DubaiNight continues to meet the key persons of the Dubai Nightlife Industry. This week we talk closer with the Head of Marketing of AddMind UAE, Romy Habre, based in Dubai since 10 years. Read more about her Nightlife experience and how she manages to be a power woman in a challenging industry primarily dominated by men. 
 
Tell us more about you background? 
I grew up between Canada and Beirut. Graduated from the Lebanese American University with a Bachelor Degree in Marketing in 2006. I also studied psychology and am a qualified NLP practitioner &amp; life coach. I previously worked in marketing at advertising agencies Grey Worldwide and Publicis. I also worked at the Adnec National Exhibition Centre before starting with AddMind. 
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How long have you been in Dubai? 
I have been living between Dubai for around 10 years now. Usually, I spend summer in Lebanon, and work with the AddMind Beirut team during their busiest period. 
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How did you end up in the nightlife scene? 
Nightlife and events have always been my passion, I&rsquo;ve always surfed on the edge of the industry and a few years ago I decided to make it my career. The right opportunity came at the right time, and it&rsquo;s one of the best decisions I ever made. 
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What are the challenges of being a woman in the nightlife industry? 
Although the general misconception is that the nightlife industry is primarily inhabited by men, there are numerous female figures &ldquo;behind the scenes&rdquo; that make things happen. The biggest challenge of being a woman are the crazy working hours which can be a challenge when one starts a family or decides to settle down, but I am a firm believer that nothing is impossible, especially when a good organization is involved. 
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I try to stay focused, plan in advance as much as possible, and at the end of the day, when you have good results and credibility behind you, there is no reason a female&rsquo;s voice at the Executive Table would be less respected than that of her male colleagues. 
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Tell us more about AddMind and White? 
AddMind is an international food and restaurant hospitality group with outlets in Beirut, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. With staple brands including WHITE, Iris and Indie in our portfolio, our success in the UAE market has mostly been witnessed through the immersive expansion and success of WHITE Dubai, which received over 6 national awards last year, was voted the World&rsquo;s Finest Club, and one of the Top 50 clubs in the world by the esteemed DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs awards. Our plans as pertains to global expansion are on the horizon, and I will be able to share more in the near future. 
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What is the secret to become as successful as you are, in nightlife? 
The secret to every success is hard work and the acknowledgement that there are no short paths to stardom. Everybody has to put in the long hours, &ldquo;pay their dues&rdquo; and prove themselves with tangible results. The most important thing, in my opinion, is being truly passionate about what you do, as it helps to ease up all the &ldquo;negatives&rdquo; one faces on their way up. Passion never fails and it is valued in the AddMind culture. Every person in AddMind is passionate about what they do, which is why we have been so successful. 
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What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them? 
As we grow, we learn. There have been multiple challenges that I&rsquo;ve personally faced in the past, but I&rsquo;ve managed to turn them around, and avoid making the same mistakes twice. 
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What are the challenges of opening up a new concept in Dubai? 
Dubai is a fast-growing, metropolitan city, and with that comes the responsibility of always staying relevant and setting new trends instead of having to &ldquo;enforce them&rdquo; at a later stage. 
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AddMind has been successful in all the Lebanese concepts we&rsquo;ve brought to the Middle East, mainly because we did our homework: we studied the market, made the necessary adaptations to the cultural trends, and have tried to fill in the gaps and provide the UAE hospitality industry with what it&rsquo;s been missing. 
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What&rsquo;s your opinion of the Dubai Nightlife in general? What are you missing and what do you like? 
In my opinion, Dubai nightlife is becoming over saturated. Just this past year, we&rsquo;ve seen the market explode with new restaurants, lounges and nightlife concepts. I certainly like that so many internationally recognized brands are opening here, as it provides people with more options when it comes down to going out, and it helps bring Dubai to a pedestal of nightlife standards which are closer to those of New York, London etc. 
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Tell us more about your upcoming concepts? 
Most recently we have launched Indie, which is a unique restaurant and lounge in the DIFC area of Dubai. We are also working on a few upcoming projects for the rest of 2016 that cannot yet be revealed. 
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What are your expectations for the new openings? 
Through experience I have found that the strategy for each new opening must be tailored to the venue, the market and the customer. My expectations are always high, and we as a company strive to ensure our venues are exceptional, whether they are franchises of existing brands or brand new concepts. 
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Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years? 
The hospitality industry can be turbulent, but for the next ten years we will focus on the growth and global expansion of AddMind. We strive to create the best venues and transform the nightlife scene in each country, and it will be interesting to see what we manage to achieve in the upcoming years. 
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Describe a typical day in your life? 
I usually wake up at around 9am, push myself to go to the gym even if it&rsquo;s just for 30 minutes. Following this, I will shower, get dressed and go through my emails and schedule for the day. I get to the office at around 10.30 and make sure I check in with my team. From that point, my day is packed with meetings, brainstorming new ideas and concepts with the team and ensuring each venue has full marketing support. At around 7pm, I usually make a move and head dinner with clients or friends or attend dance classes twice a week. 
 
<img alt="" height="618" src="https://production-dubainight.s3.me-south-1.amazonaws.com/legacy/editor/10/fichiers/images/IMG_5213.JPG" width="412" /> 
 
Read more about AddMind and all their brands on their webpage: <a href="http://www.add-mind.com">www.add-mind.com</a> 
 
Text: Emma Sjolin 
Photo: DubaiNight.com

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