Pod Kas with Yaz

Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi (aka 'Turtle Sheikh') is a member of the UAE's Royal Family, Executive Chairman at the Department of Government Relations in Sharjah, Co-Founder of Seafood Souq and a good old friend from our days back at Kearney. When he's not swimming in oceans saving turtles (literally), he's probably dining with Gary Vee or with the President of Guatemala to discuss Economic relations with Sharjah. 

Last time Fahim and I caught up was more than 12 years ago, but it didn't take long for me to remember how funny, humble and smart he is - for an Emirati (joke context towards the end of our chat). On a serious note, catching up with Fahim in-person reminded me of the ingenuity that's behind the incredible story of the UAE and the unwavering passion that drives authentic entrepreneurship.

Learn more about Fahim’s company Seafood Souq here: https://uae.seafoodsouq.com/

Follow Fahim on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahim-al-qasimi-6a57b754/

Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Elie Skaf is the Co-Founder & CEO of Right Farm, a B2B AgTech platform on a mission to improve food supply chains in the MENAPT region. They recently raised a USD 2.8M seed round led by DisruptAD and Enhance Ventures.

In the first half of this episode, we discuss the story behind Right Farm, fascinating insights about food supply, sustainability challenges, food waste management and other related topics across the value chain within Right Farm's vicinity.

Even though we just met, Elie and I both worked as Management Consultants earlier in our careers and also studied at the American University of Beirut (AUB) between 2004-2007. Naturally, we also had an awesome chat about our common past experiences and went down the Lebanon memory lane after 15 years of our graduation.

- Learn more about Right Farm here: https://www.rightfarm.com/

- Follow Elie Skaf on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elie-s/

- Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Zina is a serial entrepreneur, mentor (500 Startups), ex-BCG and worked at Careem just before the acquisition by Uber. Most recently, she co-founded Palma de Salus, the "perfect hand sanitizer" inspired by the pain points that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Above all, Zina is a good old friend, a work colleague and someone I've always admired & enjoyed catching up with. We also lived in New York, San Francisco, Dubai and Amman at various stages of our lives, so naturally our discussion had multiple vantage points based on what we've experienced.

In this overdue catch up, we discuss trends and misconceptions surrounding startups, the pros and cons of management consulting, healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms (addictions), gender equality and the fascinating rebirth of KSA.

- Learn about Palma de Salus here: https://palmadesalus.com/

- Follow Zina on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zinaajlouny/

- Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

My cousin Fady is a seasoned C-level executive in the advertising industry who recently got neck deep into NFTs. It all started when I introduced him to crypto at a family dinner in 2020, right in the midst of the last bull cycle. Fast forward 2 years later and he's become a walking NFT encyclopedia.

In this episode, we discuss the difference use cases for NFTs (beyond just digital art), the hype over specific NFT projects, why people should consider to at least dip their toes in this new asset class, how to vet different projects, NFT jargon and much more. We also discuss how NFTs ignited a new fire in Fady's life (personally and professionally) and bridged a generational gap between him and his kids.

Learn more about Fady's recent endeavor into NFTs here:

https://nonfungiblepunks.io

https://www.instagram.com/non.fungibl...

Follow Fady on Instagram and LinkedIn here:

https://www.instagram.com/fadfad73/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fadykarim/

Dana Fakhoury (aka Earlybird) is an incredible up & coming Artist and Music Producer who was recently a Resident Performer at Dubai's Expo 2020. I came across a couple of her tracks and was blown away not only with her style of music, but also with her masterful ability to play the guitar and the Ableton Push in a live setting (despite her hand injuries, which also led her to double down on her music passion).

In this episode, Dana debuts her newest track 'Traveler', which was inspired by one of her mom's favorite old Arabic songs and by her own journey as a musician. Watch her live performance and the full episode on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvf3xNriBMU

Follow 'Earlybird' on all socials and music streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/earlybird

Rawan is an eclectic individual and an outspoken critic of the BS that gets regurgitated on LinkedIn, which is how I initially stumbled into her on my newsfeed. As it turns out, many more of Rawan's LinkedIn posts had gone viral including her thoughts on women empowerment, career choices, social stereotypes and everything in between.

I found Rawan's opinions and vocal presence on LinkedIn to be quite refreshing, so I invited her to have an open chat about a bunch of topics including:

- Traveling & working as a freelancer compared to full-time employment

- Misguided career ambitions & disingenuity on LinkedIn

- Empowerment of women & toxic masculinity

- Volunteering and why many (including myself) don't do enough or any

(.. and of course, no episode would be complete without discussing fun facts about whale sharks and dogs!)

Nour is a certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Coach and a dear friend of mine. In this episode, we discuss what is NLP and how it fits within the overarching theme of self mastery. Nour shares valuable and practical examples of how NLP can be transformative in our every day lives and sheds light on her own self development journey.

Fouad Jeryes & Sinan Taifour are serial entrepreneurs who co-founded several companies together over the last 10 years, most recently Maqsam (maqsam.com). In this candid episode, we discuss the impact of our childhood & our environments on our adult selves, mental health, misguided ambition and the healthy pursuit of authentic success and fulfilment.

فؤاد جريس وسنان طيفور رواد أعمال شاركوا في تأسيس عدة شركات ناشئة معًا على مدار السنوات العشر الماضية ومنها شركة مقسم. في هذا الحوار الصريح، نناقش أهمية الصحة النفسية والعقلية، تأثير طفولتنا وبيئاتنا على طموحنا والتعريف الصحيح للنجاح

Suna is a Palestinian Entrepreneur living in Jerusalem. She's also the Founder of Tawazon, the 1st mobile app for meditation & mindfulness in Arabic. In this episode, we discuss the history, perceptions, benefits and recent trends surrounding mindfulness - specifically for Arabs. We also had an interesting chat about her entrepreneurial story since 2018 and what it's like to build & grow a tech startup especially under the challenging circumstances in Palestine, while also raising 3 children with her husband.

Tawazon app is available on Apple and Android.

Are you a Generator, Projector, Manifestor or Reflector?

This is just one of the many layers within ‘Human Design’, which is a new-age pseudoscience for self-discovery that is fascinating to say the least. I had my mind blown learning about it for the 1st time from my good friend Fares Bdeir, who also spoke to me in depth about the ‘Law of Attraction’ and how it led him to NFTs - a topic he’s extremely passionate and knowledgeable about.

Human Design combines various modalities from ancient eastern philosophies (Kabbalah, I Ching, Hindu-Brahmin chakra system), quantum physics (neutrinos) and astrology to help people understand their types based on their energetic imprint. It was founded by Alan Krakower during a mystical experience he had in Ibiza in 1987!

While I remain a skeptic when it comes to any pseudoscience, I always like to approach new modalities with a curious mind and I strongly believe that things don’t have to be necessarily right for them to be useful. Especially in the constantly evolving realm of psychoanalysis, the ‘science’ is usually inconclusive at best or hubris at worst - so it’s far more useful to find a narrative that resonates well to live the best versions of ourselves. For example, the infamous Myers-Briggs assessment that's based on Carl Jung’s personality types has been shown to be highly inconsistent and inaccurate in recent studies.

I think It is equally important to take any psychoanalysis (scientific or otherwise) as a directional tool and not get too attached or culty about it, especially when there's no shortage of exploitative therapists, psychiatrists, healers and everything in between.