‘Never behave like an employee’: Rasha Shehada’s key to business success
On the factory floor. (Image via Diamond Line)
At not yet 29, Rasha Shehada is already the managing director of
an international trading company. The middle child of Palestinian
refugees in the UAE, she was awarded the position by her father at
the end of last year, after proving – in her words – to be the
hungriest and most aggressive amongst her siblings. Started in 1997
by her civil engineer father, Diamond Line is a hotel
supplies company with a specialty in chafing oil (those little
burning cans you see beneath buffet trays, pictured below), selling
to over 20 countries worldwide.
Since her father, whom she refers to as ‘the founder’, purchased
a chafing oil factory in China over 12 years ago, they have
progressed from producing 3,000 cans a month to 3 million a month.
“We are in a position with a lot of gaps to fill,” says Shehada.
“Maybe in five to 10 years we’ll have to diversify and be more
selective, but not yet. I’m glad I got to take the lead when we
need to grow.”
As of our chat last week, the company employs over 60 people,
and had a turnover of 45 million AED (just over $12 million
USD) in 2014. With such figures, Diamond Line is technically a
small company, but Shehada is hoping to turn it into a medium one
during her time at the helm.
One month into her new role, Shehada spoke to Wamda about what
it’s like to take over – and grow – an already existing company,
the politics of a family business, and of course, what it’s like to
be a woman working in a Middle Eastern corporation.
Wamda: What is the story behind Diamond
Line?
Rasha Shehada: I call the founder ‘the dynamo’.
He’s a pure entrepreneur: from the age of six he was trading at the
market. Before Diamond Line he had four different startups, all of
which failed. When he got to be 47 he said, ‘This is my last
chance, I can’t be an employee for life’. Because of that drive he
got us to where we are today.
Wamda: How do you as second
generation feel about taking the mantle?
Shehada: I do not consider my journey to
be as hard as his was, but it has its own challenges. He went from
zero to 10, now I have to take it from 10 to 100. Liabilities have
increased, costs have increased dramatically, the numbers of
employees have tripled… I’ve come into a company that is
established but needs to grow more and more.
Wamda: You’ve only been in the role a month. What have
you done so far?
Shehada: The major change so far is that I
had to close down a poor stream of revenue. It required a lot of
investment while the returns were not good. I’m also in the process
of narrowing our offerings to our customers, so they really know
what we do.
Wamda: So were your clients confused?
Shehada: As well as the chafing oil we
also import and then distribute hotel supplies. [The lack of
specialization] was negatively affecting our relationship with
customers, yes.
Wamda: How have you combated this?
Shehada: We’ve added another production
line. I believe industrial investments in the UAE make for greater
returns, rather than trading investments. Most investors in the UAE
are expats, so they rarely go into long-term investment, and
trading is such a short-term investment, you buy it, you sell it,
it’s done. Manufacturing is a five to seven year return on
investment. And this is where I’ve decided we should focus, as
there is less competition.
Wamda: Why did your father appoint you out of all his
children?
Shehada: Indeed in this region it’s
usually the boy who takes the lead, that is the classic story. But
with time, we’re becoming a bit more open minded, and some families
are more accepting for girls to take the lead. In our case I have
an elder sister who was in the business before me, and a younger
brother who is also in the business. If anyone asks me why, the
answer is simply that I am the most qualified, for the time being.
Nobody knows what’s going to happen later on, we do not have that
sort of competition amongst us [siblings].
Wamda: What do you think set you
apart?
Shehada: It was me having a vision. When
working with the founder I never behaved like an employee, I never
took him as my boss; I always argued ideas, I had a few tests where
I failed, then some at which I succeeded. That’s when the founder
decided to step down.
Wamda: What was it you did?
Shehada: I did not make millions for the
company; it was just one incident where I had an idea to
incentivize our distributors to send more. I had a pilot group to
try it on and the results were very positive, and that is when he
said ‘Now I know the company is in the right hands, take the lead’,
as opposed to my siblings who took instruction and were happy with
it. They weren’t as aggressive as I was.
Wamda: Did you always want to be in the family
business?
Shehada: I actually only joined after a
few years of working elsewhere. I was working in a multinational
advertising agency but something told me that I would find a
better way of pursuing my career if it was with the family
business. Seven years later I know I made the right
decision.
Wamda: Has being a woman in this role been a benefit or
a disadvantage?
Shehada: It’s been a disadvantage in maybe
very few situations. When I started looking for mentors, someone to
learn from, I found so much help out there. I think women have been
doing so well at helping one another. I’m a part of
the Dubai Business Woman
Council and I think the info I get from there is
equivalent to a $100,000 training course. I’m also getting support
from entities like Vital
Voices.
Also because women are finding it difficult to get into
family businesses and take leadership roles, I have been able to
shine. It’s actually been less competitive for me, to an extent
that I was listed by Forbes as one of the most influential women in
the Arab region in family businesses. The way I see it, being a
minority gave me a push for acknowledgement, and this helps a lot.
To be honest it [the Forbes listing] was better for me than my
Master’s degree. Customers gained trust in me and the
company.
When it comes to disadvantages, it is mainly where I have to
deal internally, with men who are older than me, and it has been a
hard journey to get them to take me seriously. It’s not the age,
because they listen to my brother. It’s this stereotype that women
won’t stay long in a business, she’ll marry, have kids, [and quit].
This did affect me, it was an obstacle, but being a woman doesn’t
make me any less qualified. It is still a hard journey but it’s not
out of control, it’s manageable.
Wamda: Do you have one key piece of advice for women
wanting to achieve business success in the Middle
East?
Shehada: Throughout history we [in the region]
have been our own worst enemies. We need to move away from this
self-limiting belief and focus on bringing out the best in
ourselves and prove our success to others. When a woman doesn’t
make it, it’s not necessarily because she doesn’t have the skills,
and the ‘Oh I can’t because I’m a woman’ attitude. Dump this idea,
do your best, and you’ll definitely get somewhere.
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