Crossing the Desert: how businesses are setting and growing in the Emirates

“Australians have a way of taking a trend and making it their own. And they make it a little bit more fun, a little bit more quirky.”

In this episode, Georgina Trigg shares the story of starting her business in a Dubai that many of us wouldn’t recognize today—a city that was growing so fast, maps couldn’t keep up. Back then, there were no craft coffee shops or boutique designer stores. It was in this version of Dubai that Georgina managed to create a small haven of Australian design and lifestyle, bringing a piece of her home to a rapidly evolving city.

Sometimes life falls apart all at once: a business partnership doesn’t work out, the products don’t arrive from production on the day of your store’s grand opening, and you reach a breaking point where you feel like grabbing a bat and smashing everything around you. And yet, all of this can become the foundation of a successful business.

In this episode, Isaac interviews Ibrahim Abudyak, the founder and creative director of Jokes Aside and co-founder and creative director of Smash Room.

“Every mom in Dubai knows him”—that’s how entrepreneur Galina introduced Isaac to Pavel. Pavel is the founder of Skill Kid, a school offering English classes and educational events for children. He came up with an approach that makes his school stand out from the rest.

In this episode, inspired by Pavel’s example, Isaac restructures his own online English school. He devises a way to generate UGC (user-generated content) from his students, uncovers the ruthless side of his friends, and calculates the financial results.

Our guest’s business idea became so popular that she patented its name. Now, no one else in the Emirates can call a quick repair service “Quick Fix.”

In this episode, Isaac talks with Hamda, founder of the interior design studio Dress My Room. She started by turning her sister’s talent for interior design into a profitable business. Hamda shares how she optimized every hour of her team’s workday, kept competitors from copying her ideas, and why her clients approve designs and sign contracts within three days—even though she has never visited the site. Her clients receive strict renovation timelines and fixed budgets that include absolutely everything—clients won’t pay a single extra fil. In fact, some clients even get part of their budget back. Hamda reveals how she built a company capable of making and keeping such promises.

If you’ve ever been served a drink adorned with a beautiful flower, there’s a good chance it came from Greeneration’s vertical farm. This farm specializes in growing microgreens and edible flowers for high-end restaurants. In this episode, we’re joined by its founder, Roman, and Daria, the Vice President of Growth & Product. They share insights on finding the ideal location for a farm, the risks of choosing the wrong landlord, how a single flower can multiply revenue, and how to attract high-quality clients by breaking all the rules.

Their clients are high-end restaurant chefs—a very narrow audience with demanding schedules and exacting standards, competing with hundreds of other suppliers for their attention. Roman and Daria explain how, within just a few months, they managed to win an impressive roster of clients.