“How did you begin your entrepreneurial journey?”
“Post Covid when I lost my job, I decided to start my own Event Management company, Orb Events, with my friend and now partner Rachel.
We are both artists with a collective 35 years of experience in performing arts, particularly theatre, and it was simply a no-brainer for us to start an event management company focused on performing arts.
A year ago I also got involved in the real estate business, and currently I am a partner at Kl Maqan Real Estate.”
“What’ve been your learnings along the way?”
“You’re also into the creative arts. Tell us about your creative journey into a theatre personality. What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? ”
“I have always had a creative streak in me. As a child I loved to paint, dance, and write poems. Over the years writing poetry remained a consistent force and continues to be my most significant creative outlet, however when I got introduced to theatre in 2004, the addiction was on a different level. I have worked consistently towards building a reputation as an artist for eighteen plus years now with over forty productions to my name as an actor, director and producer. I have curated and managed theatre festivals and competitions, written plays and short stories and have also finished writing my first book this year.
Being an introvert and trying to make a space for myself in something that is very people oriented and limelight focused like performing arts, it was tough for me in some ways. I had to break the barriers of assumptions and judgement, learn everything from scratch and build myself to a level where I was able to pick projects that allowed me to grow further and shine. I think I overcame my challenges by simply refusing to accept someone else’s idea of me and consistently doing what was needed to do to find my own path and build myself. In that sense I would say I am a self-made artist, although I have been blessed to have come across so many talented people and I learned a lot from them.
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” How do you balance your business and creative pursuits? ”
Since one of my businesses is in the creative field, the question of balancing work and art is hardly there. I do have to find a balance between real estate work and the arts, but it’s manageable as art is now second nature to me and requires less focus than the Real Estate work. I mainly spend weekdays focused on real estate and weekends are mostly dedicated to the arts. I did take a year’s break from all things art (except writing) after my mother’s demise in Oct 2022. But now I am back and raring to go with some projects lined up in 2024.
“Can you narrate any particular theatre project experience that gave you immense satisfaction? ”
“How do you think the UAE market has evolved over the years you’ve been here? “
