Mohamed Al Fayed

I’m joined on this episode by entrepreneur Mohamed Al Fayed, who tells me what failing early in his life taught him:  

I’m one of these guys that always learned the hard way. I learned from the beatings and the more I got, the stronger I became. And it didn't happen in the the first 10 failures I've experienced, it happened on the 100th. I became more resilient, and with resilience came a risk appetite. So my fear of the unknown or my fear of risk or failure started to dissipate over time. And my actions became a little bolder with time. And I'm standing here today on the back of all of that.

Even if you may not have heard of him directly, you’ll have come across some of Mohamed’s work. Beginning his career with Macy’s, one of the largest retailers in the U.S., he led the launch of Mamas & Papas and Gap in the GCC, as well as the region’s largest luxury online marketplace, Ounass. He also served as Senior Vice President of Omnichannel at Al Tayer Group, where he worked for 12 years before launching his startup, Grubtech.

As a host, you never really know when an interview will be great, but that’s what Mohamed’s episode is. He has a great professional story that he shares eloquently, and a very moving personal story that shapes his outlook today. He acknowledges how much he has changed from the young guy starting out 30-years-ago in the US. I was deeply moved by Moe's story and it reminds me that we are all made up of so many parts and layers. We are never one thing at any one time, we are always changing and learning.