Ali Al Saloom, arguably one of the UAE's most dynamic young businessmen, gave a presentation to Foundations students at Dubai Men's College. Ali, who is on a mission to educate the world about UAE culture, gave a talk entitled: "Passionately Creative - I no longer work ....I create" which was extremely well received by his student audience.
During his presentation, Ali spoke about the need to discover one's inner passion in life and then to channel this passion into a rewarding and fulfilling career. Ali gave examples from his own career path which began when he graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in hospitality and tourism. He thought he wanted to be the general manager of a hotel but his father insisted that he should first work as a hotel doorman. It was during this time that he realized what his real passion in life was: To show the world that Emiratis are capable of doing great things and to introduce the world to the UAE through the eyes of an Emirati. He now runs three companies under an umbrella company called Maestro - one of which is Embrace Arabia, a company which provides intercultural training and workshops as well as tours of the UAE led by experienced local UAE guides.
In addition to this, he has set up www.ask-ali.com, an interactive website which gives non-Emiratis the opportunity to ask questions about the UAE online, and he has also established an innovative production company, OneTVO, which provides video coverage of all aspects of life in Abu Dhabi. In this way, Ali has been able to indulge in and share his passion for spreading information about his religion and culture, of which he is understandably very proud.
Ali's inspirational talk gave the DMC students a great deal to think about, particularly as they will soon be asked to make important decisions about their own career paths. "The students were really impressed by Ali's message," said Cheryl Bray, faculty member of DMC. "Hopefully, like Ali, they will think more carefully about what they really want out of life, and as a result, will be able to choose a career where they will feel happy and fulfilled."
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© Press Release 2008
