WOMAN LEADER WOMEN DON T NEED TO BE EMPOWERED. WE ARE NOT WEAK 18 EQUITY
WOMAN LEADER Serial entrepreneur Sara Al Madani discusses startups, women in the workforce, and why raising awareness on entrepreneurship at a young age is imperative for a brighter future By Nicola Monteath Sara Al Madani is best defined as a bold, fearless risk-taker. “My soul feeds on risk, it’s my bowl of cereal in the morning,” she tells us. I met Sara at her newly opened café Shabarbush in Mamzar, and was instantly struck by the rebellious beauty with brains sat across the table. Sara isn’t like most Emirati women we’ve come across. Yes, she has the ambition, drive and elegance, but that element of edginess is what sets her apart. That, and her piercings. Sara is fierce, almost in the way Beyoncé Knowles is to young women. Although, while they are both leaders in a league of their own, their views on women empowerment are poles apart. “The term ‘women empowerment’ makes us feel weak, as though we’re waiting for someone to empower us. Women raise children, take care of the household, they are good at managing finances and taking care of literally everything. We do not need empowerment,” she says. You may have heard of, or come across, Sara through her appearances at conferences and events, where for the last seven years she has dedicated her time, pro-bono, to educate younger women on several entrepreneurship topics. She’s a serial entrepreneur and by title, is the founder of Shabarbush, Sara Al Madani Fashion Designs, and Social Fish – a creative concepts company in LA. It doesn’t stop there. She is the youngest Board Member at Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at UAE SME and enterprise council, and ShjSEEN. And, a single mother of a two-year-old son. How does she do it? “If you are an entrepreneur and have the will and passion, you can do anything. Believe you can and you will. It’s as simple as that. We tell ourselves I can’t do that and the minute you say that, your mind refuses to take it. Plus, women can multitask, right?” she adds in. The road to success hasn’t been an easy one for Sara, and despite what most may think, she didn’t get to her position due to Emirati privilege. At nine, Sara chose to massage family members for cash. At ten, she bought candy from far away stores, slapped on an export candy mark on it, and sold it to her cousins for a profit. At 15, Sara walked up to her father and told him she didn’t need financial support. He laughed and told her mother she would come back. She prides herself in telling me that she hasn’t gone back for financial aid ever since that day. While her friends were hanging out at malls, Sara chose to work promotion jobs selling juice – obviously not the norm for local girls. “It’s funny, I don’t 19 EQUITY