I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning.

My guest today is the fabulous Co-Founder of Thrive Talks, Farida Gilmore. Farida is a qualified professional Career Coach having previously spent almost 10 years as a corporate communications specialist in the UK, Asia and Middle East before becoming the original Founder of Thrive. 

Thrive is inspired by Farida’s personal career journey where, while navigating the ups and downs of a career change with a young family in tow, she found a lack of inspirational, relatable and supportive voices. This spurred Farida to create an experiential platform, influenced by powerful TED-like talks but with a focus on the world of work, particularly from a female perspective, that she felt was deeply needed.

Farida’s passion to provide a megaphone for individuals to share their personal stories and strive for better is at the core of Thrive’s growth and success.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show.

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Website & Insta Handles:

https://thrivetalks.me/

https://thrivetalks.me/events

https://www.instagram.com/thrive.talks/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/faridalowe/?hl=en

Earlier this month I had the privilege of being invited to Kaynouna’s latest event titled ‘I, Woman’ at The Secret Garden Jumeirah Creekside Hotel to interview some of their inspiring exhibitors.

Kaynouna in Arabic philosophy translates to existence, and this electronic music event dedicated to art, culture & storytelling has quickly become one of the best festivals in Dubai.

If you would like to find out more about Kaynouna and they’re up and coming events, just follow them on Instagram or Facebook at @kaynounaofficial or visit their website www.kaynouna.ae.

For the final instalment of #LifeSchoolLive at Kaynouna, here’s my conversation with the dreamy Tania Kawood. Tania is a Thetahealer, Reiki Master and she also practices Past Life Regression.

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Links:

https://www.instagram.com/tkholistic/?hl=en

http://tkholistic.com/

Music Credit:

Matija - Tinariwen ... (Matija's Flying Carpet Edit) 

Earlier this month I had the privilege of being invited to Kaynouna’s latest event titled ‘I, Woman’ at The Secret Garden Jumeirah Creekside Hotel to interview some of their inspiring exhibitors.

Kaynouna in Arabic philosophy translates to existence, and this electronic music event dedicated to art, culture & storytelling has quickly become one of the best festivals in Dubai.

If you would like to find out more about Kaynouna and they’re up and coming events, just follow them on Instagram or Facebook at @kaynounaofficial or visit their website www.kaynouna.ae.

For the second installment of our #LifeSchoolLive Kaynouna mini-series, here’s my conversation with Maryam Al Zaabi, or as she’s known on Instagram @fixthesky, an incredible artist who’s part of the Tawahadna community.

P X

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/fixthesky/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/projecttawahadna/?hl=en

Music Credit:

Matija - Tinariwen ... (Matija's Flying Carpet Edit) 

Earlier this month I had the privilege of being invited to Kaynouna’s latest event titled ‘I, Woman’ at The Secret Garden Jumeirah Creekside Hotel to interview some of their inspiring exhibitors.

Kaynouna in Arabic philosophy translates to existence, and this electronic music event dedicated to art, culture & storytelling has quickly become one of the best festivals in Dubai.

If you would like to find out more about Kaynouna and they’re up and coming events, just follow them on Instagram or Facebook at @kaynounaofficial or visit their website www.kaynouna.ae.

To kick start this #LifeSchoolLive Kaynouna mini-series, here’s my conversation with Stavros Antypas, Founder of Tawahadna – an incredible public community that supports female Emirati artists and creatives. 

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Links:

https://www.instagram.com/stav.jpeg/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/projecttawahadna/?hl=en

https://www.tawahadna.com/

Music Credit: 

Matija - Tinariwen ... (Matija's Flying Carpet Edit) 

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning.

My guest today is a woman who does just that, she inspires me. I am thrilled and honored to welcome to the podcast Business Advisor, Communications Consultant and Executive Coach - Lucy d’Abo.

In 2004 Lucy co-founded DABO & CO with her sister Camilla, an integrated communications agency here in Dubai, and together they spent the next 11 years building it to be the largest independent agency of its kind in the region. 

With a renowned priority for excellence at its core, underpinned with creativity and a powerful company culture that was the heartbeat of the business, DABO & CO went on to be recognized with over 20 industry awards and was also listed in the Top 10 ‘Great Places to Work’ Index 3 years consecutively and ranked in the Dubai SME 100.

In 2015 DABO & CO was acquired by Edelman, the largest PR firm in the world, Lucy remained as Managing Director within the business for almost 2 years, supporting the integration and merger of the business regionally before handing over the reins to Edelman.

Lucy, who lives in Dubai with her husband Chris and 3 children, now works as a Business Advisor and Communications Consultant leveraging her extensive knowledge and experience in both building and selling a successful business in the Middle East and two decades in the Creative Communications industry. 

I personally gained so much from this episode and I hope you get as many tangible takeaways from this as I did when I recorded this with Lucy last month. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show.

P X

Website & Insta Handles:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-d-abo-09521023

https://www.instagram.com/lucyludubai/?hl=en

Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/mother_pukka/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mick-todd-a887b313

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning.

It’s been rather a busy summer for me, so I haven’t had chance to publish and new episode of #DXBWomenWhoInspireMe for a couple months. But I’m so happy to be back with a brand-new episode with a fabulous new guest, Natasha D’Souza. Natasha is a business journalist, strategist and presenter focused on startups, technology and innovation in emerging markets. She writes for numerous publications both in the region and globally, profiling startups, technology and the culture of innovation and leadership in the Middle East. 

Commencing her career in Washington D.C., Natasha worked with global leaders in the business, media and international development sectors including The Corporate Executive Board, the BBC and the Kennedy family. In 2007, she joined the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center, working on the region’s foremost greenfield project to establish Dubai as the center for academic medical research and practice in the Middle East. 

It was fascinating getting to know Natasha and her global way of thinking really inspired me to think beyond just the city I live in. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show.

P X

Website & Insta Handles:

https://www.instagram.com/natasha.notes/?hl=en

https://linktr.ee/natasha.notes

Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/camanpour/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/feministabulous/

https://www.instagram.com/malcolmgladwell/

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning.

In this episode of Life School I sit down with a DXB Woman who not only inspires me, but amazes me. 4 years ago Caroline Leon fell from an outdoor rock-climbing wall here in Dubai. She was rushed to A&E with life-threatening injuries and spent months in hospital undergoing major surgeries to reconstruct her feet, reattach her pubic bone and reconstruct her pelvis and spine. Initially doctors told Caroline and her family that she may never walk again. After 14 surgeries, 23 blood transfusions and 2 years of extensive rehabilitation in order to learn how to walk again, she’s now not only walking, but about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime!

I recorded this episode at the beginning of the month, just a week before Caroline was about to embark on attempting a #GuinnessWorldRecord to be the first Australian woman in the world to summit every mountain in the Middle East and The

Arabian Peninsula in the fastest possible timeframe. Oh and I should mention she’s doing this completely SOLO. That’s 16 mountains (some of which are over 5,000 meters in altitude) in 16 countries and territories across the Middle East.

I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about my conversation with Caroline since we recorded this episode. I really hope her incredible story of courage and determination ignites something inside of you. And just a small disclaimer, this episode does contain graphic content and strong language.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show.

P X

Website & Insta Handles:

https://yallagive.com/charitycampaign/caroline-d-leon-world-guinness-record

https://www.instagram.com/caroline_d_leon/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/alifeofeducation/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/gulfforgood/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/dhlexpressuae/?hl=en

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning. 

In this Episode of Life School, I am thrilled to welcome to the podcast Radio Presenter, Author and Communication Strategist - Anna Roberts. Anna’s business ‘The Academy by Anna’ features a range of effective online communication training programmes which help entrepreneurs transform their dreams into plans and show go- getters how to confidently share their messages through effective strategies that Anna uses herself. Anna also has a 2 Week programme beautifully titled the ‘Fear Detox’ which gets you out of your comfort zone and speaking like a boss. While her free training, ‘Amplify’, offers you free and effective communication insights and strategies. During her career, Anna has had the opportunity to interview some incredible entrepreneurs and media personalities such as Gary Vee, Louise Roe and Huda Kattan of Huda Beauty, to name just a few. I am so excited to meet Anna and discover how she went from a self-confessed shy introvert, to an international public speaker with a passion for helping fellow entrepreneurs and dreamers find their voice. 

As always, be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show. 

P X

Website & Insta Handles:

https://imannaroberts.com/ 

https://linktr.ee/imannaroberts

https://www.instagram.com/imannaroberts/

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning. 

In this episode of Life School, I am super excited to sit down and talk life with the Creative Director & Founder of the UAE’s number one, award winning, wedding inspiration website, Bride Club ME – Rhiannon Downie-Hurst, aka Rio. Rio is also a professional wedding industry speaker and Founder of Bride Club ME Business - the first consultancy platform of its kind in the UAE for wedding entrepreneurs and creatives. I first met Rio back in 2017 when I was organizing a wedding themed event and needed a media partner. I hit it off with Rio straight away and I really admired her confidence, industry knowledge and how she juggled being a bad ass businesswomen and Mum to her son Kai, who at the time was just a few months old. When I approached Rio about wanting to develop my freelance writing portfolio, she gave me the amazing opportunity to write for her site, brideclubme.com, which over the past two years has turned into an incredible role that has led me to travel on behalf of the brand, meet the most incredible, inspirational industry leaders and people and hone my writing technique – Something I will be eternally grateful to Rio for. In this episode, we get to the nitty gritty of what it’s really like to start your own business, how Rio copes with difficult and challenging times and her advice for small business owners everywhere. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show. 

P X

Website & Insta Handles:

https://www.brideclubme.com/

https://www.instagram.com/riocaptures/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/brideclubme/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/bcmebiz/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/homeclubme/?hl=en

I’m Peta Al Akawi and Welcome to Life School, the podcast. Each episode I’ll be chatting openly and honestly with a different guest about a whole host of purposeful topics. From personal success and failure stories, to relationship advice, tips and tricks for entrepreneurs, to professional and practical guidance on living a more fulfilled and happy life. I’ll be speaking to men and women from all walks of life, all with unique experiences they want to share in the hope of inspiring YOU. I hope throughout this series you can take away some valuable nuggets of wisdom to help you navigate through life's many twists, turns and lessons. Here at Life School, we are all about the business of learning.  

In this episode of Life School, I have the pleasure of speaking with Master NLP Practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master Life Coach, Maria Tansey. Having moved to the UAE 6 years ago from the UK to work as a business consultant in the hospitality industry, Maria is now based in Dubai and is fully focused on helping her plethora of clients enjoy the best quality of life possible. Have you ever wondered what a Life Coach actually does? Or maybe you’ve been thinking you’d like to become one yourself. Well then this is the episode for you! Stay tuned as Maria shares with us what it means to be a Life Coach, how she became one after spending 16 years in the corporate world and much more. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifeschoolme for behind the scenes footage and further information on some of the topics we discuss on the show. 

P X

Check out Maria's website & Instagram:

https://mariatansey.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mariatanseycoaching/?hl=en