Once a part-time nurse, expat mum in Dubai now runs her business empire worth millions

Once a part-time nurse, expat mum in Dubai now runs her business empire worth millions

Dubai: A mother of two who would once powerlift five times a week, Ethiopian-born Dutch expat Kanessa Muluneh, not only started six businesses by age 32, but built diverse streams of incomes and businesses that currently make a total of Dh183.65 million ($50 million) in combined revenue every year.

"I am a founder, not a CEO," said Muluneh, when describing how it has always been easier for her to start a company, but not in her interest to grow it further or manage it at an administration level. This is why she learnt to let go or sell a business after it reaches a certain level of growth.

Muluneh has so far sold four of the six businesses she started with her business partners. Among those, she started a football league for women in the Netherlands, which was later sold to the Women's Football League (WFL), and also launched a social media platform for sports and fitness.

Entrepreneurial journey initiates at medical school

The former part-time nurse drew the roots to her entrepreneurial journey back to her medical school days when she was 21 years old and sought to address an existing work-related problem for her thesis work during her internship.

“Back then, women struggled