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Reflections from my conversation with Cindy Khoo on Culture Capsule Still, many people in the Arab region, when they hear the word Pilates, immediately think, “It is just stretching.” When Cindy said that during our conversation, I could not stop laughing, because I was honestly one of those people a few years ago. For a long time, I thought Pilates was something gentle, slow, and easy. "Let's do some stretching with cool movements."Then I attended a proper session, and it co

In ‘Culture Capsule’ episode 6, I had an insightful conversation with Romania-born, UAE-based entrepreneur Maria Pruna. Maria’s story is not simply about business success. It is about reinvention, female entrepreneurship, cultural adaptation, and building visibility in spaces where women are still underrepresented. From corporate life in Belgium to becoming widely recognized online as the ‘Car Wash Lady’ in the UAE, Maria’s journey reflects the resilience and courage required

What if the future of healthcare is not about reacting to illness, but predicting and preventing it before it begins? In our previous episode of Culture Capsule, I spoke with Rudi Schmidt about the evolving world of health, longevity, AI, and personalized medicine in the UAE. Rudi is a C-level thought leader originally from Germany, who is connected to the UAE. He is also the proud Patron of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. I was honored to interview him and in this article you will fin

What is diplomacy at its core? For H.E. Ambassador Renso Herrera Franco, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Arab Emirates, the answer is remarkably simple: "Diplomacy is building bridges." In Episode 4 of Culture Capsule, I had the privilege of speaking with His Excellency, whose distinguished diplomatic career spans more than three decades across multiple continents. Throughout our conversation, one message remained constant: meaningful progress begins with h

I spoke with Alberto Aguilar, CEO of Plantaform and Plantfarm. His story is not a typical startup narrative. It is one shaped by movement across cultures and a childhood spent in the UAE as a ‘third culture kid’, an early connection to nature, and a decision to revive a concept originally explored by NASA, not for space, but for Earth. From Spain to the UAE, and later to Canada, Aguilar’s journey reflects what is often described as a ‘third culture’ experience. Rather than a

In our recent talk, Keld takes a somewhat controversial look at the nature of negotiation in the professional community. Rather than limiting the process to strategies and outcomes, the speaker delves into a fundamentally more profound yet frequently overlooked aspect of negotiations: "Mindset". According to him, negotiations are much more than transactions, and instead represent a whole new discipline centered around the notion of building trustful and healthy relationships.