Streams of Progress

Asunción Molinos Gordo is a research-based artist strongly influenced by disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and cultural studies. In her practice she questions the categories that define ‘innovation’ in mainstream discourses today, working to generate a less urban-centric way of understanding progress.

Her latest work, In Transit: Botany of a Journey, is on display at the Jameel Arts Centre's Artist's Garden until May 2020. It consists of a garden grown from seeds that have travelled in the intestines of people that either live in or visit the city of Dubai. Most of the seeds we eat in our daily meals pass unnoticed and survive the process of human digestion, leaving our bodies undamaged and remaining germinable. Dubai as a global city and the business hub of the Middle East receives an average of 90 million travellers a year, coming from 270 destinations, across six continents. The culinary habits of such a heterogeneous population is incomparable; all of the seeds ingested by Dubai’s fluid and transient population make their way to the same location — the city’s main sewage treatment plant in Al-Aweer. If given the appropriate conditions, the seeds contained in the plant’s final, clean ‘sludge’ will germinate and grow into adult plants.

Asunción's Artist’s Garden is grown from the seeds that survive. The project reflects on ideas around globality, interconnectivity, mobility and cohabitation, and challenges the nature-culture divide that places human activity as a separate category from other natural phenomena; through the artist’s long-term research and the germination of the seeds, Asuncion redraws a way back to human/nature interconnectedness.

The main focus of her work is contemporary peasantry. Her understating of the figure of the small or medium farmer is not merely as food producer but as cultural agent, responsible for both perpetuating traditional knowledge and for generating new expertise. She employs installation, photography, video, sound and other media to examine the rural realm driven by a strong desire to understand the value and complexity of its cultural production, as well as the burdens that keep it invisible and marginalised.

She has produced work reflecting on land usage, nomad architecture, farmers’ strikes, bureaucracy on territory, transformation of rural labour, biotechnology and global food trade.

Molinos Gordo won the Sharjah Biennial Prize 2015 with her project WAM (World Agriculture Museum) and represented Spain official section at the 13th Havana Biennial 2019. Her work has been exhibited at venues including V&A Museum (London), Delfina Foundation (London), ARNOLFINI (Bristol), The Townhouse Gallery (Cairo), Darat Al Funun (Amman), Tranzit (Prague), ART BASEL Miami Beach (US), Cappadox Festival (Uchisar-Turkey), The Finnish Museum of Photography (Helsinki), Museo Carrillo Gil (Mexico), MAZ Museo de Arte de Zapopan (Mexico), MUSAC (León, Spain), CA2M (Madrid, Spain), CAB de Burgos (Spain), Matadero (Madrid, Spain) and La Casa Encendida (Madrid, Spain), among others.

She obtained her B.F.A. from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where she also pursued her Master in Contemporary Art Theory and Practice. She is currently studying Anthropology and Ethnography at UNED (Spain).

Molinos Gordo is represented by Travesia Cuatro gallery and lives between Spain and Egypt.

Enjoy the show!

• 01:15 - Growing up in a small rural village in Spain.
• 01:45 - What is International Peasantry?
• 3:45 - Communication without language, but through commonalities.
• 4:15 - Her background in fine arts
• 5:00 - The diversity of professions in small rural villages
• 5:45 - Moving to Egypt for a research residency.
• 6:30 - The rural theme she explores in her works.
• 7:15 - The ongoing research and artworks.
• 8:30 - Being part of the Sharjah Bienniale with her work, the World Agriculture Museum
• 10:45 - On representing Spain at the Havana Biennale, campesino campesino (from Peasant to Peasant)
• 13:30 - The knowledge sharing aspect of the project.
• 14:30 - Taking part in the V&A exhibition, “food bigger than the plate”.
• 16:15 - Crafting the CVs of farmers through hyperboles.
• 18:00 - In Transit: Botany of a Journey
• 22:30 - On working with collaborators to bring her idea to life: Dawn Ross and Nadine
• 23:45 - What they did with 2 cubic meters of fecal matter to grow a garden.
• 28:15 - Bacteria & the Star Wars Cantina.
• 29:30 - The reason why the first batch is not recommended / suitable for human consumption.
• 31:00 - Why the UAE is an ideal location for such an art installation project.
• 32:15 - Being inspired by the works of Timothy Morton.
• 35:30 - The way she learns about things is through hands-on experiences.
• 36:20 - “Each individual renders information differently”
• 37:30 - The things she has the tendency to do.
• 40:00 - The idea of nature-culture divide; interdependence and mutual recognition
• 44:30 - Documenting Darwin’s Nightmare.
• 48:15 - Companion planting in the terrace garden.

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Jasper Hope has had a prestigious career in the music and entertainment industry over the last 2 decades and continues to impact our region's arts and entertainment scene. Since departing from his role at the Dubai Opera, he has continued to engage with various figures and entities in the promotion of the arts and music industries in the MENA region, through his work at Proscenium Arts.  

He is considered one of the most influential figures in Dubai, as voted amongst the 100 most inspirational leaders in the business world for the year 2018. Driven by a passion for enticing creative performances, he travelled worldwide to renowned performance halls, going from being the Head of Operations in Royal Albert Hall in London to be the CEO of Dubai Opera.

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Marc Cirera is the founder and CEO of Companies for Good, a social enterprise designed to help businesses change for good. Marc is a business ethics, CSR and sustainability specialist with a clear vision: a world where companies operate in a more sustainable and responsible way. He strongly believes that good business practices help companies outperform, while benefiting employees, the environment, and society at large.

He believes doing business in a more ethical and sustainable way not only benefits society and the environment, but it helps companies outperform too.

Enjoy the show!

• 02:15 - His love for traveling and meeting new people
• 03:00 - Studying economics, realizing how lucky he was and his decision to pursue business ethics and giving back.
• 04:30 - Setting up his first business in Barcelona while being bored in university classes.
• 05:30 - On moving to London for love
• 05:45 - Moving to London and working there.
• 07:15 - At the age of 25 in London and not knowing how the corporate world works after graduating
• 06:45 - Coming from Tona in Catalonia and setting up the Itaca Cultural Space.
• 08:00 - On selling his first business
• 08:45 - His first sustainability role at Radley Yeldar.
• 10:45 - Hungry for more experiences
• 11:15 - Small world connections that lead him to Dubai.
• 11:45 - The story on how he met his wife.
• 14:00 - Joining Chalhoub Group in Dubai as part of the sustainability team.
• 15:00 - Pillars, KPIs and Objectives for sustainability.
• 16:00 - The drive and need to create something of his own.
• 17:45 - What is Companies for Good? Good on-demand.
• 19:45 - The types of engagements Companies for Good offers.
• 21:15 - Engagements all across UAE and Spain.
• 22:00 - What motivates Marc
• 22:45 - On how his role models inspired him - his grandfather and Mohammed Yunus
• 24:30 - On his thoughts on routine and being self-disciplined without routines.
• 26:00 - His hobby revolving around making someone special laugh.
• 27:45 - “Do Good” and what it means to everyone.
• 28:45 - His favorite books, from Game of Thrones
• 29:00 - Political documentaries focused on the Catalonia - Spain debate
• 32:30 - His dream initiative would be for all companies to join forces to come together for a common goal for Expo 2020
• 36:00 - The importance of taking action and doing things rather than just complaining about it. Just take action.

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As a dynamic entrepreneur in the automotive industry, Oweis Zahran is the force behind launching innovative solutions in this sector in the Middle East. Born and educated in the USA, Oweis has a strong affinity to this region since his father set up businesses in the UAE under MZ Holdings in the early 90s. The Holding company’s 16 subsidiaries, in three continents, are primarily in the field of equipment supply, industrial manufacturing, automotive R&D, oil and gas as well as construction.

Before he joined University of Maryland as a business undergrad, Oweis was being mentored by his father and unlike other teenagers he was involved in major international business deals. This hands-on experience prepared him for a leadership role, which helped in the evolution and expansion of MZ Holdings’ B2C business. From setting up the largest auto remanufacturing unit in the UAE and expanding it to seven countries, to developing exclusive auto solutions with international celebrities, to launching a joint venture with the Government of Sharjah, Oweis, at the age of 28, manages three of its companies that include OWS Auto, Tatra Middle East and Transaxle ME.

As a serial entrepreneur, Oweis established Rafid Automotive Solutions in 2017 as a joint venture between Sharjah Asset Management and OWS Auto. Today Rafid operates diverse services that includes an accident reporting app, fleet of electric cars and provides vehicle emission testing to quick service and parts supply and more. In 2017, Oweis Zahran also launched Voltron Motors in the UAE and the US with Hollywood actor Tyrese Gibson, mostly known for his roles in The Fast and The Furious franchise. Customizing cars for corporates or individuals, Voltron Motors’ clientele range from Hollywood celebrities to corporate fleets to high profile people in the Middle East.

Oweis’s philanthropic endeavors match his business ambitions. The company runs a small yet significant operation of providing clean drinking water to families in Nigeria and Ghana. Established in 2015, with the collaboration of Nigerian ambassador to the UAE, H.E. Mohammed Gello, Oweis along with his brothers, have since established six drilling rigs in Africa.

Enjoy the show!

01:15 - What it was like being born and raised in Brooklyn as an African American.

06:30 - His father’s decision to move the family to the Middle East to pursue his entrepreneurial career.

07:30 - The FMS, Foreign Military Sales business of his father’s big initial success

08:15 - Moving from Dubai back to the US for university

10:30 - On getting his GED.

12:30 - Learning from real life projects and case studies at work.

13:00 - Taking Harvard Online Business school programs to further his own learning.

13:45 - The mentorship of his father and how it played a role in shaping his own entrepreneurial journey.

15:30 - Setting up OWS Automotive with his brothers.

18:00 - Shadowing his father, including be his personal driver.

21:45 - Joint venture with Sharjah Government

27:45 - The story behind Tyrese Gibson and Voltron Motors

32:00 - His views on the luxury car market in the UAE

34:30 - Philanthropic work, clean drinking projects in West Africa

38:45 - Turning off his phone for the weekend and realizing you won’t really mis out on anything.

42:00 - The importance of being healthy and working out

44:15 - His message on a billboard, “train hard, fight easy”

46:30 - Tyrese’s Book, Getting out of my own head

47:30 - His hobby of browsing the internet and researching what’s out there

48:45 - UAE’s role and opportunity to extend its arm to support and help other emerging markets.

52:30 - His message to all entrepreneurs out there.

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Briar Prestidge is the CEO and founder of Briar Prestidge International, a high-profile marketing, branding and reputation building agency operating in Dubai, London and New York. Working with world leaders, top CEOs, government, entertainers and strategists, they boost client’s prestige and elevate them to become impactful international business influencers.

A qualified digital marketer with an international career spanning across Dubai, New York, London and Australia, Briar specialises in building engaging and ‘human’ content strategises in what she refers to as ‘new-age PR.’ In 2018, Briar and her team launched a leading regional podcasting series with experts and were part of a global Amazon Prime TV series, overseeing teams of well-known entrepreneurs in the Middle East and APAC regions. Speaking on international stages, Briar delivers engaging keynotes on personal branding, “no-fluff” Instagram and LinkedIn strategies, new-age PR and digital media, and building an online-offline reputation.

Briar practices what she preaches and has built an engaged business community in Dubai of over 35,000 people - online and offline - who attend her monthly Deals in High Heels talk shows to discuss personal and professional development. She had over 2000 business women attend her talk show events in one short year.

As a young entrepreneur originally from a small farm in New Zealand, Briar is driven to inspire people to be brave, strategic and work hard to follow your dreams. Her first book, ‘Building A Reputation for Business Success’ is being launched this year, along with her new fashion fitness and sunglasses label.

Enjoy the show!

Show Notes:

• 7:30 - Starting her side hustle

• 8:45 - On being fired from her last job and the lack of passion for that.

• 10:45 - Her MO for moving to cities she had never visited before.

• 13:15 - Starting her “Deal in High Heels” talk show

• 14:30 - Her strategy for Hashtags to grow her following

• 16:45 - Filming of an Amazon Prime series

• 18:45 - Looking to Oprah Winfrey & Ellen DeGeneres as role models for the talk show

• 19:45 - The power of repeat network events and building trust with others

• 20:30 - One of various series they produce

• 21:30 - Starting a sunglass and fashion label

• 23:30 - Writing a book, “Building a reputation for business success”

• 25:15 - The importance of controlling your online presence

• 26:15 - Identifying what kind of brand you want to build with your vision

• 28:15 - Documenting your life vs. ‘creating it’

• 32:15 - Challenging the status quo

• 34:45 - Her hobbies and routines

• 35:45 - Briar’s view on the great initiatives coming out of Dubai to be a leader in sustainability and technology innovation

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Karl W. Feilder is a serial entrepreneur, Founder and Chairman of The Neutral Group and CEO of Neutral Fuels. “I’m not an environmentalist, I’m just trying to save the planet,” Karl says, and his direct actions to mitigate climate change have already resulted in over 10.5 million tonnes of CO2e savings from global corporations, such as DHL, Del Monte, Anglo American, and McDonald’s. 

In the last decade, Karl has built up The Neutral Group from a two-person start-up to an international business, and is now preparing its Neutral Fuels LLC subsidiary, a company that produces biofuel from used cooking oil, for an IPO on the London AIM stock market in 2023. Simultaneously, Karl is building another subsidiary Neutral Assets LLC into an “Internet of Things” asset management company. 

Since starting his first company in 1990, and selling it to Microsoft, Karl has built and sold five companies, and led two companies to their Initial Public Offering. He has conducted business in 46 countries and has created a world first this year – a highly innovative strategy to turn human faeces into reusable energy. 

Karl mentors start-ups across industry, and was the first Adjunct Lecturer at the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. He has worked as a Catalyst at Hult International Business School in both Dubai and San Francisco. Karl holds an B.Eng. (Hons.) in Industrial Engineering, an executive MBA, and is writing his thesis on “Psychological profiling of start-up teams.” 

As the regional expert on biofuels and their adoption in the Middle East, Karl and his company have won regional and international awards and Karl delivers keynotes on entrepreneurship, business and sustainability, all over the world. 

Enjoy the discussion.

Show Notes:

• 01:30 - On being an entrepreneur for all his life, he was just born to be an entrepreneur
• 04:45 - First startup in the UK and selling to Microsoft
• 05:45 - How Microsoft courted them to sell
• 07:15 - Joining a biker gang post exit
• 11:00 - His multiple ventures and IPOs following the biker gang years
• 14:15 - The founding of the Neutral Group
• 15:15 - What is the Neutral Group?
• 23:30 - Getting a fuel production license in the UAE
• 25:45 - Opening more facilities in other countries in the region
• 27:15 - The different types of fuels they produce at Neutral Fuels
• 30:30 - The challenge of building a great diverse team
• 32:45 - “Never meet your heroes”
• 35:00 - On being a lead singer of a rockband
• 38:45 - How Dubai is perfectly suited for an entrepreneur like Karl
• 41:00 - How redtape is seen as an opportunity in Dubai
• 42:30 - On the merits of making time everyday to think
• 45:15 - The benefits of discovering what makes you happy
• 55:15 - His ‘non-words of wisdom’ wisdom to share

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In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Corrie Block, CEO of Paragon Consulting, where he shared some great stories about his experiences in Estonia & Yemen prior to making Dubai his home.

Dr Corrie Block is a leading business strategist and CEO of Paragon Consulting, Professor of Strategic Management at Monarch Business School, and certified NLP Executive Coach, with over 20 years’ experience working on more than 100 companies.

Dr Corrie has provided strategic consulting for the Council of Europe and World Bank, tech start-ups, multinationals and governments, across more than 30 continents. He’s founded 5 successful businesses in Europe and MENA and received awards for his product innovations.

As both an academic and practitioner, he completed all of his post-grad studies (including master’s in business administration & Global Leadership, a Doctorate in Business Administration and a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies), all while working full time. He has been published in Gulf Business, Forbes, CEO Magazine, Entrepreneur, Business Islamica, Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies and Routledge Academic Books.

As an international speaker, Dr Corrie is often asked to speak on stages around the world. He delivers workshops and deep insights on employee engagement, meaningful management, A.I, culture, tech, innovation and the organization of the future. Dr Corrie believes that “business is personal” and runs a leading, regional podcast featuring panels of experts.

As a strategic consultant to multinationals, governments and startups alike, he shared his insights into many thought provoking concepts such as the ‘work life blend’ and how business is personal.

Show Notes:

* 1:30 - From Canada to Estonia

* 2:45 - 2 Masters and 2 Doctorates

* 3:00 - Arab Islamic Studies & moving to Yemen

* 6:30 - War seems like a good reason to leave a country

* 10:00 - Explaining “line of fire” to a 7 year old

* 12:00 - Coming to Dubai as the war in Yemen intensified

* 15:00 - The chemical formula for happiness

* 17:30 - “People want to be the best they can be”

* 18:45 - Business is personal

* 21:15 - Engagements with the Al Masood Family

* 26:00 - The Chicki Chunk story

* 28:15 - Emirates Macaroni Factory

* 31:45 - Resentment for the other half of a father’s life

* 35:45 - Work life blend

* 39:45 - His daily routines and the discipline to write 2 books concurrently

* 41:00 - Who Dr. Corrie looks to for inspiration or as role models

* 42:30 - His top 3 books to recommend to people

* 45:30 - His addiction to Spartan Races

* 52:15 - Dr. Corrie’s outlook on the potential of Dubai as a R&D hub for future health technologies

* 55:30 - “Do something meaningful or find meaning in something you are doing”

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This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.

These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Toghrul Samadov, CEO of Buglance.

Buglance is a crowd testing company that connects software testers with software development companies all over the world. We test mobile apps, games and websites for bugs, security and UX/UI issues.

Toghrul is a serial entrepreneur and growth hacker. All his businesses combine 3 ingredients: Technology, Art and Science. He has been building teams, developing products such as e-commerce websites, entertainment and productivity apps and mobile games for the past 14 years. 

Please enjoy this discussion from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program.

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This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.

These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Patrick Rogers, CEO of Clara. 

Clara is a SaaS platform that digitises and automates startup legal expertise. Clara empowers founders to efficiently set up and manage their legal structure to ensure their startup's venture-readiness while providing unmatched portfolio management and market intelligence to investors.

Patrick has been a previous guest on Streams of Progress, as a partner at the law firm, Support Legal. The founding team of Support Legal are the same founders behind Clara Technologies, joined alongside their CTO, Arthur Guest.

Arthur is an MIT-trained systems architect with a speciality in complex decision modelling. While at MIT, he helped conceive and design the 20-year program human spaceflight strategy known as Flexible Path for the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee in 2009. 

Arthur was also co-founder and CTO of a San Francisco-based e-commerce company, BeautyArmy, that provided personalized beauty sample subscriptions to its over 300,000 members.

Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program.

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This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.

These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Lance Lin, CEO of LuggAgent.

LuggAgent is a Global Concierge that offers the luxury of Time and Freedom. It started with the goal of eliminating the burden of luggage hassles. 

Lance is an Economics major with a deep interest in numbers and analytics. He dabbled in the insurance industry leading a team of 20 before founding LuggAgent where he excelled at networking across multiple regions and building meaningful relationships and opportunities.

Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.