Danish Farhan and I share very similar journeys. We’ve lived all our lives in the U.A.E. and have seen its transformation before our eyes. There’s a certain kind of understanding we share when I talk about this country to someone like Danish. One that doesn’t exist when I talk to an expat.

Danish is a serial entrepreneur. Started his first business at 19. Had an exit that made him a millionaire overnight. Went bankrupt over the next year. Then built back up gradually to one of the most prominent businessmen in the U.A.E.

His flagship business, Xische, started off as a marketing consultancy. Today, the Xische brand is an umbrella for a number of initiatives - marketing, strategy, innovation, education, entrepreneurship, and more - working together for a singular purpose.

I sat down with Danish to find out what that purpose is. Here is our conversation.

For complete show notes and links to any resources discussed during the episode, visit our blog: https://blog.ubrik.com/danish-farhan

Welcome to season 2 of the Digital Disruptors podcast! In this episode, I’m joined by food blogger, influencer, public speaker, and media personality Naomi D’Souza. (@naomidsouza)

Naomi is a full-time digital strategy consultant at IBM while juggling her “side gig” as one of UAE’s top influencers. As you listen to the interview, though, you’ll realize it’s not a “side gig” - she’s got 2 full-time jobs pretty much.

Naomi and I have one thing in common (other than being Indian and loving to eat.) We both studied engineering (she has a MSc in Mechanical Engineering) but our professions have nothing to do with our academic degrees.

She’s spoken on a TEDx stage. She’s one of Ahlan!’s ‘Hot 100’ most influential Asians and influencers in UAE. She’s been featured in so many print and digital publications it’d take me several minutes to list them all. She has a black belt in Karate.

Oh, and she’s only 25 years old.

I sat down with Naomi to interrogate her on how she managed to accomplish so much and how she continues to do all the things she’s doing.

To read the full show notes, and get links to the resources mentioned during the episode, visit our blog:

https://blog.ubrik.com/naomi-dsouza