UAE Portrait of a Nation: Emirati goes against the grain to open Pilates studio

Asma Lootah, founder of the Hundred Wellness Centre, enjoys a sense of personal and professional achievement. Pawan Singh / The National

Asma Lootah studied in the US and returned to a ‘conventional’ job in the UAE – it wasn’t for her, but in Pilates she found her calling.

DUBAI // As the youngest of six siblings, Dubai-born Asma Lootah decided to spread her wings and move to the United States after school.

After studying business administration, information systems and fine arts at George Washington University for four years, she came back to Dubai, eager to work.

“I was a bit lost,” said the 39-year-old. “I had a re-entry shock.”

She worked in Etisalat’s engineering department for four years, then moved to marketing for a year. But it was not fulfilling enough.

“I thought I needed a career change,” she said. “When I worked at Etisalat, I practised Pilates and fell in love with it. I wanted to open a business but it had to have a meaning to me, I had to be passionate about it and help people.”

Back in 2005, Pilates was not as popular as it is today.

“The place I practised at closed, so I got the idea to open my own studio in 2008 which is now the Hundred Wellness Centre,” Ms Lootah said.

“In 2011, I started this project to expand and build a small centre in Jumeirah and in 2014, we opened with services like physiotherapy and homoeopathy.”

She said going against the grain of routine jobs was vital. “I feel proud and happy about all this because I wasn’t stuck in a rut. I kept searching for answers and now, when I look back, I think it’s great because a lot of people feel stuck in their job,” she said.

“I come from a conservative yet open-minded background because [for] my parents to open all this for me is open-minded at their age [70s-80s]. They overprotect the girls, but I know everyone has to work and earn a living. Even if your father is well-off, it doesn’t mean you sit at home and get a blank cheque.”

Pilates has struck a chord with Ms Lootah’s generation, as a brother, a sister and cousins take part.

Today, she manages to merge work and pleasure on a daily basis. “When I decided to open the Pilates studio, it’s because I was at a stage in my life where I was a bit lost but that’s one of the things that made me happy and that I looked forward to,” Ms Lootah said.

“I fell in love with the system – it was exercise that made me strong yet happy and it was rewarding to be able to offer that to other people so, when I opened my own business, it came from the heart.”

Making money was not a priority.

“If you ask me now, I would’ve loved to study art and fitness, but my father wanted me to study accounting because he was a businessman and he didn’t really know what art was. But I didn’t want to do whatever everyone else was doing. I remember clearly that I asked myself these questions – I am passionate about this.”

“This business reflects who I am,” she said. “I get pleasure in giving back to people, so you have to think wisely about it because what will keep you going through the ups and downs is your passion. It’s something I love, I can give back to my country and it has a meaning to me.”