The Matrix Green Pill

Jody Shield is a visionary entrepreneur, business mentor, and global thought leader in energetic intelligence and conscious leadership. With a background in corporate advertising, where she worked with global brands such as Nike, Lululemon, and Sony Ericsson, Jody made a bold and unexpected leap in 2013 when she walked away from her high-flying career to follow an inner calling.

Originally from Liverpool and now based in Lisbon, with expansion underway in Dubai, Jody has since built multiple purpose-led brands, including Magnificent Money and Visionary Entrepreneurs, and has guided over 100,000 women across more than 80 countries. Her work blends strategy, psychology, energetics, and leadership, helping women build aligned, multi-million-pound and dollar businesses without burnout. 

Known for pioneering conversations around the energetics of money, power, and success long before they became mainstream, Jody is a leader of leaders, supporting women to scale with clarity, confidence, and integrity.

About this Episode

In this expansive and energising episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Jody Shield to explore what it truly means to lead, scale, and succeed in alignment. Jody shares the pivotal moment that changed her life forever: an inner voice that told her to quit her corporate job, setting her on an entirely new path of entrepreneurship, healing, and conscious leadership.

Jody also speaks candidly about the patterns that hold women back from scaling with confidence, including fear of their own power, resistance to defining a clear vision, and inherited beliefs around money and success. She introduces a new paradigm of building businesses from feminine leadership and energetic alignment rather than force, hustle, or burnout, and explains why strategy alone is no longer enough.

Quotes

3:03 - I found myself with a really powerful indigenous culture. They actually taught me many of their principles and values. And that revealed some great knowledge in me consciously, which was the fact that the mind creates conditions in the body, creates illnesses, viruses, diseases in the body.

 8:36 - We actually inherit information from our parents and their parents, and actually from our ancestral lineage. Many indigenous cultures already know this.

 14:51 - It's actually very simple to deploy lots of these strategies and techniques and tactics.

 18:38 - You will start to see more and more people around you in your network being more open, just naturally being more open. Sometimes we have to have a bit of a breakdown to have a breakthrough, depending on our journey.

 21:02 - The biggest fear that I feel is present amongst women is a fear of how powerful we are, actually, how powerful we can be. 

22:30 - We can observe women in power on our planet right now, and yet women are very much in power from a very masculine dominating energy.

 23:56 - Building and scaling a business from a feminine energy is understanding that we are energy. We have power within us.

 25:38 - We are seeing also, especially in my world or in my networks or in my industry, women transforming into very powerful women.

 26:34 - Women are reluctant to define and solidify a vision for themselves.

29:37 - We actually certify mainly women at the moment to be money coaches, to learn the tools and the techniques and the methods to dive deeply into their transformation around money and also to apply what we're teaching them to their careers doesn't need to be that they become a money coach.

29:55 - That is all about repairing the relationship with yourself.

 32:03 - I'm a leader of leaders within that particular business.

 36:09 - Entrepreneursh

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Amrit Dhaliwal is the CEO and founder of Walfinch, one of the UK’s fastest-growing home care franchise networks. His journey into social care didn’t start in a boardroom but behind the counter of an Italian deli and inside a Mary Antoinette–style tea room he built from scratch. After studying economics and history, Amrit quickly realised corporate life wasn’t for him and threw himself into entrepreneurship, learning business the hard way through hospitality, long hours, and very little sleep.

A chance introduction to domiciliary care through his now-wife’s family led him into the care sector as a franchisee. There, he saw first-hand the inefficiencies of paper-based systems and outdated models. He built and sold his first care brand, then founded Walfinch to reimagine home care and franchising: tech-enabled, scalable, values-led, and built to empower “everyday” entrepreneurs to succeed.

Today, Amrit is focused on building a £100 million network across 100 locations, while reshaping how the UK thinks about aging. For him, care is not just about survival, but what he calls “time to thrive”, combining wellness, technology, and community so older adults can live better, not just longer.

About this Episode

In this energising episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison talks with Amrit Dhaliwal about how he went from running an Italian deli and tea room to leading a national home care franchise network that’s redefining both aging and entrepreneurship.

Amrit shares the gritty early days of working multiple jobs, commuting long hours, sleeping four hours a night, and learning business by doing. He explains how becoming a care franchisee opened his eyes to serious gaps in the sector, from filing-cabinet systems to clunky franchising models, and how those frustrations became the blueprint for Walfinch.

Amrit also shares practical advice for business owners considering franchising their model: why you must treat “being a franchisor” as a different business, the importance of mentors who’ve actually done it, and how not to fall into the trap of chasing money instead of learning.

At its heart, this episode is about building businesses that care deeply and scale wisely, and about rebranding aging from something people endure to a stage of life where they truly have time to thrive.

Quotes

3:50 - My passion is very much with other entrepreneurs and really focused on trying to change how we think about aging in the UK and how we think about entrepreneurship within the social care space.

 5:00 - We need to be more technology driven.

 6:17 - Franchising is where you can get an average entrepreneur and make them successful. It's not just about getting the top-tier entrepreneurs and making them successful.

 7:52 - I really pride myself on me and my team being able to sort of outwork people. 

8:12 - There is no substitute for hard work.

 9:11 - I'm all about resilience. I think there is no mindset that is more kind of useful than that.

 10:01 - Having that growth mindset is very important, but actually really just being super, super resilient because actually business is really hard and you get knocked down on a regular basis, and the ability to stand up and go again is the ability to win.

 15:07 - Having clear values is really important.

 16:03 - Having awkward conversations regularly is important, making sure that you've got a clear set of values and vision and also people align in that vision and they understand those values.

 24:07 - Don't chase money. Focus on learning, find a mentor, find a coach, and then keep finding the next one, and just keep learning from people that are ahead of you.

Useful Links

Website: 

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Born in Sudan, raised in California, and now living in Egypt, Leena Magdi writes about grief, love, and healing with disarming honesty. After losing her 21-year-old brother in August 2022, Leena turned to the page as her only safe place to feel. Her debut book, Mourning Air, published in April 2025, blends poetry, prose, and narrative to trace the non-linear terrain of loss; shock, acceptance, anger, guilt, longing, and the slow work of integration.

Grounded in her master’s studies in positive psychology and a bicultural life between Sudan and the United States, Leena explores how grief can “break us open,” expanding our capacity for compassion, faith, and growth. She advocates for conversations around underrecognized grief, especially sibling grief, and for welcoming emotion rather than resisting it.

About this Episode

In this deeply moving episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with author and poet Leena Magdi to explore the many layers of grief, identity, resilience, and healing. Leena shares the story of losing her younger brother Hamoodi following the 2021 military coup in Sudan, a loss that shattered her world and ultimately reshaped her life.

The conversation moves gently through Leena’s lived experience: the cultural contrasts of growing up between Sudan and California, the shock and sudden acceptance that carried her through the immediate aftermath, and the quiet ways she hid her grief to protect her family. She talks about how writing became her only outlet when her mind felt too heavy to meditate or process emotion, and how her book emerged from a need to make sense of the overwhelming weight inside her.

Leena reflects on the many “faces” of grief, shock, guilt, denial, longing, anger, and the strange moments of recognition when she still thinks she sees her brother. She explains why grief doesn’t get easier, why it isn’t meant to, and how being “broken open” can expand a person’s ability to grow, love, and understand themselves.

She also discusses the cultural silence around sibling grief, the hierarchy of who is “allowed” to grieve, and why she felt compelled to share her story so others wouldn’t have to navigate their loss in isolation. From prayer and poetry to carrying forward her brother’s kindness and generosity, Leena offers a vulnerable and profound look at rebuilding a life after unimaginable loss.

Quotes

2:29 - There's a lot of tolerance there in the culture. The culture is a very tolerant type of culture. And in Sudan, your differences are kind of pointed out.

 2:59 - The lives of people are different. The way people think is different, the priorities are different. Even the way people approach well-being, what's important in life, is very different.

 3:55 - Just as how there's so many differences, there's also shared similarities and shared values.

 6:38 - It really was a gift from God because there was no other way I would have been able to function mentally, emotionally, and physically if I didn't have that innate feeling of acceptance.

 9:52 - I don't think the grief itself is a negative thing. I think it's something that should be welcomed as a part of your life.

 13:33 - I realized that if this is helping me so much and grief is so universal, it's gotta relate to other people.

 18:50 - It can't get easier, but you just learn different ways to keep going in life and to keep them with you.

 20:35 - Open yourself to the whole feeling and then see how you can grow through that. As painful as that thought and that concept is to grow through your grief, but you can.

 21:35 - Healing means accepting everything that's going on, like all the negatives that's going on in your life and yourself recognising the dark thoughts that you'r

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Victoria Myers is the founder of the Small Retailer Network, the UAE’s leading membership community for product-based business owners. With a two-decade career in the UK retail industry, she worked her way up from the shop floor to managing 13 stores across Scotland and Northern England for major fashion and accessories brands, including Radley and Karen Millen.

Her experience spans customer experience, trading cycles, sales leadership, store operations, and head-office strategy. After relocating to the UAE, Victoria shifted from corporate retail to consultancy, eventually creating a community-driven network that now supports more than 350 small business owners through training, mentorship, and collaboration.

Her mission is to bring big-brand structure, strategy, and trading knowledge to small independent brands while creating a space where founders, especially women—can learn, connect, and grow without isolation or competition.

About this Episode

Victoria shares her journey from teenage retail assistant to leading one of the UAE’s most influential communities for product entrepreneurs. She talks about the early lessons she learned selling bed linen at 16, why the customer’s needs go far beyond the product in their hands, and how working across multiple UK brands taught her that behind every successful retailer lies the same set of systems, planning rhythms, and trading strategies.

We explore the pivotal moments that shaped her career—not the promotions she earned, but the ones she didn’t. Victoria explains how rejection pushed her to seek new opportunities, how tough feedback became a catalyst for growth, and why success often follows our most painful setbacks. 

Quotes

2:59 - It's very easy to exceed customer expectations and go above and beyond and really delight them when you listen to them and understand what it is that they need.

 7:44 - I think it really taught me like success is not necessarily linear, and sometimes the things that you think are the right thing for you is not necessarily the right path. And actually, just because something doesn't work out doesn't mean there's not some other opportunity, there's something else around the corner that will end up being a better opportunity in the long run.

 9:25 - I always want people to tell me what they think, so that I can improve myself and continue to progress.

 9:38 - Feedback, and sometimes it can feel scary to ask because sometimes people don't say what you want to hear. Honest feedback is always positive in the long term. You just need to make sure that you don't take it too personally and see it as the learning opportunity that it is. 

13:25 - I just really wanted everybody to be able to come together and support each other to succeed in a way that at that time they didn't really have that support network around them.

15:30 - If you collaborate and work together with others, then not only do you get that support and that confidence to keep going when things are tough, but you also just progress so much more quickly and with so much more confidence.

 16:03 - Working together and collaborating just brings success for everybody across the board, and it just makes the journey so much easier.

 23:13 - Find some support, find some help, start talking to other people about what advice they can give you.

 30:01 - You need to be able to keep going even when things are challenging. You need to be able to dust yourself off and start a game if things don't go according to plan.

 30:29 - Community means everything to me. It means support, it means growth, and it means success together.

Useful Links

Website:https://www.smallretailernetwork.com/

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Ayah Yahia AlRashdan is a marketing strategist and leader who blends engineering-level analytical thinking with a deep understanding of culture, people, and place. Born in Jordan and raised in Qatar, she earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering before pivoting into marketing through an MBA in Malaysia, where she also landed her first role in the industry.

Over the past 15 years, Ayah has worked across government, private sector, startups, and SMEs, building campaigns that don’t just reach audiences but move them. Today, as Marketing Director at LinkViva, she has helped transform marketing from a one-woman function into a 40-person operation, delivering large-scale experiences such as Liwa Village and other flagship events across the UAE.

Her leadership is shaped by time spent in male-dominated boardrooms, dealing with toxic environments, and rebuilding her confidence by carving out her own space and voice. She is passionate about empowering women in leadership, building teams grounded in respect rather than fear, and using storytelling-driven marketing to create genuine emotional connection, not just impressions and clicks.

About this Episode

In this conversation, Ayah walks us through her journey from electrical engineering to executive marketing leadership, showing how a willingness to pivot can completely reshape a career. She shares how growing up between Jordan and Qatar, then moving to Malaysia for her MBA, exposed her to different cultures and perspectives that later defined her storytelling-first approach to marketing. Ayah explains how her engineering background, far from being wasted, gave her the analytical mindset and problem-solving instincts that now serve as the backbone of her strategic work.

We explore the moments that tested her confidence, from early imposter syndrome to navigating male-dominated boardrooms and dealing with toxic leadership environments. Ayah opens up about the setback that pushed her to step away, rebuild her confidence, and reinvent herself during the pandemic by creating content, launching her own platform, and learning how to stand on her own professionally. Her story highlights how resilience isn’t always about enduring; sometimes it’s about walking away to protect your growth.

Ayah also shares the remarkable transformation she led at LinkViva—scaling marketing from a one-person role to a 40-member team delivering major cultural, entertainment, and wellness events across the UAE. She breaks down how storytelling, emotional connection, and cultural insight shape her campaigns, and offers practical advice for women in leadership: keep your voice loud, support your team, stay current, and step outside your comfort zone. Her path is a reminder that breaking stereotypes, staying curious, and trusting your instincts can lead to a purpose-driven and impactful career.

Quotes

2:50 - One of my main goals at that age was basically to love what I do and to wake up happy to go to work.

 3:09 - We are very problem-solving oriented and very analytical. And that helps a lot when it comes to developing a career in marketing.

 6:02 - I believe basically that when it comes to workplaces, I think females and males have different mentalities of how they handle specific situation challenges. And it's usually that I think men have been more empowered to take leaps into uncomfortable zones. But women always do more calculated uh risks.

 9:15 - We hired the right people, delivering the right quality of work.

 10:52 - It's keeping yourself busy and never giving up, no matter what you're doing. Sometimes a small thing that you're working on excites you and motivates you and gets you more engaged to do something bigger and bigger and bigger. It's uh believing in yourself.

 11:11 - Believing in yourself, trusting pe

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Arno Gazo is a French-born explorer, mindfulness practitioner, and the founder of Away Expedition, a platform dedicated to helping people reconnect with their inner truth through nature-based experiences. After building a financially successful real estate business in the UAE, Arno chose to step away from achievement-driven living and immerse himself in silence, nature, and self-discovery.

His work revolves around immersive 24-hour desert journeys, silent walking practices, and The Silent Box — a portable nature-inspired activation designed to bring the transformative power of stillness into cities, offices, malls, and events. Arno’s approach blends adventure, awareness, and mindful surrender, guiding people to access clarity, peace, and intuition by disconnecting from mental noise and returning to the essence of being.

About this Episode

Arno shares the inner shift that moved him from material success to a life rooted in awareness and purpose. After reaching financial freedom through real estate, he stepped into the unknown with “an empty cup,” letting go of metrics, milestones, and external validation. That journey sparked the creation of Away Expedition, where he now leads one-on-one 24-hour silent desert immersions designed to help people reconnect with themselves.

We explore how the desert becomes a profound teacher — a place where you cannot escape, where acceptance replaces resistance, and where silence reveals the truths our busy minds drown out. Arno explains why grounding through breath, observation, and stillness leads to deeper insight, and why so many people struggle to slow down in a world of noise, speed, and comparison.

He also introduces The Silent Box, a six-minute nature simulation that brings sensory calm into urban environments. Arno shares how this compact experience helps people face fears, reset mentally, and access a glimpse of the awareness they would gain in the desert — making it an accessible tool for workplaces, events, and public spaces.

We discuss how living in harmony with nature fosters authenticity over appearances, why intuition becomes louder when external influence fades, and how micro-actions can help even the busiest high achievers cultivate presence. Arno also talks about his two “green pill” moments: the first as an intern longing for freedom, and the second when he finally reached financial independence and realized it still wasn’t the ultimate goal.

Quotes

1:29 - I connect people with nature to help them feel calmer, clearer, and more alive.

 2:53 - I learned to discover what's beyond these things by going into a journey of letting go. And I was open to whatever would come.

 3:23 - I'd rather invest in someone who vibrates good energy and inspires communities instead of someone making millions selling weapons.

 4:24 - When we learn to cope with nature, this is like learning to cope with our own mind. And mastering living in these environments, which are tough, equals mastering our own mind.

5:45 - Instead of being angry, sad, or depressed because of the situation, we learn to center ourselves, observe, and accept reality as it is. And then the immersion is, and the more we surrender.

 8:34 - If you are in harmony with nature, you wouldn't resort to promoting chaos.

 10:00 - The greatest teacher I found is silence and nature. It taught me to find truth within, to listen to what I've not been able to hear because of the opinions of others. We might call this intuition.

 10:56 - One of the reasons that illnesses happen is because of this inability to connect with the essence and find alignment.

 15:34 - I would take microactions to foster self-awareness or even being grateful for life.

 16:24 - Every journey starts with one step.

 17:54 - I connect with nature,

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Georgina Pereira is the Manager of Species Survival at Expo City Dubai, where she plays a leading role in establishing the world’s first IUCN Center for Species Survival dedicated to fungi. Georgina blends a deep love for biodiversity with a mission to elevate one of the planet’s most overlooked kingdoms.

Her path to conservation was anything but ordinary. Georgina trained as a lawyer before realizing the career she had pursued for years no longer aligned with her purpose. Living with ADHD added another layer to her journey, shaping how she works, learns, and hyper-focuses on what truly excites her. A slow, intentional reconnection with nature during the COVID years brought her back to her childhood fascination with mushrooms—and ultimately set her on a new scientific path.

Today, Georgina is a voice for the “missing kingdom,” championing fungi’s role in ecosystems, bioinnovation, climate resilience, and community engagement. Her passion has taken her from the courtroom to the desert, the laboratory, and even the TED stage, where she shared her story of reinvention, curiosity, and purpose.

About This Episode

In this episode, Georgina takes us inside her remarkable career shift—from the fast-paced world of litigation to the hidden world of fungi. She shares how growing up in Dubai taught her resilience and adaptability, and how navigating ADHD helped her understand what truly lights her up.

Georgina talks about the deeply personal moment that pushed her to walk away from law, slow down, and rediscover her connection to nature. That shift led her to biodiversity, mycology, and eventually a leadership role in global conservation—proving that sometimes the most unexpected paths lead to the most authentic purpose.

She explains why fungi are so much more than mushrooms, revealing how these organisms can break down plastics, clean contaminated soil, and even revolutionize the fashion industry through mycelium-based textiles. Georgina also shares the mission behind the UAE’s first national macrofungal checklist and why community involvement is key to mapping the country’s fungal diversity.

From imposter syndrome in STEM to finding joy in being “a little bit weird,” Georgina offers grounded advice for young women in science and honest reflections on what resilience truly means. Her story is a powerful reminder that slowing down can help you find your way back to the life you were meant to live.

Quotes

2:27 - I realized very quickly that for the things that I did find passionate and like sort of curiosity around, I just wanted to do more. And so, I think ADHD sort of really helped me figure out what it was that I prioritized as being important for me.

 4:33- I started to look at what mattered the most to me and I started to really find biodiversity as my calling as a child.

 9:29 - I think the most mind-blowing thing that I figured out is that everything I look at, everything around me, is somehow connected back to fungi.

 11:41- I very quickly realized that if you're truly, truly passionate about something, the way you find those answers are not necessarily in what people might seem as mainstream ways to be able to find answers.

 11:58 - It's just understanding that you can channel that passion in whatever way you'd like, figure out creative solutions for problems that might currently exist.

 12:18 - Never think that it might not be something that's not your cup of tea just because one of the subjects aren't necessarily the best for you.

 12:39 - Keep trotting along, keep trotting along. And if it doesn't quite work for you, figure out a way to make it work, but stay passionate about it while you do it. 

18:43 - It's just perfectly all right to be a little bit weird, to be in your own space, and to thrive just when

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Brittany Garth Freeman is a digital marketing entrepreneur, business coach, and global speaker focused on women-centric brands. After starting in social work, she pivoted in 2014 and built Pinq Inc. into a multi-location agency with offices in Atlanta, Miami, and London. Her work and story have been featured on stages including TEDx, Amazon Prime’s The Blocks, the Women’s Economic Forum, and Cornell University. She is a Forbes Coaches Council member and the first person in the U.S. to receive a live coaching industry proclamation from the Governor of Virginia.

Brittany’s mission is rooted in empowerment with execution. She launched Pinq University, a free self-paced learning platform for women who need mentorship and skills training, and developed a coaching certification that is now licensed at the university level.

About this Episode

Brittany traces her journey from unpaid nonprofit work and near-homelessness to leading a seven-figure agency. The turning point came when early clients asked not just for motivation, but for the “how.” Teaching herself organic marketing on a shoestring, she proved the playbook, then began building it for others.

We cover how she scaled Pinq Inc. across three cities, why she serves women-led brands, and the mindset that sustains growth: choose clarity over comparison, build systems and funnels, and set expectations before you chase reach. Brittany explains why viral moments can expand awareness but rarely deliver scale on their own, and why today’s influencer marketing favors authentic UGC creators and lifestyle content over celebrity endorsements.

She unpacks Pinq University’s free curriculum and mentorship time, her now-licensed coaching certification, and the new CEO Social Club that blends education, networking, travel & tech perks, and partner access. Brittany also shares her pandemic pivot, when a shuttered coworking space could have ended the story, but instead sharpened her focus and tripled profits.

Quotes

2:30 - I wanted to work exclusively with women at the time. I wanted to empower women.

 5:06 - I learned. I read a lot of books, able to test different theories to see what worked. 

6:23 - My goal is always going to be about supporting women, no matter, you know, what level that they're at financially.

8:08 - Making sure that I am centering their expectations is the number one thing.

9:09 - You gotta have the tools. You have to have the actual system in place to make it to wherever it is that you're looking to go. Nothing is overnight right now. So, setting expectations is truly where you have to start.

10:09 - I'm a real big advocate on making sure that you're saying the right things to yourself and you're pouring back into yourself as much as possible because it can be tough, but you can't let your emotions to dictate what you're going to do about your future.

13:09 - It's all about leading with authentic creators, not creators that have millions of followers. That's not really working like it used to.

13:44 – Get clear before you become an entrepreneur because it’s a 24-7 job.

 14:35 - If you're not passionate about it, you can't dream, you can't see past what's in front of you at the current moment. It is going to be difficult for you to want to continue on with that business.

20:06 - We shouldn't rely too much on others empowering us. That's great if we have that, but it should be really self-centered as far as our empowerment.

22:48 - What I learned was that I was powerful enough to pivot, that we weren't just crumbling. We weren't just gonna let the odds happen to us and, you know, feeling like a victim. We had to learn to pivot at that very moment.

23:09 – So, another green pill moment for me is not giving up. Even though things kind of looked ve

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Sacha Christe is the founder and head of growth at Emirates Graphic, a Dubai-based digital agency that has grown from a solo bootstrapped venture into a 36-member global team across three countries. Originally from Switzerland, Sacha moved to Dubai at 17 to pursue entrepreneurship and has since built a career defined by resilience, execution, and mission-driven innovation.

Over the past 12 years, he has delivered more than 400 digital products, co-founded seven startups, and supported countless entrepreneurs on their business journeys. His leadership philosophy is grounded in long-term value creation, choosing quality over quantity, and building with purpose. Today, Sacha continues to scale successful digital ventures, while also actively mentoring emerging founders across the region through universities, incubators, and business councils.

About this Episode

In this inspiring conversation, Sacha Christe shares his remarkable journey from a young entrepreneur arriving in Dubai with limited resources to the visionary force behind Emirates Graphic.

He opens up about the early challenges of building a business in a new country, the importance of showing up despite setbacks, and why resilience and belief in your mission matter more than initial success. Sacha explains how saying “yes” to everything at the start taught him hard lessons about client selection, delivery, and long-term partnership, sparking a shift toward choosing quality clients and projects with aligned values.

We discuss how Sacha scaled from freelancers to international offices, the power of sticking with the right people, and the moment he chose not to return home even when things were toughest, a decision that changed everything.

Sacha also shares practical guidance for founders on product-market fit, knowing when to pivot or shut down a project, and the role of purpose in building a company that lasts. He explains why networking and surrounding yourself with the right people can accelerate your entrepreneurial path, and why building with passion and purpose pays off well beyond profit.

Whether you're a first-time founder or a seasoned entrepreneur, this episode is full of honest insights, mindset shifts, and real-world lessons from someone who has built, rebuilt, and continues to lift others along the way.

Quotes

2:30 - The belief that if you keep showing up, if you keep trying, you know, opportunities will come your way.

 3:14 - I realized that my passion had to do with digital transformation, marketing, building digital products. And that's why I ventured myself into Emirates Graphic and I grew it from there.

 4:49 - It taught me to change this model to basically underpromising and over-delivering, and most importantly, focus on quality of client, not just working with anybody that comes my way, but really making sure that we select clients that we believe in, clients that we know for a fact that we can help, and clients that we know for a fact that we can deliver what they expect to receive from our side.

 6:22 - We want to work with projects that we believe in and entrepreneurs that we believe in.

 6:51 - We're not just the company that will come in and take on the project, deliver the project, and then move on to another client.

 7:08 - We want to be part of that success. And in order to be part of that success, not only do we need to be aligned with those entrepreneurs in terms of their vision, motivation, and ambition, but we also need to believe in the product that they want to build.

 11:56 - What I want to say is once you get to a point where you have built a certain level of stability with your business and most of your processes are automated and you have the right delegation in place within your team members, you want to start giving back. This is one way of me g

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Gary Young is the founder and CEO of Avela Global, a multinational sourcing and manufacturing firm established in 2002. With over two decades of experience across Asia, Gary has built a company that bridges creativity, craftsmanship, and commerce. From his roots in advertising and commercial photography to leading operations across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and now Dubai, he has redefined how businesses source, design, and deliver products globally.

A storyteller at heart, Gary brings a human-centered approach to manufacturing—one that values transparency, quality, and collaboration. His career reflects both resilience and reinvention, from turning creative frustration into a global opportunity to overcoming stage-four cancer and emerging as a true example of purpose-driven leadership.

About this Episode
In this episode, Gary shares his remarkable journey from the world of advertising and photography to the manufacturing hubs of Asia. He recalls how a spontaneous trip to China in 2002 inspired a complete career transformation—leading him to establish Avela Global and build long-term partnerships rooted in trust and precision.

Gary discusses how curiosity and persistence shaped his company’s expansion from point-of-purchase displays to a full-scale sourcing and development firm serving clients worldwide. He also reveals why having “feet on the ground” in key markets remains the secret to delivering quality, solving problems early, and creating bespoke manufacturing solutions.

Reflecting on Dubai’s energy and potential, Gary explains what drew him to the city and how he aims to help local entrepreneurs create brands that reflect the region’s identity and ambition. His advice for business owners is simple but powerful: think big, stay patient, and never stop showing up—even when things get hard.

In a deeply personal moment, Gary opens up about surviving stage-four cancer and how that experience reshaped his view on life, leadership, and gratitude. His story is a testament to endurance, faith, and the belief that meaningful partnerships can transform not just companies—but lives.

Quotes

4:27 - The original vision was to fulfill the client's needs and go out and find those needs or those pains and see what I could do to alleviate those.

 6:49 - I feel confident and free to go out and find those clients and help solve their issues.

 7:49 - Having feet on the ground in these places is really the seed, the secret and uh secret sauce and sort of the infrastructure that's required to do a good job.

 10:52 - What I want to do is I want to do transformational business.

 11:06 - I want to find someone who can who wants to make shoes, maybe fashion shoes with that certain flair, that certain cultural uh attachment to it, or I want to do purses, or I want to do a clothing line, or I want to do furniture.

 12:43 - I'm just wide open to learning more about what Dubai wants, and we can absolutely fulfill it.

 13:08 - You need patience. You need to really understand where you are and why you're doing what you're doing.

13:10 - You need to really understand where you are and why you're doing what you're doing. Look at the long picture, approach it in that way. Don't be in a hurry.

14:51 - I think the first thing I would say is think big.

14:59 - Think big and stay focused on your vision.

15:08 - Never lose sight of that dream that you have of where you want to be in one year and five years and ten years, and stick with it. I like to say show up. Just keep showing up.

 18:18 - Life is good.

 18:21 – Partnership is give and take, cooperation, transparency.

20:38 - It taught me so many things about life and about what's important and about positivity. And, you know, and I just took a deep dive while I had all this time into the 

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