Legally On the Move: Careers, Tech & Insights from Dubai – Sarah Malik – E04

You can hear Rob and Sarah discussing:

You can hear Rob and Sarah discussing:

–  Dubai as a Prime Destination for Professional Success

– How Sarah Has Successfully Balanced Multiple Career Roles

– The Keys to Sarah’s Business Scaling Success

– Sarah’s Adaptable Leadership Approach

– Sarah’s Advice for Legal Professionals Looking to Diversify Their Careers

Connect with Sarah here:

https://ae.linkedin.com/in/sarah-malik-3439398

Transcript

Robert Hanna  0:00  

Welcome to legally on the move, careers, tech and insights from Dubai. In this exclusive mini series of the legally speaking podcast, we’re taking you to the heart of Dubai, a global hub for legal innovation, cutting edge technology and transformative career opportunities. Here’s what you’ll gain, career inspiration, unlock the secrets to thriving in Dubai’s dynamic legal market Tech Trends. Dive into how AI blockchain and legal tech are reshaping the industry diversity and leadership here from Trailblazers driving inclusivity and innovation in the UAE and global perspectives, explore how Dubai’s unique blend of tradition and ambition is creating a thriving legal ecosystem recorded in iconic locations. These episodes bring you the energy and insights of one of the world’s most exciting legal hubs. Don’t just listen. Experience the future of law. Ready to move forward with us. Let’s go. So welcome to the legally speaking podcast. Name, title and organisation. So

Sarah Malik  0:58  

Sarah Malik, title, CEO founder organisation Sol International is legal, Sarah Malik lifestyle and Sarah M in fashion.

Robert Hanna  1:09  

And just from that title, you can understand why we wanted to get Sarah so badly on the leading team podcast in Dubai live today. So let’s get into it. In your view, why is Dubai A prime destination for professional success, and particularly within the areas of law and business. I know you wear lots of hats.

Sarah Malik  1:26  

I mean, just look around you. Dubai is a jewel in the Middle East. Where we’re placed is really central in terms of a hub, the infrastructure, world class tax benefits that we have an entrepreneurial spirit, a positive kind of energy, even from government down to do well. So Dubai’s is a incubator for businesses and a country that encourages growth.

Robert Hanna  1:51  

Yeah, and look, what’s interesting is you wear multiple hats, as I said. So I want to sort of ask, you know what it’s like working as a legal professional, but also business owner in the UAE, and perhaps, how does it compare to the UK?

Sarah Malik  2:02  

I am a lawyer by profession, but I’m also in business and entrepreneurs, you know, and I follow my passions, so I follow fashion and I follow art and entertainment and sport and lifestyle. Dubai has made it very, very easy for me to be able to do that, because it’s an ease of business, and there’s a real encouragement compared to UK, I did well. In the UK, I was in a good chambers, and we were doing really great. But I just feel in Dubai you can really excel, because it’s a land of opportunity and it’s innovative, so it’s open to anything. I think in the UK, maybe a traditional lawyer would stick to law, but in Dubai, a traditional lawyer can follow passion as well and do additional businesses.

Robert Hanna  2:43  

And I’d safely say you do that and do that very, very well, like your network and your people out here is incredible. How have you then successfully built and scaled multiple businesses in different industries over the past decade? What’s the secret?

Sarah Malik  2:56  

Secret is a vision, execution, hard work and the right people around you. I’ve not done this alone. I have a fantastic support team right through from people who work for me domestically to my professional staff. I mean, nobody succeeds alone. It takes a team effort, and if you surround yourself with the right people who support your vision, inspire you, open doors and then support you, I don’t think you can go wrong.

Robert Hanna  3:19  

I love that, and I always talk about the power of mentoring, and we is greater than me, and you know, collaboration, domination, and you’re great example of that, and you’re doing it right, and everything like today is like the busiest day for you on the planet as well, just as an example. So what inspired you to go beyond the law? Because, you know, most lawyers stay there, but what inspired you to go into fashion, entertainment, sports, and, you know, tell us more about that and your fashion brand.

Sarah Malik  3:40  

So thank you. So I come from an entrepreneurial background. My parents are entrepreneurs. My father did very well in business as we grew up. You know, grew up in a nice area. I went to a private school, and that’s because he was able to come to a country and make his name in the kind of entrepreneurial business world. And he was in fashion. He was in leatherwear, and he was in ladies wear. So growing up, I had that influence, and I would go with them to the streets of London at the time of Finsbury pack, and they had these beautiful dresses. And I was mesmerised my mother, Lady of impeccable taste, would you know, she can sew as well, and she’d have all our attire flown in from abroad when we were young. So I grew up in that kind of fashion environment, and I love dressing up. I mean, lot of people do. I went to very conservative profession, and they’re like, oh, you should dress the profession, because lawyers are very kind of in a dark suit, sometimes oversized, and they’re very clever. When I came to Dubai, I was able to jump out the black suit and, you know, get into more colourful and then friends started to say, Oh, can we borrow your clothes? Or I’d always have a colleague or a staff member saying, Can you find me something to wear? Can I wear something yours? So naturally and organically. The next step was to have my own brand,

Robert Hanna  4:46  

and successful brand at that, but I always like to get the raw reality as well. You very graciously mentioned, you know, you’ve had people around you, but what’s it like being a law preneur, and what are sort of some of the challenges associated with that?

Sarah Malik  5:00  

Yeah, look, there’s challenges. There’s never enough time in the day, especially if you’re wearing more than one hat, right? Sometimes even wearing one hat doesn’t give you enough time. So you have to be focused use the best use of time. It’s really important. And you’ve got to sometimes be cutthroat and say, I’m not going to turn that metre, I’m not going to take that call. I can’t see that person because I’ve got to do something else. So that’s a challenge. I think another challenge is it’s often lonely, lonely when you’re doing something that’s quite niche. So a lawyer is a lawyer, and they speak to many other lawyers. But when you’re a lawyer, but you’re also wearing multiple hats for the businesses, sometimes you want to sound off ideas or, you know, am I right, or am I wrong? And it can be lonely because you’re like, Who do I reach out to? And who’s kind of as crazy as I am, doing all these different things.

Robert Hanna  5:40  

So you do find your tribe, though, don’t you eventually? And you people need to remember when you saying no, you’re putting a vote for yes, for something else you’ve dedicated your time to. And it’s not selfish, and it’s not a bad thing to learn to say no. It’s actually, it’s a bit of a bit of a strength. So, you know, wearing all these different hats, you know, board advisor, educator, author, we can go on fashion brands, etc. What is your approach to leadership and business, because there are still, particularly law firms, leaderships lacking.

Sarah Malik  6:04  

You’ve got to lead from the top and you’ve got to understand and be adaptable. I can’t think I’m Gen X. This is how I did it. This is how you should do I mean, sometimes I laugh at some of what’s going on now, but I appreciate and I understand it’s a different breed. I think if you stick to your old ways and expect everybody to follow them. No. Number two, you’ve got to gain respect and confidence and trust your team. Or people who are inspired by you want to, you know, kind of be mentored by you or like you are not going to do that if you kind of ruling with a iron kind of fist and you’re not listening. So you’ve got to listen to understand. You’ve got to inspire and lead by example. You know, if I’m asking somebody to do something, I should be doing that myself. I think that having an open attitude, listening, giving people a voice doesn’t matter how young they are in experience. It’s like, I want to understand from you. I’m learning every day from my team, they bring great ideas to table that I might not have thought about. And I’m like, Guys, this is an open kind of book. You know, even when we do merchandising, I might be like, well, I like this design. And they’re like, well, we like that one. I’m okay, let’s go 5050, I’ll do 50, that 50, that it’s a team spirit. And I think when they see that, they learn that I was taught like that, and I hope to pass that down.

Robert Hanna  7:12  

Yeah and you’re doing it, and I love that you give space for others, because I agree, like you can learn so much from the next generation. I see that myself, and even with the podcast and people that I’m around, and if anything, they’re the people you definitely want to definitely want to be learning from, because they’re the coalface of what’s happening in the world. Okay, before I let you go, you know, what advice would you give to legal professionals that are looking to diversify their careers, much like you, or move into different areas? What would you say?

Sarah Malik  7:35  

I think you’ve got to be credible in what you’re doing, so you’ve got to have a plan, you’ve got to know what you’re doing, and you’ve got to make sure you have the tools. So upskill yourself if you need to your network is your net worth. Surround yourself with the right people. You know, the people around you should be inspiring. You should they should be opening doors for you, and you should be doing the same for them. Network, meet people, make yourself visible, write your article, get involved in something like this. You know, people not going to know who you are, what you’re doing, or assist or help you, if you stay in the background. So I think the next generation of professionals, I think they stand their ground more than we did, actually, and I respect that in them. If they want to diversify, I think there’s more of a space for them to do that now than certainly when I was growing up, because you were just a lawyer. And I sometimes think people, even with me, like, what is she doing? You know, she’s jumping from law to lifestyle to fashion, but it’s acceptable. And I would say to the young generation, don’t let anybody tell you you can’t, but if you’re going to do it, make sure you’ve got a plan and follow it through, execute.

Robert Hanna  8:31  

I couldn’t agree more, and I’m stood here, as you know, traditionally, just the recruiter that then moved into legal podcasting, legal media, you’re smashing. Are you doing really well? But there’s value to it, isn’t it? When you put yourself out there, like there, and what you’re doing and what you’re doing, Sarah, this has been amazing. I’m so glad we’ve been able to get this done. If our listeners are inspired, which I’m sure they are, and want to know more about you and what you’re up to, where can they find you? Feel free chat on your websites and your social media handles

Sarah Malik  8:53  

So we have the law firm is www, dot Sol I ntl.com, the lifestyle is www, dot. Sarah Malik, S, A, R, A, H, M, A, L, I, K.net, the fashion is WWW dot Sarah m.org I’m on Instagram, on soul, dot International. Dot limited, all salt. Sara Malik, lifestyle, and you’ll find me on LinkedIn with the same handles for the lifestyle, Sol International. And Sarah Malik, very happy for anyone to reach out there. You have it,

Robert Hanna  9:22  

and they should, and they’ll learn a tonne, and they’ll get some really good energy like we’ve had. So thank you so much once again, but from all of us on the legal team podcast over and out, thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of our legally on the move from Dubai series. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please take a moment to rate and review the show on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps us out. And if you want to connect with us, directly, join our vibrant, legally speaking club community on Discord, or visit our official website, legally speaking podcast.com. For more updates and ways to get involved. Stay tuned. We’ll see you again soon. Over and out.