Haytham Nasr works as the marketing director for Montegrappa Middle East, a joint-venture with the Italian pen-maker, as well as looking after other luxury brands for Paris Gallery Regional and the Arabian Marketing Corporation. But outside his day job, the Lebanese-British expatriate, 33, is credited as the executive producer of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, an animated film based on the Lebanese poet's writing, and which includes a character voiced by Salma Hayek. The role involved him raising money, building on experience he gained crowdfunding US$1 million to open a bar in Lebanon. And Mr Nasr is currently embarking on another – very different – project: opening a spinning exercise studio with his wife Dana. Here, Mr Nasr – who lives in Mirdif, Dubai, with his wife and two children, describes his eclectic working day.
6am
The kids jump into the bed around 6am – that is the first wake-up call. I push them out of bed, and then they will come back again at about 7am, at which point I am normally awake.
7.30am
I am training for the RAK Half Marathon in February, so every morning I try to get on the treadmill and run about 5 kilometres. I did the half-marathon last year for the first time, in about two hours and 13 minutes. But this year I want to get under the two-hour mark.
8.30am
I tend to skip breakfast, which is probably not very good. I just have a coffee – I love my coffee. Our office is in the Dubai Airport Freezone, so I generally leave the house at around 8.40am. The nice thing about living near the office is it is a 10-minute drive.
9am
The first thing I will go over is the emails to see if anything has gone on, especially with the time difference with Italy. Then, if it is an internal meeting, I will have all the brand managers come in and have a review of the sales for the past week.
12.30pm
I am not really much of a fan of going out for lunch, unless I have meetings. I love Subway – Subway is just the best thing ever. I am literally on first-name terms with the delivery guys, who know my name, what I eat and on which day of the week.
1pm
Going over the emails can take another couple of hours. It is incredible how much time you spend on emails, actually. We have a couple of other brands I am introducing to the market. We’re dealing with Sekonda, the UK’s No 1 watch brand. I am coming up with launch plans, or plans for next year for when we are going with each one of our brands.
3pm
I leave the office to go out and do visits. It could be in one of the big malls – Dubai Mall or Festival City – those are generally places that stock our items. The worst thing you can do is spend too much time in the office, just looking at numbers and making rash decisions without really understanding what is going on in the market. The best people to speak to are the sales guys. They know exactly what items are moving, or why they are not moving. In a way our business is quite simple, in the sense that it revolves around having the right stock in the right places.
5.30pm
My meal of the day is when I get home at about 5.30pm or 6pm. My wife is a fantastic cook. It is a lot of Lebanese stuff – we have very healthy food.
8.30pm
I will open up the laptop. My wife just got certified as a spinning instructor, and we are in the advanced stages of opening a spinning studio. The entrepreneur side of me just doesn't seem to want to go away.
The movie really does not take much of my day-to-day time. That was really more about getting the funders involved, and then getting feedback on what is going on. Salma Hayek and I had calls about once a month during crunch time – between the premieres – to get an understanding of the launch plan. People are going to be watching this movie in 10, 15 or 20 years from now. It is a powerful story – the words of Gibran are very well translated onto the big screen.
10.30pm
I will watch a TV series. We finished Game of Thrones – that was fantastic. I like Downton Abbey and, obviously, Breaking Bad. It is a nice way to fall asleep; you put it on and you just fall asleep watching one of those.
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
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Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
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