Here in the sunny United Arab Emirates, Mother’s Day falls on the 23rd of March and despite the dire global circumstances we’re currently facing one of the many steps towards leading a purposeful and conscious life is acknowledging the bountiful goodness it has to offer. In this instance, we’re talking about mothers. But rather than share a generic feature on celebrity mum's we thought it more authentic to reach out to four local entrepreneurs to share something more personal with us. Below, you’ll be privy to that, in the form of some stellar advice from the mothers of Matteo Arnaldi, Junaynaah El Guthmy, Rayyan Umrani and Mika Ashraf. So, pop-open some
Superbites or bite into our Lavender Chocolate Bar as you soak up all this goodness on Mother’s Day.
Rayyan Umrani with mother.
The published author behind Cosmic Conversations was delighted to share her mother’s words of wisdom with us. In her own words “The best advice I've gotten from my mom is to stay true to my creative side and always be authentically myself in everything I do. My mother is an artist, so growing up, she always instilled artistic expression in me and my siblings. She allowed me to dress how I wanted, dream to be whoever I wanted and create in whatever way I wanted. Having her encourage my designs, personal sense of style, sketches and poetry have enabled me to be unapologetically myself today.”
Matteo Arnaldi with mother.
The full-time personal trainer who resides in Dubai (when he’s not travelling the world to meet the demands and expectations of VIP-clients) was more than happy to share his mother’s words of wisdom with us and much like the advice we’ve received from our mothers over the years the combination of empathy and decorum is eternally inspiring.
Junaynaah with mother.
The inspiring Junaynaah El Guthmy is an artist that continually innovates Dubai’s creative sphere. Having been photographed for Vogue Arabia and Harper's Bazaar Arabia the young entrepreneur was unapologetically vocal about how the power of her mother’s words instilled in her a spirit of resilience. In her own words “My mom’s taught me so much just by existing and I wish I could put that into words, but I’d have to say the greatest bit of verbal advice she ever gave me was “Never lose faith” and that’s gotten us through a lot of highs and lows."
Mika Ashraf with mother.
Some of you may recognize him by his recognized catchphrase “It’s going to be an Epic Day!” while the rest of you may have seen his work via his Instagram. Suffice to say Mika Ashraf moves seamlessly between life as an artist, photographer and mental health advocate while also taking the time to support his number fan, his mother. Known affectionately on social as #MammaMeeks Mika Ashraf was instant in his contribution to this article with a quote from his mother that invigorates the soul.