In this episode of #MySarwaStory, we sit down with Nour Arida – one of the most recognised female Arab faces across the Middle East.
Nour is a corporate fashion buyer turned entrepreneur. It was her husband, George, who believed in her potential as a fashion model and played a pivotal role in changing her career (quite literally) by posting a picture of her wedding dress on Instagram. The post went viral, though Nour still didn’t anticipate that her personal brand on Instagram could really be monetised.
Soon after getting married, Nour became pregnant and started posting her pregnancy “looks” on her Instagram account, sparking her following even further. She, however, attributes authenticity as the ultimate driver of having one of the most largely-followed social accounts by any woman in the Middle East. She calls this “breaking the barrier” against posting an image people wanted to see her as, versus what she really was — the girl next door in a white t-shirt.
During this time, it was when Nour signed her first modeling contract that she left her job to focus on building her personal brand with her husband, who became her manager. In fact, she explains that she believes in working with people she trusts, as well as getting investment and money management guidance from people she trusts (such as her brother and father).
Speaking of investing, even though Nour studied economics and mathematics at school, she believes that her education did not give her enough information to get her to start investing. For this reason, she believes that personal finance management should be integrated into the school system. However, Nour does attribute teachings at home (from her father) to instilling financial independence and good personal finance management habits. In fact, she considers herself very diligent at tracking her spending because she believes that being “aware” of where your money is gives you the mindfulness to not buy what you can’t afford and invest it to grow it.
“You can be a mother and you can have a job.”
As for being a working, Arab mother, Nour believes that being “productive” makes her “independent.” Though he acknowledges that she sometimes has mom-guilt, she hopes that the pride her daughter will feel in the future for having had a working mom will make up for it. As for remaining independent within your marriage, Nour believes that all women should have their own bank accounts, despite any joint accounts they might have with their husbands, because (in her opinion) the most satisfying feeling is going to bed knowing you’re completely independent.
Her closing advice to all women is for them to leverage their emotional intelligence. She believes that this sets them apart from men and that it’s their superpower to make it to the top. And specifically for Arab women, Nour tells them to not be scared to be independent and not be dependent on their husbands and fathers, because they truly are the strongest women!
As for Nour’s investment portfolio, she believes this is going to be her year to start building her wealth by investing. Perhaps her brother and father’s stock investing chatter have rubbed off on her!
Plug in your headphones and watch the full interview on our YouTube page, or if you’re on-the-go you can listen to it on your favorite podcast streaming platform (such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Anghami).