Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Kamelia Allow, CEO @ Bowarr Management
How could you describe your career path in few words?
I came to UAE in 1999 at the age of only 23, after completing my MBA in Bulgaria. I started my
career in the corporate sector from the very basic positions in the accounts through out many
years. Moving from purchasing to payables to receivables, to manager and to director, for first 10 years I gained immense knowledge about the market and how the business works in UAE. It wall all before the establishment of my own accounting firm. Within next 10 years of hard work and dedication, the my business expanded instantly and started offering corporate and tax advisory services. I started the company with only one client and made it to the 3000 clients before successfully selling it in 2019.
By the exit time, the company had been awarded with nearly 20 local and international awards and recognitions. I personally won the title “Leading woman in Business” for the consecutive three years (2017, 2018 and 2019) for outstanding achievements by woman in business in the UAE. In short, It would not be wrong to say that my both career paths as an employee and as an entrepreneur were just like a go-anywhere quad bike: bright, adaptable, resourceful, and full of wonders and many astonishing triumphs. But just like riding a real quad bike, I gained so much of new skills on the way, to get the most out of each of them to align my skills with the changing market dynamics.
Today, I lead an M&A Advisory firm in DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center) focused on
using data to enhance sell side value. Besides, I specialized in enhanced due diligence for the
protection of investment of the buy side. I am also an Advisory Board Member of a manufacturing unit of Fully Natural Skincare Products.
What was your most challenging experience, and it has changed your mindset?
I have always found myself struggling to the never-ending pursuit of perfectionism and obsessed with detailed minutiae. I always pay attention to details and polish everything until there is no room perfection. It makes a difference! This is the reason, I am still learning to recognize the difference between almost barely well enough, and perfect enough and it has always been one of my biggest challenges. Till realizing that perfection can kill or waste the opportunity to scale-up the business. That being said, I realize that the only way to take my business going to the next level is to take the risk of pursuing excellence instead. It will greatly help unleash the potential of my business and definitely made a huge impact on the way I do and manage business.
How do you handle/manage the uncertainty in business?
As Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher quoted “Change is the only constant in life”. The moment
every one of us just digest this wise statement, we come to view the uncertainty as an
opportunity in disguise. If we don’t get better every day while comparing ourselves to our yesterday’s version, it means we are regressing instead of making a progress. So, if we take smaller and simpler steps every day to improve ourselves, it means we are moving towards innovation and growth every day.
In business, communication plays a crucial role. The more openly we communicate with the
team regarding any changes taking place, the easier the whole company manages the change.
Above all, everyone in the team understands the reasons and the purpose behind it.
Rest is just a normal way how does a business go. Managing a business can never can be a
straight line, it is always up or down, just like the heart rate variability. And those vicissitudes
are just normal.
What’s the key success factor for a female entrepreneur in cross cultural context
based on your experience?
Man or woman, in business survive and thrive only those who are fully dedicated to their clients demands, meet their team needs and persistent in achieving and constantly improving quality of service or product they deliver.
Based on your experience, what’s the key success factor for a female leader /
manager?
The primary factor for female leaders to succeed is drawing the line and establishing clear
boundaries. The other factors making the journey towards accessing the destination are to never stop learning, read, and innovate to get better every day. Most importantly, never stop putting efforts to beat your yesterday’s self. Moreover, I have learned from my years of experience that the women must realize as early as possible that work – life balance is a myth for those who are looking for an excuse.
