I started in hospitality in Alexandria, marketing hotels and working alongside their operations teams, with names like Four Seasons and Mövenpick. Working inside the operation teaches you something no course does: how a business actually makes money, which guests come back, and how fast a small operational problem turns into a bad review.
From 2012 I moved to agency marketing and events, back when marketing still meant billboards, flyers and a lot of guessing. It also meant standing in the room while the thing you promoted either worked or did not, which is a faster feedback loop than most marketers ever get.
Then digital, in-house and agency side. At a Dubai agency I ran full-funnel campaigns for names like Hilton, Lamborghini and CZN Burak alongside fast-growing regional brands, across the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Multi-million dirham budgets, and a team of writers, designers, SEO specialists and developers to brief and keep pointed the same way.
Now I work for myself, with a small number of brands at a time. The reason is simple: at an agency, the incentive is to keep the client. On my own, the incentive is to fix the thing and be able to prove it. Those are not the same job.
