail in Saint Emilion, France at the age of 28. She then spent 12 years in a managerial capacity in the luxury jewelry business and worked in flagship stores of renowned brands such as BVLGARI and Louis Vuitton in France and Germany where she held the position of Marketing Director, before returning to the hospitality industry in 2010 as Hotel Manager for Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, Munich. Dagmar’s career with Kempinski brought her to the Middle East when she was appointed as the pre-opening General Manager for Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort in Beirut, Lebanon. After the successful opening of Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort, Dagmar held the position of Cluster General Manager at Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon and Phoenicia Le Vendome InterContinental Hotel. After a five-year span in Lebanon, she relocated to Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort in Oman, where she re-established the property as a leading Luxury Hotel in the Middle East. Dagmar is currently the Head of Hill Robinson Estates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The passionate entrepreneur studied at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland, a pioneer in hospitality education since 1893. Fluent in English, French and German, she is a result-oriented individual with a solid track record in driving teams to deliver successful results both in terms of quality and business performance. Dagmar has been a well-established author, contributing to multiple articles throughout her career as well as a featured guest speaker, lecturer and panelist in the region’s most prestigious universities, institutions, and guest speaker platforms.
Shreya Rammohan, Co-Founder & CMO, PLAYBOOK
With over 9 years of professional marketing consulting, research & implementation experience across 10 industrial sectors & in 4 regional markets (Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia & UAE) for 80+ Brands, Shreya has successfully managed teams of researchers, departments (brand management & design) and coached trainees. She has worked on national-level marketing consulting, training and research projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain and Oman for semi-government organizations, telecom companies and financial services companies. In recognition of her passion, Shreya has earned laurels through her academic journey in the fields of Communication & Management at the Local (Bahrain & India), Regional (GCC & India) and National levels (Bahrain & India). From 2018 to 2022, she was the Media Leader for the largest women empowerment network in MENA, Women Power Network. She has also led the winning startup (Women Who Read) of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) by the U.S. State Department and Bahrain FinTech Bay “Build for Bahrain” program. She presently leads marketing and product development at the award-winning edutainment platform PLAYBOOK, as the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer.
هل التصميم الداخلي يؤثر على سعادتك؟
Have you ever experienced going to a nice coffee shop that made you feel happier and more productive? We all love to be happy and have a great mood every day, but did we ever think that our homes are the first thing affecting our moods? How interior design choices can boost your mental health and physical activity? We all went through corona phase of life where we all were locked down at our homes and had the challenge to live, work and study or teach -all at the same place with all the members of the family. The depression and problems that most people went through were uncountable. And that’s what made me think how important is our home space to live life and work and to be productive as we were practicing our daily tasks all from home. According to Gestalt psychology, even though our eyes are constantly taking in information, our brains try and boil everything down to the simplest, recognizable pattern. Using harmony and unity to create a sense of cohesion makes that initial pattern recognition easy. Our brains categorize those repeated details and similarities much faster than they would if none of the design elements fit together, which subconsciously allows us to be calmer when we’re in space. A seamless flow of the elements in the room allows the energy to flow equally seamlessly. And keep in mind, a balance should always be more important than symmetry and these are different concepts. In 2019 for example, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Brain Science Institute developed an exhibit titled “space and being “at an international furniture fair in Milan. It marked the first occasion the emerging science of Neuro-aesthetics was front and center at an influential global design event. In this project, visitors to the exhibit wore special wristbands that measured their psychological responses as they walked through three different room vignettes. It was a data-based method for showing how design and furnishings can influence biology and well-being. We all see great interior designers around us, but does that designer understand your personality, style, and way of your life to design your house or workplace accordingly? Or did you end up with a designer who just sold you some 3D pictures of the new trend without a deep understanding of your lifestyle? Here are some interior design elements that influence our health and our space designs: Function, clutter, spaciousness, balance and consistency, sunlight (windows), colours, blue light (computer screens, smartphones), shapes, music, plants, and flowers. Interior design, then, is not only about making your home more beautiful it’s also about making it a happier and healthier place. There are no one-size fits all approach to improve your well-being. what works for one person might not work for you. However, there’s no denying that happiness begins at home and an interior specifically designed for You to boost your well-being and health could have great implications for your everyday life.
"سياق" تستحوذ على بابل للترجمة في قطر
Doha, Qatar, December 20, 2022 – SIYAK Language Services (“SIYAK”), a regional leader in the field of translation, interpretation, content writing, and language services, announced today the successful acquisition of Babylon Translation Company, headquartered in Doha, Qatar. Established in 2004 in Lebanon, SIYAK operates across various countries in the Middle East, including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Lebanon. The acquisition is aimed at expanding SIYAK’s client base in Qatar, in addition to upgrading its offering to the local market. Babylon will operate as a division within SIYAK in the short term, while all operational processes will be overseen by the management team of SIYAK until completion of the rebranding by end of 2022. Over the past few years, SIYAK has expanded its reach across the region, mainly in Qatar after acquiring Babylon. This ambitious new approach to language services comes in line with the company’s efforts to improve operational efficiency and deliver a unique customer experience. On this occasion, Rima Boutros, Founder and CEO of SIYAK, said: “Pairing with Babylon enabled us to expand our local footprint in Qatar, which is a significant market for us. This acquisition solidified our position to seize a substantial opportunity earlier this year through signing a 2-year exclusive agreement with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (“SC”) to provide the Host Country with translation, interpretation and other language services before, during and after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.” Commenting on the company’s contribution during the tournament, Cynthia Hawa, Account Manager for the Host Country Language Project at SIYAK, said, “I am delighted to be appointed as a leader for this project as it offers us a unique opportunity to contribute to the World Cup event. Sports is a rapidly growing field in Qatar – a country with a capacity to host several international tournaments and major sports every year, hence the need for sports translation and interpretation services more than ever. With the diversity in the language services provided during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, SIYAK has built a solid track record in this area with its team of translators and linguists specialized in the field of sports translation, interpretation and content development. We are proud to deliver top-quality services to our clients during key sports events held in Qatar and the region.” Over the past year, SIYAK leveraged on a resolute strategy and adopted cutting-edge technologies to achieve more consistency, accuracy, and efficiency in the translation services it offers, in addition to delivering an enhanced quality service to clients in a timely manner. Earlier this year, SIYAK has added to its women-led management team by hiring a new Language Services Manager as an instrumental asset in spearheading strategic business transformations related to staff training, quality assurance and customer satisfaction. Concluding her statement, Rima Boutros pointed out that customer satisfaction is a top priority at SIYAK, hence the company’s continuous efforts to the overall business performance across all departments, she added: “We pride ourselves on being a women-owned and -run business, with a focus on recruiting a gender-balanced team. As a regional translation company, we continuously thrive to offer the best to our clients by upgrading our core competency and expanding our ability to respond to the exploding demand for language services in the region.” About SIYAK Established in 2004, SIYAK is a professional language services agency that provides translation, interpretation, technical writing, and creative content development to local and international businesses and organizations across the GCC region. With offices in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Lebanon, and with more than 30 language professionals having an average of over eight years’ experience in the language service industry, SIYAK helps meet the multilingual communication needs of today’s leading companies and organizations in various industries including sports, hospitality, banking and financial services, legal, environment, governance, information technology, marketing, automotive, medical, education, and telecommunications. Website: www.siyakconsultancy.com, E-mail: info@siyaconsultancy.com.
The impact of a woman’s story
Elissa Freiha is an Emirati of Lebanese and American descent. She is a passionate entrepreneur, investor, executive producer, and public speaker. Being also a women’s rights advocate, she crowned her mission by founding Womena, a Digital Media company that creates compelling female-focused content in the MENA region. Why have you started this initiative? I started WOMENA because I wanted to contribute to the improvement of society. I wanted to contribute to making the world a better place by specifically focusing on the communities that I am part of and enhancing their realities. I started this initiative to help the next generation; almost as a way of making up for the lack of relevant guidance and role models that I had when I was starting as an entrepreneur. What was the main challenge and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge has been to convince an existing media ecosystem, that Impact Media is worth backing and supporting. A lot of the content currently produced and consumed is content without substance: often content is made for entertainment, and even news channels rely on sensationalized trauma and reduction stereotypes. At WOMENA, we wanted to create content that was true to our community and to our community’s identity. We wanted to represent an accurate portrayal of the diversity of Arab women in our region. The funny things are, this challenge still persists, and we are still working to overcome it. We still take a lot longer to convince advertisers, publishers, and platforms that content aimed at impact is as worthy of their support as content that is made for superficial entertainment. Can you name three essential components a Leader must possess? For me, the best leaders are those that are compassionate, authentic, and optimistic. Optimism is crucial because Leaders are charismatic visionaries whom others want to get behind and support. They tend to be dreamers and so therefore they are able to look beyond the difficulties in the realities of the world around them. Authenticity is a brave trait and by being fearlessly authentic themselves, leaders will in turn permit others to do the same. Lastly, compassion is in direct opposition to what capitalism asks of us, but it is essential. Recognizing the humanity in one another is central to working together towards achieving whatever goal we set out for. How can your initiative inspire change? WOMENA inspires change by showing the diversity and wonder of the modern Arab woman. We wanted to challenge existing stereotypes and take ownership of our stories. With every voice, we amplify we’re letting countless others know that they are not alone and that they are a part of a much wider community that will support them in the risks that they take. We wanted to empower women to make alternate choices in their lives that are truer to them by showcasing a wider spectrum of success and struggle. All that change happens when we start to see what we can be, and we start to believe that we can be more. What’s the importance of the “Boo 3al Taboo” rubric on your platform? “Boo 3al Taboo” is absolutely representative of the core values at WOMENA. We want to boldly break boundaries beyond those that our society may have dared before. We want to be able to say things and have discussions out loud that we all wish we could. The voice of our community refuses to remain silent out of fear or judgment. It is important for us to question and invite others to be curious; through “Boo 3al taboo” we address the countless fundamental taboos that uphold shame and indirectly control the lives of women. We want to address a lot of the underlying assumptions that our society places on gender roles. We want to start a dialogue about how and why these things need to change. If you could introduce one piece of legislation to further gender balance, what would it be? I think that’s an amazing question. I would start by focusing on education and specifically sexual health and reproductive education for young boys and girls around the region. Only one out of the twenty-two countries in the Middle East has sexual education as part of the legal curriculum for schools. Without this very critical education, we find that women and men lack a very basic understanding of their own biology and the changes that they are expected to go through in their life. Without the proper education, knowledge and demystification of the natural, we will continue to foster shame and consequently, gender-based violence around the world. What piece of advice would you give to women struggling with limiting beliefs set by their societies? Be curious about yourself. Get to know yourself first, set your own boundaries, and learn to hear your inner voice. Once you have that, you will feel your strength and power rise and you’ll be able to confront and move beyond those limiting beliefs with confidence. if you find yourself confronted with people that are not there to support you, try to focus on changing those people and fostering a community like the WOMENA that will help you to embrace a more authentic and happier self. It’s important that we surround ourselves with people that make us shine brighter, and that we don’t try to appease those who seek to dim our light. How can Womena help women? WOMENA amplifies Women’s voices and their stories in order to expand the choices that women see as available to them and the choices that women feel comfortable making for their own lives. What we are doing is normalizing diversity, we’re normalizing substance and nuance when it comes to addressing the present and future of Arab women. The way WOMENA helps women is by simply creating a platform for women to help each other, just by being themselves. What’s next for Womena? WOMENA is going to completely take off very soon. We want to bring these
Dr. Zeina Ghossoub El-Aswad
A quote by Dr. Zeina Ghossoub El-Aswad, Ph.D., MCC, CWC, EW Global President. Throughout life, you will realize that your actions represent who you are to the world. They speak to the world and define an image that may be difficult for you to change.
هل نريد فعلا تحقيق التوازن بين الحياة والعمل؟
By Abeer Al Matooq For as long as I can remember, I was always puzzled by this term and by this thought (work Life balance) I mean in my opinion, life is so grand and there is so much to it, so much to do, so much to experience and so much to be, why would I want to balance all my life with one aspect of it which is (work)? As a life coach, and a curious being who is always on the look for better ways for designing a life and ( being ) in it I started reading, researching, and investigating this idea, to find out that it has a lot to do with how our modern societies have programmed us to tie our identities and define our happiness and success in life through our career success and hence yes, all your life with all what it has will be on one side and career or work will be on the other side and you will have to balance them both!! I didn’t like the idea, and I do not subscribe to it, and here is why (mind you that I am a career woman who has been tying her success in life to her career success until I concluded the following which I invite you to give it a thought with me: 1- What is it that we all want in life and from life? happiness right? happiness in whatever way you want to define it, contentment, peace, joy, love…etc 2- For that to happen each and every one of us needs to know first what is it exactly that gives his\her life meaning and how happiness is defined in his\ her terms, in total isolation of any external expectations of the same (or internal expectations that come from society conditioning for that matters) 3- Once that is done and some clarity is established, now we start finding out that there is little chance that ( work ) can give us all that, looking at where career\work is going to serve us to achieve those meanings that you have sat for yourself, and we start realizing that the other areas of our lives that we often neglect or leave nourishing them for( when our busy schedules allow ) are actually the areas that bring us fulfillment and balance besides fueling us to perform better in our career because of the alignment with our true life vision and the soul nourishment that it is going to achieve. On Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs career or work doesn’t come anywhere, what we have though are meanings and values that sometimes can come through work but most of the time through your (life work) which is not necessarily the work that you do to achieve your income. Having said all that I can see some arguing that we can’t be bothered with self-actualization or else when our basic needs are not met, and that only work can guarantee that, in my defense, I would ask, would you be happy living your entire life running the rat race, passing through days, scarifying your physical, mental, psychological, spiritual and social health for that kind of security? or would you rather give a wider more expansive view of the real meanings in life and look for ( Balance ) rather than ( life work Balance ).
وفاء العبيدات، المؤسسة والرئيسة التنفيذية، PLAYBOOK
With over 12 years of experience handling over 5000+ client projects for businesses globally with a team of 40+ employees, Wafa Alobaidat is widely known as the CEO of award-winning communications agency Obai and Hill. She is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and public speaker represented by The Middle East leading speaker’s bureau, MENA Speakers. Wafa is a graduate of the esteemed University of the Arts London. She started the fastest-growing digital magazine in London in 2009 with a support network of over 500+ creatives. Sketchbook achieved more than 100,000 downloads and copies printed and would go on to create over 12,000+ pieces of content that spanned over 1200+ pages. Wafa has become one of the region’s experts in accelerating career progression for women. Her success is grounded in hosting the Women Power Summit, an annual event that attracted 6000 attendees, 314 women speakers and 280 corporate partners. Wafa also hosts a number one rated Apple podcast show Women Power podcast, and interviewed more than 117 women leaders on the show and partnered with advertisers and affiliates such as GoDaddy, Bath and Body Works, Zain Telecom, BMMI to deliver content to a global audience. Wafa is a fellow at The Vital Voices GROW, a leading business program whose founder leaders are Hilary Clinton and Madeleine Albright. She was named one of the top 50 most influential women leaders in business by Business In Gulf. Wafa is an alumnus of the Global Shaper network, is a former EO member and EO accelerator board member, board member of the Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation for disabilities. She was also a committee member of the SME Board at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce. Wafa has delivered 50+ talks globally engaging multi-sector audiences like the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University, TEDx, United Nations organizations, KPMG, the University of the Arts London, Women Economic Forum KSA, SME World Summit Dubai, 30 Under 30 Youth Summit and Gateway Gulf. Her expertise lies at the nexus of growth and scaling up, with underlying themes of empowering women and youth, entrepreneurship in the Middle East, and starting and scaling companies. Wafa has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Wanda, CNBC, Arab TV, MBC, Gulf Life Magazine, Brown book Magazine, Arab TV, Washington Post, Levi’s, Startup Magazine, Entrepreneur Middle East and many more renowned publications. She presently is the visionary at the helm of the edutainment platform PLAYBOOK, as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer leading business strategy and fundraising.
تحمّل مسؤولية حياتك
“You don’t deserve anything good, you’re less than everyone else, whatever you do isn’t enough, you’re not enough, all you do is worthless…” All of these and even more are thoughts I used to have about myself and that’s what pushed me to enter the ‘coaching world’. I needed to coach myself, to understand myself in a better way, to discover who I am, and the true potential that lies within me, to understand and learn how to manage my thoughts and emotions, to know what I want, where I want to go, whom I would like to be, to live a life that allows me to be fulfilled, because was lost where I used to be. Today, I am in a completely different place from where I was few years ago and my mission today is to guide people towards inner liberation, to set themselves free from the prison of their own thoughts, to teach them how to manage their thoughts and emotions in a better way, to help them improve their relationship with themselves because this defines the quality of all other relationships in their life, to help them discover who they truly are and be aware of all the potential and possibilities within them, I would like all people to become aware of their greatness and know how to live a healthier, more satisfying and serene life. As humans, we all have a critical voice inside of us, which criticizes our words, ideas, choices, actions, preferences and emotions. It is ready to criticize everything that concerning us. This inner critical voice is present in all of us. In reality, it is not there to destroy us, it has a positive intention although it seems negative, it tries to bring us closer to ourselves. If we fight it, it will grow stronger and will be very difficult for us to release it. What we have to do is learn how to become friendly with it, to welcome it, and to understand why it is there, what is the need and reason behind its presence because there is always a need behind our limiting thoughts about ourselves. Most often, it is the need to feel loved, accepted, valued, seen and recognized. When we become aware of this, we will know how to behave with this voice, we will know that it is similar to a child who needs attention. My advice is therefore, to act with compassion towards yourself and to understand yourself when these negative thoughts arise, it is only this way that you can replace these destructive thoughts with more constructive ones. We must also know that very often we judge and see ourselves based on others’ judgment and perception of us. Through our life, we may hear judgments and criticisms, sometimes from our relatives and sometimes from friends, in any case, these judgments can distort the way we see ourselves and our thoughts about ourselves due to the fact that we agreed and believed these judgments (unconsciously). What we have to do in this case is that after realizing this, we have to take responsibility for ourselves, the responsibility to start working on ourselves and on our perception and opinion of ourselves, to start reforming and planting new beliefs and thoughts about ourselves and create a whole new belief system that will ensure that we live a fulfilling, successful and happy life, because it will not be possible for us to be happy or succeed in what we undertake if there are inside of our thoughts that block and slow us down. What I would like to add, is that when we build a strong inner foundation, when we define ourselves and we know who we are and recognize our own value and are aware that it has nothing to do with the opinion of others about us, no more judgments or outside criticism will have an impact on us. This is the real strength. Finally, I would like to encourage everyone to take responsibility for their life and to start working on themselves, to become better every day and create the life they deserve, the life of their dream. Israa Chour
International Fashion Week Dubai
Star-studded International Fashion Week Dubai Season 14 was full of celebrities, top influencers and celebrity designers made a huge success Bollywood celebrity Iulia Vantur hit the ramp of International Fashion Week Dubai season 14 International Fashion week Dubai S14, Celebrating 8 years of Success, with a top show with International Designers for the Spring/ Summer 2023 Collection. Presented by International Fashion Council and the Opulence Events in partnership with Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann. The International Fashion Week Dubai recently held Season 14 from 18 to 21 November 2022 of its Mega stunner event. This season happened to be by far the best season of the International Fashion Week Dubai. Every season keeps getting bigger, better, and record-breaking with the technicalities that entail pulling off such a fantastic event growing even bigger. International Fashion Week Dubai; the biggest fashion week of Dubai started with an exclusive opening exclusive gala dinner at the high-end Soho Garden at Palm Jumeirah which included distinguished guests who graced the occasion. IFWD introduced unique designers from different parts of the world, as done every year. The Day 1 opening designer, Fashion Gathering, a High-end Boutique from Kuwait, showcased its dynamic collection on the ramp walk, it was a theatre of elegance. The second designer- Diana Filipova from Bulgaria, presented her gorgeous, ready-to-wear collection that dazzled the audience. The third designer, from the marvelous country of passion, Italy- Cristina Del Preposto, indulged us with her colourful, designed luxury leather bags. And lastly, the final designer of day 1, Akl Fakih from Lebanon, showcased his elegant Haute Couture and Bridal collection that signified the beauty and culture of Lebanon through his fashion clothing. Day 1 of International Fashion Week Dubai ended with a grand designer from Lebanon, while Day 2 of IFWDS started with a great Lebanese Fashion Designer Missaki who after showcasing his collection at International Fashion Week Paris, showcased his new elegant Haute Couture collection at IFWD. The second show of the day, Yoshii Boutique showcased its gorgeous designer collections on the catwalk with high-end combined designer couture collections, the third show of day 2, Hanayan, the famous local Abaya brand, showcased its elegant Abaya collection that stunned the audience once again. The finale of the grand event was graced by none other than Archana Kochhar, a celebrity fashion designer from India. Being one of the favourites among the Bollywood glitterati, several Bollywood stars, including Shahruk khan and Kareena Kapoor, have collaborated with her. At her grand show in IFWD, showstopper and celebrity Iulia Vantur wowed the crowd by walking the runway in a stunning piece from Kocchar’s collection and making a charming impression on the audience. Furthermore, two final showstoppers, Awez Darbar and Nagma Mirajkar, elevated the finale of the show. Fashion designer Archana Kocchar has been showcasing her collection on national and international runways for over a decade. Each creation is personalized by Archana Kochhar with vibrant creativity and passion that are uniquely her own. Her showcase at the grand finale of International Fashion Week Dubai included her latest vibrant collection titled ‘Betelgeuse’, which combines contrasting red and black colour schemes with shimmering sequences. Designers who participated in the Exhibition included the likes of Cristina Del Preposto from Receti Roma Italy, Katia Panteli from Greece, Yoshii Boutique from Dubai, from Poland MISBHV, The Zisou & Bohema Clothing Cheryle Dias, Founder and Managing Director of the event while talking to the media said, “We did it once again. We all thank the Almighty for giving us the energy to put up such a show as every designer brought their top high-end creations to please the walk”. She spoke and said after presenting such a high-level grand show, for upcoming shows the responsibility is now even bigger. Hayden’s creativity and his organizational team were incredible to measure during the fashion week. Celebrities and international crowds have descended in Dubai, marking the fashion industry’s sweeping return as it rides a post-pandemic spending frenzy. As the city of lights fills up with designers and executives from all over the world. Moreover, the event was attended by celebrity actress Fatma Alabdulah and an abundance of French and local influencers IFWD is sponsored and supported by the largest retail store in Europe: Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann, the event’s prominent sponsor, has partnered with International Fashion Week Dubai for three seasons as well as International Fashion Week Paris. International fashion week is yet again open to sponsor/ designer/ exhibitor bookings for upcoming shows in Dubai, Paris, Milan, New York, and Qatar. Media Contact International Fashion Week Dubai +971 55 862 6434 info@internationalfashionweekdubai.com, http://internationalfashionweekdubai.com Instagram: @internationalfashionweekdubai