Latest news with #Christiane
Emirates Woman
09-05-2025
- Business
- Emirates Woman
How I got my job as... founder of The Bowery Company
This week, we speak to Christiane Nasr, founder of The Bowery Company. Welcome to the Emirates Woman weekly series ' How I got my job as… ' where we speak to some incredible entrepreneurs and businesswomen both based in the UAE and globally to find out about their career paths that led them to where they are now; what their daily routines look like; the advice they'd give to those starting out; and the hurdles they've had to overcome. Masterminded by the visionary entrepreneur, this go-to home decor destination is home to an exclusive portfolio of sought-after Scandinavian brands such as GUBI, Audo, &Tradition, Ferm Living, Verpan, and Louis Poulsen. With her chic curatorial eye and commitment to sustainability, Christiane has successfully filled beautiful homes and spaces with modern decor and scaled the business, including a recent opening of the Riyadh showroom. Here, Christiane shares her journey having embarked on a career change, her lessons learned as an entrepreneur, and her future goals. What was your favourite subject at school? Literature. I've always been drawn to stories, the emotion, the nuance, the perspectives. That ability to connect with ideas beyond your own reality has served me in every chapter of my life, whether I was structuring investment portfolios or curating design collections. I ended up studying at economics, mathematics and a minor in Russian Literature! What was your first job? I began my career in finance in Geneva as an investment advisor for UHNWI in the GCC and Europe and worked my way up to be an Investment Director for a leading European bank heading their investment office in Dubai, spending over 13 years in Geneva and the UAE. It was a high-pressure and high-stakes job, but it gave me discipline, resilience and the confidence to lead, take calculated risks, and trust my vision. What eventually brought you to Dubai? The bank I was working for in Geneva sent me to Dubai to head regional investments. From the moment I arrived, I was struck by the city's energy and ambition it was in 2012. Dubai welcomes big dreams and fuels entrepreneurship, and that mindset is contagious. It sparked something in me and planted the seed for what would eventually become my next chapter. What inspired you to enter the interior and retail space and launch The Bowery Company? In 2014, I was in New York, walking down The Bowery Avenue, when I noticed a wave of industrial lighting and design shops, bold, raw and inspiring. That moment sparked something. Back in Dubai, I couldn't find furniture that was both design-driven and accessible. So I started The Bowery Company with a mission to 'Bring Design Home.' At first it was a side project, but in early 2018, I left banking entirely to pursue it full-time. It was the scariest and most liberating decision I have ever made. What are the key elements of your role? At its core, my role is rooted in vision and strategy, shaping the long-term trajectory of The Bowery Company while remaining deeply anchored in purpose. I am not just bringing design home, I am building a movement centered on timeless aesthetics, sustainability, and cultural relevance. It means making bold, forward-thinking decisions, whether it is entering new markets, as we did in Saudi Arabia, or redefining what affordable luxury looks like in the region. Above all, I lead a passionate, talented team, and my responsibility is to inspire, challenge, and foster a culture where creativity, innovation, and accountability thrive. Talk us through your daily routine. I wake up at 6am, spend quality time with my kids, then head to Barry's Bootcamp to set the tone for the day-I train there seven days a week. After that, it's coffee and straight into work mode. My days are a dynamic mix of strategic meetings, project development, curating new collections, and staying closely connected to our community of clients and collaborators. I work hand-in-hand with our Saudi team as we pursue major hotel, F&B, and commercial projects, while also reviewing marketing campaigns and planning our next launches. I usually head home around 7pm for dinner, homework, and bedtime routines with my kids 5 and 7 year olds then, I'm often back at my laptop for a few more hours to wrap up the day. I'm a hardcore entrepreneur; my workdays can stretch 12 to 16 hours. But I also believe deeply in work-life harmony. Some weeks allow space to recharge, while others demand focus and intensity. It's all part of building a business I am a firm believer in. What advice do you have for anyone looking to follow in the same footsteps? Take risks. Don't listen to the noise. Take a leap of faith, and don't look back. Most importantly, embrace failure, because every setback brings you one step closer to success. Don't be afraid to pivot, I walked away from a 13-year career in finance to start from scratch in an entirely new industry. It is never too late to follow a calling but do it with clarity. Know your why, stay consistent, and never underestimate your inner power. What is the best piece of advice you ever received? No one else will write your story for you, you have to write your own recipe for success. Mine involved courage, discipline, a relentless belief in my vision, and a willingness to start over, even when the odds weren't in my favour. Once you realise that you don't need permission to begin, everything shifts. Tell us more about the brands and styles offered. We are the exclusive GCC representative for some of the world's most respected Scandinavian brands: Audo Copenhagen, Ferm Living, GUBI, &Tradition, Louis Poulsen, and more. These brands champion timeless aesthetics, ethical production, and enduring materials. The Bowery Company bring design home, offering warm minimalism with soul pieces that balance beauty, function, and sustainability. And what is the worst advice you ever received? 'Play it safe. Give up. Don't open in Saudi Arabia. You're over 40 years old, it is not time to take risks. Think of your kids you don't need to take bold moves now. Stay in your comfort zone.' If I had followed that advice, I'd still be in banking, comfortable, maybe, but constantly wondering 'what if?' Playing it safe doesn't build dreams. Growth comes from taking risks, leaning into discomfort, and saying yes to the things that scare you. That's where real transformation begins. What has been the biggest challenge you had to overcome? The transition from banking to design was a radical shift, but the real challenge came in 2019, I faced another major challenge that pushed me completely out of my comfort zone. It was a pivotal moment where I made the conscious decision to give my last push to the business, and that was the turning point in my transformation. Since then, we have experienced double-digit growth, turning The Bowery Company into a multi-million dollar business. Today, our 10,000 square-feet flagship showroom in Riyadh stands as a symbol of that success. But none of it came easy, it came from showing up, again and again, and trusting in the magic of your dreams. Never give up. You're stronger than you think. What are your goals for the future? To expand across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC, deepen our collaboration with Vision 2030 projects, and keep driving the conversation around sustainability in design. I also want to mentor and support other women taking the leap into entrepreneurship. Ultimately, The Bowery Company is about more than bringing design home and beautiful interiors, it is about living courageously, consciously, and beautifully. – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram Images: Supplied
CNN
03-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump 2.0 After 100 Days & America's Illiberal Roots - Amanpour - Podcast on CNN Audio
Trump 2.0 After 100 Days & America's Illiberal Roots Amanpour 42 mins The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been deemed chaotic and overzealous, even by Americans, with multiple polls this week showing the President's approval rating underwater, even on his signature issues like the economy and mass deportations. There is an uneasy feeling that Trump is pushing America and the world away from democratic norms by stretching the limits of executive power. Christiane speaks with historians Jill Lepore from Harvard University and Timoth Garten Ash from Oxford University about America's illiberal turn under Trump 2.0 and the deep-seated roots of that illiberalism. Then, as President Trump pressures Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to take decisive action against her country's cartels, CNN's Isobel Yeung went there to investigate what the crackdown looks like first-hand in Sinaloa. Also, as sirens sounded across Israel this week to honor those lost to terror and war, while Israel's total siege on Gaza enters its third month, Christiane talks to bereaved Israeli and Palestinian fathers, Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin who've channeled their grief and pain into friendship and a joint struggle for peace. To mark 50 years since the chaotic end of the Vietnam War, from her archives, Christiane pays a tribute to the famous wartime photographer Eddie Adams who captured some of the worst moments of the war and with his camera, helped change hearts and minds and ultimately, shaped government policy.
CNN
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
How Ukraine is Dealing With Trump - Amanpour - Podcast on CNN Audio
How Ukraine is Dealing With Trump Amanpour 55 mins First: After Russia conducts major strikes on Kyiv, President Trump urges both sides to embrace his peace proposal. Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian MP, joins from Ukraine to discuss how his country is being pressured by the Trump Administration. Following that, the EU's Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan discusses a key point of leverage on Russia. Plus: A year ago, Pope Francis met with an extraordinary duo of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli fathers, Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, whose daughters had both been killed. They have dedicated their lives to peace, and they join the show to recount that meeting with the Pope, and their hopes for peace in their troubled region. And: Finally, we revisit Christiane's interview with a close friend of Pope Francis, Rabbi Abraham Skorka. He spoke with Christiane in 2013 about their friendship and the man who he knew as Jorge Bergoglio.
CNN
19-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
The War on America's Elite Universities and Colleges - Amanpour - Podcast on CNN Audio
The War on America's Elite Universities and Colleges Amanpour 42 mins As the Trump administration intensifies its attempts to reshape U.S. colleges and universities, Christiane Amanpour speaks to those who are pushing back. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey talks about her concerns as her state is targeted by the Republican White House and Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth discusses why he believes the Trump Administration is, in his words, 'selling Jews a dangerous lie' by claiming its crackdown is to combat Anti-Semitism. Then, Mike Valerio's report on how South Korean women are fighting against explicit images made with AI deepfakes. Also, British playwright Ryan Calais Cameron discusses his timely West End smash, 'Retrograde', a play revealing how Sidney Poitier's career was almost derailed by the Red Scare. Plus, as Sudan marks two years of its devastating war, an echo from history as Christiane revisits her reporting on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur in 2004. And finally, a tribute to a giant of Latin American literature, Mario Vargas Llosa. As the Peruvian author dies aged 89, Christiane looks back at their conversation when he told her how he got started by writing love letters.
CNN
29-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
The Far-Reaching Consequences of SignalGate - Amanpour - Podcast on CNN Audio
The Far-Reaching Consequences of SignalGate Amanpour 42 mins As the Trump team scrambles to contain the fallout over the signal scandal, former Republican Senator and U.S. Defense Secretary under President Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, talked to Christiane about the far-reaching consequences of this blunder. Then she speaks with best-selling author Michael Lewis and satirist W. Kamau Bell, about their new book called, "Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service.," which profiles the civil servants being targeted by the new administration in their federal government cuts. Plus, Ivan Watson reports on the hundreds of people trapped inside 'scam compounds' in the warlord-controlled border region of Myanmar, the nexus of a billion-dollar scam industry, where hundreds of thousands of trafficked people have been working as modern slaves, conning victims around the world out of their savings. Then, as 'The Sound of Music" turns 60, Christiane revisits her conversation with Julie Andrews about her legendary career and some behind-the-scenes moments. Plus, as the administration's foreign aid cut halt the critical cleanup of Agent Orange and other diplomatic efforts in Vietnam, Christiane's 60 Minutes report highlights the devastating impact of the toxic chemical on the local population and U.S. vets alike, and the reason for the much-needed U.S. assistance to this day.
