The Innovator – Interview with Hala Al Gergawi

Hala Al Gergawi has turned the luxury space on its head and is a trailblazer in her own right. With an innate sense for storytelling and impeccable entrepreneurial skills, she is the founder of the region’s first luxury consultancy firm Tea Before Noon (TBN). With a firm and disruptive approach to brand building, she is making waves for luxury labels the globe over.

WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS

goes way back to 2007 when I decided to publish a directory magazine that would include all the local businesses founded by Emirati women using different mediums such as home delivery, home service and online. I always had this passion of supporting women in my community and local talents, and it was always at the core of everything I do in my career journey. The story of the name goes back to an old tradition when in every neighbourhood in the Gulf, women used to gather around 11am while their husbands are at work and their lunch was being cooked, to network and update each other on all trends at that time, beauty, fashion and food over tea! Now that women have become more outgoing and started their entrepreneurial journeys, the Tea Before Noon tradition has become stories that we hear about from our grandmothers and simply this is where the name came from. In 2018, I relaunched TBN as a platform to bring What made you want to become an entrepreneur? I have always women of the same likes together to enjoy localized branded been an entrepreneur at heart and by practice even throughout experiences. The need for human interaction and engaging my corporate journey. My approach to building a brand or a the consumer in a more curated and personalized experiproduct has been always a startup approach, innovative and ence became a must, especially for luxury brands in this redisruptive. Creating something new whether it be a product or gion. This is where Tea Before Noon fills the gap by bridging a marketing campaign or a service etc. was always driven by those two words in various formats. passion and by persistence in succeeding. This is TBN’s mission, to continue to bridge Emirati How did your childhood/growing up shape your outlook on life talents with international brands to maintain a dialogue and approach to business? I believe different factors contrib- between creative industries through such initiatives driven uted to shaping my career goals and my approach to business. by the same cultural values. Being exposed to all these talFirstly, growing up surrounded by a family driven by the pas- ents, I believe we are ready to become exporters and creators sion to contribute to the community and to achieve, made it a of luxury on an international scale and this is why, in the efmission of mine to build a career and a brand that gives back fort of being the first mover towards this step, I launched to my community and empowers its talents. ELEVENiSH.com in May 2021. It is an online community

Secondly, leadership is not something you are born with, it and e-commerce platform for niche emerging designers is a skill that you can grow from early childhood. I was blessed seeking global exposure. Proudly we have today more than to be given great opportunities to handle responsibilities, to 80 designers and brands on board and we continue to thrive be independent and to lead throughout my childhood by being with the support of our community. part of school scouts, theatre and more. That shaped my per- Would you say you’re more creative or business minded (or sonality to become the independent person I am today, taking both)? I definitely have both the creative and the business risks to start my own company, building and leading a team. mind – it takes this combo to create something innovative

Finally, travelling around the world from a young age. It be- and disruptive and to become a successful entrepreneur. I came a tradition for me and my siblings to tour with my parents have always enjoyed interfering in all aspects of the business around the biggest university campuses such as Harvard, Oxford – this what builds the sense of ownership and leadership etc. which pushed us to dream big and shape our goals since we that is required to build a successful product or a brand. were kids. It became a major source of inspiration throughout What is a philosophy that you live by both in your professional the years while growing up and I learned with time even during life? “My network is my net worth” is my philosophy and my business travels how to capitalize on those experiences and it applies to all aspects of my life, hence family, friends, how to grasp the best out of them to add to my learning journey. colleagues, partners and more are the most important asWhat inspired you to launch Tea Before Noon and ELEVENiSH. sets that I always invest in maintaining and strengthening. com? Can you talk us through both of the concepts? The name People are your support system and source of inspiration.

IMAGE: SUPPLIED

What are some of the key lessons you would like people to take from your career? Problem-solving is one of the main skills that every entrepreneur should master. Walk your own path, innovate, lead, don’t follow. Don’t hesitate when you should act. Experience what you have learned and follow your guts. In your opinion, how does the luxury and fashion industry differ in this region to the rest of the world and why is it so important? How will we continue to see the luxury space thrive in the UAE and GCC? The Middle East is a complicated region for brands to navigate as local customers have a very personalized approach to luxury. Brands know how financially powerful the Arab market is and how much purchasing power people here have, so they’re targeting them in a better and smarter way through localized content. Localization has been a major strategy of the luxury brands’ direction for the past three years and we are proud at TBN to be the first to disrupt the market this way; we can notice the awareness that is growing on both regional and international offices on the need of localizing their communication and marketing strategies to resonate with their target audience. The difference between brands though varies between how much support and trust they have from their headquarters, what localization means to them i.e. launching a Ramadan capsule collection, creating one-off campaign with an Emirati influencer etc. There are main key factors that affect the success of this strategy, one continuity and consistency, two understanding the target audience in the various markets in the GCC region and profiling them correctly, three associations with the right influential profiles. This understanding and definition of localization is what differentiates the brands we decide to work with because simply we either do it right all the way or we don’t. Luxury brands will keep thriving in the UAE and GCC, especially those who are following the golden rules: · Localize right! There is a very thin line from doing it right or going very cliche and offending the target audience. · Continuity and consistency with your localization strategy. A one-off editorial campaign or event will not guarantee conversions and building loyalty with the target audience · Capitalize on storytelling – we are a community where storytelling is part of our culture and traditions. Consumers will definitely engage with stories that are real and authentic and they create connection and loyalty on the long term. · Segment your target audience in the region and curate your launches for the regional calendar and events. Who are the mentors that have helped you throughout your career? I always had my mother, siblings and friends as my support system and my mini focus group throughout my career journey. This is The Entrepreneur Issue – what does being an entrepreneur mean to you? Being an entrepreneur means you have a clear mission you want to achieve, and you have the persistence and patience to achieve it, and the willingness to take risks. It is a bold step to leave corporate life and start your own business, it is a rough journey with a lot of risks but definitely a worthy one once you start hitting your milestones.