Muna Easa Al Gurg, Director of Retail, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group
In this episode, Ashutosh Garg engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Muna Easa Al Gurg, Director of Retail, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group. Muna, an alumnus of London Business School, is a highly successful entrepreneur and a columnist for the ‘Gulf News’.
Podcast
Overview
In this episode, Ashutosh Garg engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Muna Easa Al Gurg, Director of Retail, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group. Muna, an alumnus of London Business School, is a highly successful entrepreneur and a columnist for the ‘Gulf News’.
Muna reminisces about her early life and career. She shares with us the three key milestones of her life. She shares her experience running a colossal family business. She shares the flabbergasting story of leading a big part of the company, retail, just after completing her MBA.
Muna analyzes the scope of retail business. She talks about the current trends in e-commerce during the pandemic. She attempts to foresee the future of the retail business in the UAE. She talks about how millennials and Gen-Z are revolutionizing the retail sector.
“It is important to tell a story about what you are selling,” remarks the philanthropist who is a part of many NGOs and charitable groups. She elucidates the work done by her to empower budding entrepreneurs and startups. She addresses a crucial question- How to improve gender balance in the Middle-East. Muna then proceeds to define success and give insights about setting personal and professional goals.
#Entrepreneur #UAE #TheBrandCalledYou
Profile
Muna Easa Al Gurg is a businesswoman and philanthropist from Dubai. She is Director of Retail at Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and is on several boards of directors of companies as well as non-profit organizations. Muna is Chairwoman of Young Arab Leaders, an organisation which promotes education, entrepreneurship and youth development.
Education
BA in Business Administration from the American University in Dubai
Executive MBA in Business Administration from London Business School.
Fellow of the Middle East Leadership Initiative of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Career
She started her career with Saatchi & Saatchi in Dubai.
In 2001, she joined Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, a leading conglomerate in the United Arab Emirates which is her family’s business, as Director of Marketing and Communications.
Since 2009, she has been Director of Retail, responsible for strategy and operational development of the Group’s international and local retail brand portfolio.
Non-profit association
Since 2008, has been Chairwoman of Young Arab Leaders UAE, where she promotes education, entrepreneurship and youth development. .
Founding board member of Endeavor UAE, a non-profit organization promoting high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging and growth markets.
In 2015 she launched the Muna Al Gurg Scholarship at London Business School, supporting female students studying on the school’s MBA and Executive MBA program.
On the board of the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development working closely with Chairman Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Is a member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sustainability Board, mandated to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to refugees in the MENA region.
At the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Charity Foundation, she is responsible for strategy and initiatives both in the UAE and internationally, including primary education support for underprivileged children in Zanzibar.
Muna keenly advocates encouraging women in business. Within the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, she actively promotes and conducts open floor sessions for women employees to voice their opinions.
She also spearheads the ‘Art of Dialogue,’ a series of interactions hosted at ESAG Design Hub in Dubai Design District; which enables creative minds facilitate open conversations that help shape local arts advocacy.
Was on the board of directors of the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre, from 2004 to 2009, helping build the cultural center.
Other interests
Muna is an active investor. One of her most renowned successes was a share in the dividend from the sale of Middle East’s largest technology startup Careem, acquired by Uber in March 2019. She was the only female investor and the sole Emirati.
In 2012, she was a member of the judging panel on the UAE business reality show – The Entrepreneur.
She is an opinion columnist for Gulf News, a leading UAE daily newspaper.
Honours and awards
She was featured in Emirati Women Achievers, a book with inspiring stories of 21 successful Emirati women in 2015
In 2013, she was given the Arabian Business StartUp Award for Women in Business
In June 2010, Muna received the Emirates Women’s Award for outstanding achievers
