Hala Al Gergawi is a genuine example of all aspirational Emirati women. The upscale market in the GCC has seen a radical transformation thanks to Al Gergawi. She emphasizes the importance of problem-solving skills for entrepreneurs as one of the most significant career lessons. Her motto "Lead, don't follow," is said to be essential to carve out your own path and to be creative.
She made it her purpose to develop a profession and a brand that supports the community and nurtures its abilities. She was prompted to have big dreams and to set ambitious goals by her early travels throughout the world. She was fortunate to have many opportunities throughout her life to manage obligations, be autonomous, and lead, which helped her grow into the independent person she is today; taking chances to launch her own business and create and manage a team.
In 2007, Al Gergawi launched a magazine ‘Tea Before Noon’ (TBN) with the goal of highlighting the accomplishments of women in business by defying the norm and repurposing web information for print. TBN was the first bilingual exclusive directory for businesses by Women in the United Arab Emirates.
It was reintroduced in 2018 as one of the first luxury lifestyle consultancies in the area. The goal of TBN is to keep building bridges between Emirati and Khaleeji talent and global companies in order to keep the conversation going across the creative professions. Being exposed to all these talents, Al Gergawi believes that they are now prepared to export and produce luxury goods on a global scale. For this reason, she founded ELEVENiSH.com in May 2021 in an effort to be the first to take this step. It is an online community and e-commerce platform for niche emerging designers seeking global exposure.
Due to the highly individualized luxury preferences of local clients, the Middle East is a challenging region for companies to operate in. Brands are targeting the Arab market more effectively and strategically through localized content since they are aware of how financially robust it is and how much purchasing power the people here have.
In the UAE and GCC, luxury brands will continue to prosper, especially those who adhere to the above mentioned rules and follow through with organized launches for the regional calendar and events.
Al Gergawi has more than 27 thousand followers on her instagram account, and she is a distinguished Emirati influencer who earned her place in leading and managerial positions including being the UAE country office manager of the Young Arab Leaders, and Managing Editor of Zahrat Al Khaleej. She was the youngest candidate to be elected as a Board Member in the Emirates Business Women Council back in 2010.
‘Tea Before Noon’ has earned her path to being one of the three inspirational mentors of Vacheron Constantin's "One of Not Many" Mentorship Program thanks to her obvious entrepreneurial talents. She also places a high priority on volunteering and humanitarian work and takes part in projects run by the Dubai Cares Foundation.
For the past three years, localization, i.e. launching a Ramadan capsule collection, creating one-off campaign with an Emirati influencer etc., has been a key strategy for the development of luxury brands, and TBN are happy to have been the first to disrupt the industry in this way. The success of this strategy is largely dependent on three basic factors: affiliation with the proper influential profiles, knowing and correctly profiling the target audience in the various GCC markets, and continuity with consistency.
