THE SHE FACTOR: A great mind in her own right

Leila Masinaei's advice to women: use what makes you the woman that you are to succeed, rather than wanting to be more like male counterparts.

The UAE government is extremely supportive of women, and empowers and celebrates their success more compared to a lot of other nations, affirms Leila Masinaei, managing director of Great Minds.
"So while I think being an entrepreneur is not easy, as women, we are a lot more supported in the UAE than we would be elsewhere," says Leila.
From a career in research and development in the US and now a successful entrepreneur in the UAE, this has indeed made Leila look back with smile of triumph. Leila, a mother of two daughters, started Great Minds with her business partner and friend Noel Greenway with a simple objective of becoming the UAE's only fully-integrated outreach company, with five distinct agencies working together to deliver unparallelled services and experiences for clients and industries they served.
"We have been involved with the Mice [meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions] industry for over 10 years now, and fully realise the gaps in the sector, and our plan is to improve and enhance the offerings available in the industry, by integrating the five verticals of the outreach industry under one umbrella, we are able to be the one stop shop for our clients in the UAE and around the globe in all their events, marketing and communication, creative and design and outreach operational needs," she says.
Leila began her career as a biologist and worked in research and development of medical products in the US for about seven years, including during university years and post-graduation, and has eight medical patents under her name.
"I am a very social person and like interacting with people, something the isolated R&D environment does not provide. So I left the US in 2006 and returned back to the UAE, where I grew up, and decided to change my career path. I enrolled in an MBA programme in international marketing, and by accident discovered the Mice and conferencing industry. The interactions, always learning new things, and the many elements of marketing, project management and business research fascinated me," said Leila.
"I began my journey as a junior conference director, to senior, to head of division, to deputy managing director and eventually managing director of the company I started with, to eventually setting up my own company this year. I can't say that this was planned, and that I knew that one day I will own an events management and marketing company, but I can say that my sense of curiosity, always wanting to learn and improve upon things, creativity and innovation, have greatly helped me with my rather different career experiences, leading to who I am today."
The UAE is generally very competitive in most fields, which is a great sign of a growing open economy and the Mice industry is no exception. However, the changes and more stringent requirements in licence applications and financial backing have helped greatly to regulate the industry. A few years ago, everyone was an event organiser and the market was very crowded, with often, many inexperienced entities, she explains.
"I think today the industry is a lot better-positioned with more professional entities who, naturally, are diversifying and developing core competencies and areas of focus in the sectors and services they offer. So whilst yes, the industry is very competitive, it is maturing at the right pace, giving rise to natural leaders in various fields."
Leila also opines that UAE as a nation provides ample opportunities for budding entrepreneurs, from flexible and diverse business licence options to accessibility and availability of all the possible technical and non-technical skill sets to even government funds and grants for inspiring ideas.
"I do think, however, that additional funding models, and perhaps an accessible organisation to offer advise on how to set up a new business, can further enhance entrepreneurship in the country," she says.
"I come across many creative people, who don't take their ideas forward mostly due to lack of funding, and sometimes simply because they don't know where to start. I think the UAE is well-positioned to harness these amazing ideas and the announcements of many new initiatives across the nation is a testament to the leadership's support of entrepreneurship in the country," Leila adds.
So how does Leila balance work and home "To answer this, I have to first highlight that I am a mother, and a mother to two super intelligent little girls, and proud to say, UAE nationals. So my task at home is not only to raise two kids, but two strong, accomplished, happy and well-rounded women, who are the future of this nation," concludes Leila.
- sandhya@khaleejtimes.com

Sandhya D'Mello

sandhya@khaleejtimes.com