We delve into the world of DR. Buthaina AL-Ansari and her advocacy of female empowerment.
Tell us what female empowerment means to you.
There are a lot of definitions surrounding women’s empowerment. It depends on how you want to empower women. From my end, I would say building a woman’s knowledge, enhancing her ability and skills, providing her with a vision and a realistic objective that she can achieve with the right mindset and respecting that she is the other half of society together with men she can be successful. Throughout my whole career I have felt we are not enemies with the other gender, we complete each other, together we can create miracles in different ways but we need love, respect and to believe in our ability as women.
“Throughout my whole career I have felt we are not enemies with the other gender, we complete each other, together we can create miracles in different ways but we need love, respect and to believe in our ability as women.”
Tamkeen assists organisations to empower its members and keep updated with what is new in the local and international market. As CEO how do you promote empowerment amongst females in your workplace?
Tamkeen is a company that deals with building skills for both genders. If we go back to 2010, I remember going to my boss while I was an Executive Director of Human Resources, and telling him that I wanted to celebrate International Women’s Day and his reply was one of confusion. I had already had my answers prepared for ‘how?’, ‘why?’ and ‘when?’ – this is very important. Whether you want to implement an idea in society or your workplace you have to do two important things: First, you have to be well prepared, have belief in your idea and be passionate about it. Secondly, you should be supported by higher management at the workplace or be sponsored by strong partners.
My boss supported me in doing that for six years. It wasn’t just a one-day celebration. Every year I developed a new development program to enhance female staff skills that will enable them to move from one level to the next. For sure there are many challenges from both sides, women and the organisation. To fill this gap, I did a lot of research and it was the topic for my Doctorate of Business Administration ‘Women and the Glass Ceiling’, to empower women for leadership positions in the organisations and increase the female percentage within the C-suite level. When I left the company, I continued to have these programs with different companies as well as individuals. I came up with an idea called ‘Detox your life’ as a conference in Qatar, which is a full day every year in March with an attendance of more than 400 ladies. It has workshops, international speakers, fashion shows and real estate investment experts to teach women how to invest their money.
“Every year I developed a new development program to enhance female staff skills that will enable them to move from one level to the next.”
As CEO of STRIKE (MARCOM) you are renowned for delivering homegrown Qatari creatives and events. Tell us about a time where you have supported other female entrepreneurs in Qatar.
In STRIKE (MARCOM) we truly try to help women entrepreneurs. From the branding side, media advertising, the identity of the brand, strategic ways of thinking, how to gain new and maintain old clients. We discuss how to create a new line/product or service, and we provide event management for opening new retail such as coffee shops or beauty salons. We show women how to utilise freelancers and outsourcing positions to save costs. We are also helping women writers to brand, launch books and edit transcripts. I also developed a new audio book application called ‘Safahat’, which is the perfect platform where a woman can reflect her success and skills. If you are a writer or trainer, come to Safahat application and we will provide you with a platform to help start your dream. We adopt different types of book titles and subjects for the platform as well as different topics for coaching. We also recently launched a cartoon? serial called ‘Sawlef ’ in which three young women discuss different topics with their coach and find solutions in an attractive and simplified way that is easily understood by young women of 16 years old.
Knowledge is power. What challenge have you overcome as a female and how did this empower you as an individual?
Education is the magic of my success, because of my strong education I can differentiate myself among other women in Qatar. Education helped me to become a good speaker and panellist. If you have a strong education and can utilise it at the right place and time, it is the only weapon that will enable you to win any battle you enter.
Every woman deserves to be spotlighted for greatness, name someone who has impacted your approach to life, and strengthened your position as a strong female in Qatar. What did they do to help you through your personal journey?
I have unique reasons that made me who I am today, three men in my life:
My father who secured a healthy home environment and always advised me to benchmark myself with the elite. My brother, who supported me in my career, opening new doors and guiding me in how to grab opportunities. My husband, who encouraged me, believed in me and helped me by saying “Don’t let your dreams be only your dreams”. Gandhi’s quote “Be the change you want to see” is also something I follow, but I have a quote of my own: “Don’t be just an individual who carried two numbers in her life, birth and death. You have to choose your life between these two numbers.”
@buthainaalansari