How breaking ‘UAE norm’ earned Emirati entrepreneur start-up success

How breaking ‘UAE norm’ earned Emirati entrepreneur start-up success

At the age of just 32, Mohammad Alhawari thought he was set for life. The Emirati had gone through what he described as the “UAE norm”, which was “to get a job, get promoted quickly and get to the top very quickly”.

With a background in the financial sector, he would stay “at the top” of a major insurance company for five years, until the publicly-listed company was taken over and he was unceremoniously relieved of his position.

“I thought I was invincible,” he told Arabian Business. “I grew to this position way too fast in my opinion. I think I was too full of myself as well. Me being fired was the pivot or the milestone that really changed the trajectory of my life.”

Mohammad Alhawari, the Emirati founder and CEO of Dubai-based start-up Feel Good Tea Co.

That's not to say that sudden unemployment was an easy pill to swallow. However, in what is widely considered to be a typically English manner, he sought comfort in a cup of tea – a move that has since brought him several million dirhams.

“After I got laid off I went through, like a depression phase,” Alhawari said. “Maybe three or four months I was just