From meeting rooms to classrooms
When I enrolled for the Executive MBA at Frankfurt School in 2018, I faced a storm of questions about the feasibility of investing in this type of academic study. People seek to get higher university degrees to further their careers or to become entrepreneurs, but I was already almost at the top of the career pyramid of my own company. Moreover, I didn’t have the luxury of time as I am constantly busy pursuing my business.
Yet, I strongly believe that human decision-making is undergirded by a hierarchy of psychological needs (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). When I decided to enroll in the Executive MBA at Frankfurt School, my basic physiological, safety, and belonging needs were by then adequately fulfilled including well-being, health security, and financial security.
Something is still missing
Still, I was not sure if what I learned in 20 years of business life was enough to become a mentor to pursue my dream of giving back. Also, I was not able to measure or compare my market experience with that of other executives. I had to carefully consider pursuing an academic degree from a reputable university even though I do not like studying. Finally, it was essential to validate and fulfill my self-esteem potential and to showcase or reframe my life experience within an academic context.
The sole goal of life
The Executive MBA at Frankfurt School was the optimal choice for me as it includes continuous education, skill development, the refining of professional talents, caring for others, and broader goals like learning or mastering a new language and winning awards. I was amazed to meet the leaders of the future and learn how to shape the future instead of waiting for it to shape our lives. I became more adaptive to the rules and roles of academic discipline in terms of working smarter, creating added- value to my work, and building solid structures for efficient networks and rational governance. All these skills have a powerful impact on my business.
Of particular importance in my Executive MBA study was the chapter about the ultimate purpose of life. I became able to define my dream purpose. “I aspire to inspire entrepreneurs because I know for a fact that dreams can become a reality”. This became my purpose in life.
I am aware of the urgent needs of women in business in the Middle East – where many agencies deal with empowering women but in the actual absence of female advice. I decided to deal directly with entrepreneurs and share my intellectual and material resources to help them reach their top stage of life.
Amali (My Hope)
For my project, the Amali Mentorship Network, I selected a mentorship network of successful female entrepreneurs of different fields of business. Their startups include for example educational, artistic, and health-based projects. For instance, one of the entrepreneurs, Finaa, created the first Football Coaching Academy for young girls in the Middle East. Another startup called Physics Fun is a platform for physics in Arabic, offering training programs. One of my mentees has an online application providing customers with unlimited coupons and exclusive offers on products and services. Dozens of young entrepreneurs and I are working closely together to transform individual entrepreneurship into an institutional framework.
The Executive MBA courses opened a wide door for me to enter a welcoming academic community with its solid bridges between different languages, and cultures without discrimination between genders or people. I am looking forward to meeting my colleagues, friends, and faculty members again when I attain my Ph.D.
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