Interview: Her Excellency Khawla Al Serkal – Director General – Sharjah Ladies Club

THE INSPIRATION

Khawla Al Serkal, Director General at Sharjah Ladies Club is an inspiration to many. Supporting women to grow both personally and professionally, we discuss the importance of values and strategy in growing the next icon

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS How do you spend the first 30 minutes of your day? My morning routine is checking on my girls then my pending messages, get dressed, have a cup of co ee and leave for work. What is at the heart of Sharjah Ladies Club, the values and the vision? Our vision is to be one of the UAE’s leading ladies’ clubs and to inspire the modern woman.

Our core values and beliefs are: Leadership, Creativity and Innovation, Privacy and Safety, Quality and Excellence, Customer Satisfaction and Teamwork. How does your role play a part in supporting and empowering women? By creating a safe and secure space where women and children can develop their skills and gain new ones. Also, by providing a nurturing environment for women to express themselves through the various programmes and activities they can safely enjoy at SLC, as well as empowering women by providing them with the right tools for learning and growing and becoming independent. When you choose a strategic partner, what goals do you make sure they support? We have a number of partnerships with organizations like Friends of Cancer Patients, Sharjah Business Women Council, Sharjah Women Sports and Sharjah Humanitarian City as well as many others. Each one supports our di erent goals like empowering women, creating health awareness and helping them overcome any challenges. At Emirates Woman we champion incredible women – many of whom are launching their own businesses. Have you witnessed the growth of Emirati women through starting their own businesses or brands? Yes, the growth of Emirati entrepreneurs has been phenomenal and it’s still on the rise. The UAE o ers great potential opportunities by supporting & encouraging them through innovative ideas and advance skills. How has SLC changed their events calendar after COVID-19 and have you done anything di erently to cater to your clients? SLC has a lot of di erent events and activities on a yearly basis and in order to cater to our clients and audiences, we carried on our events virtually since COVID-19 started.

A er making sure our clients and sta are safe and the appropriate precautionary measures are in place, we started having actual events with limited capacities. What experiences have you gained on your journey to becoming the General Director of SLC? How do these experiences help you now? The lessons I’ve learnt throughout my work journey are vast, but I can highlight some valuable ones when it comes to business. As a leader you have to always keep up to date in your field. Training of teams and strategy is also key. Sometimes it is required to take risks or make quick decisions, but

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this needs to be backed by study or data, so training your brain to view long term results and visualizing them is important. Have you had any mentors on your journey? I didn’t have direct mentors, but I did have a few people in my life that inspired me both personally and professionally. How do the creative and commercial sides of the business complement each other, and do you feel particularly drawn to one side of the business? The creative and commercial side of any business work in parallel and it’s actually the core of any business. I am not drawn towards one more than the other specifically but it’s important to see how they work together. What has been the biggest challenge to face and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge to date was working during the pandemic because it was the first time we were unable to exactly visualize what will happen from day to day. I can say that by far this was the biggest challenge not only for me but for my entire team. Overcoming it was in believing the process, remaining positive and looking into other aspects of a business instead of only focusing on traditional ways of working. We managed to reach our customers at home and engage with them which was a great achievement. The last year was a time that saw brands change their strategies. Have you had to pivot as a business? Yes, definitely we reviewed our strategies and action plans and even targets because of the limitations that we had. How has social media supported the business and which platform has been most useful? Social media has become even more prominent post-Covid, especially during quarantine. We made sure to stay connected with our clients and cater to all their needs by o ering our consultations virtually, scheduling online fitness sessions, keeping their children engaged by teaching them safe experiments to try at home while making sure we help them adapt to the situation and emerge with a positive outcome.

Instagram and Facebook were and still are our most useful platforms because of the features they o er. IGTVs on Instagram were useful in particular for the type of content we needed and event pages on Facebook allowed us to specify the type of event we are having and to direct our clients to the right places to be part of it. This is ‘The Icon Issue’ – who or what to you is iconic? Many figures are iconic and have made change possible for women and children. Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, wife of the ruler of Sharjah, I admire her vision and determination for any positive change towards women and children. Shaikha Budour Al Qasimi, for following her passion.

“The growth of Emirati entrepreneurs has been phenomenal and it’s still on the rise.”