What is it like growing up in a family business? UAE leaders reveal the early lessons and responsibilities that shaped their careers.
For a new generation of business leaders, a family legacy is rarely something they simply inherit.
While it can create opportunities and open doors, it also carries expectations, history and responsibility. Every step forward can come with the awareness that what they build will inevitably be compared with the achievements of the generations that came before them.
That sense of responsibility forms a central theme in The New Generation, the latest instalment of Global Indians of the UAE — a year-long Khaleej imes editorial series highlighting Indian-origin entrepreneurs, thought leaders and trend-makers.
The instalment profiles 24 leaders who grew up in families where businesses had already been established, reputations built and legacies created long before they stepped into leadership roles. Across their individual journeys, one theme repeatedly stands out: the responsibility of carrying a family legacy forward while building an identity and path of their own.
Many of them learned their first lessons through simple, everyday experiences.
For many of these leaders, the earliest lessons came from hands-on experience — summers spent in warehouses, time on shop floors, rotations across sales, finance and procurement, and countless hours observing how their parents and grandparents worked.
Mohamed Jasir, Group Vice President, Digital & Business Excellence at Hotpack Global, recalls receiving just Dh1 from his father at the end of a workday — a symbolic lesson that value must first be created before it can be earned.
Adel Sajan, Group Managing Director of Danube Group, began spending his summers working in the family warehouse when he was just 13 years old. Rohan Mehta, Managing Director of Petrochem Middle East, gained experience in frontline sales before progressing into operational strategy. Meanwhile, Yash Bhatia, Director of Uncle’s Shop Building Material Trading, spent his childhood summer holidays moving between his father’s and grandfather’s cabins and shared workspaces, closely observing how the business operated.
A common lesson runs through these experiences: before taking charge of a business, first understand what makes it work.
At the same time, many of the new generation have shown a willingness to venture beyond the paths established by their families. Some launched businesses of their own before taking on broader responsibilities within the family enterprise, while others identified opportunities in sectors far removed from the businesses they grew up around.
Shifa Yusuff Ali, Founder and CEO of IdeaCrate, transformed her search as a mother for the right place for her daughter to play into a business spanning children’s entertainment and early education.
Similarly, Ziham Moopen, Founder and Managing Director of Toddler Town British Nursery, drew on her experience as a mother to create the kind of early-years environment she wanted for her own children, while maintaining links to her family’s healthcare interests.
Amreen Iqbal, Founder of Piece of You, took her lifelong exposure to the jewellery industry in a more personal direction, transforming handwriting, drawings and cherished memories into jewellery designed to be worn, preserved and passed down through generations.
Technology is another defining force shaping this new generation of business leaders. Across manufacturing, education, healthcare, retail, logistics and real estate, they are embracing digitalisation and automation while rethinking businesses that were established in a very different era.
Yet technology is rarely viewed as a way to distance themselves from the past. Instead, it serves as a means of preserving the values and foundations that matter while modernising the areas that need to evolve.
That balance between tradition and transformation may ultimately define this generation.
Rather than replacing the legacy they inherited, these leaders are working to build upon it. Their aim is to carry the family story forward while adding something distinctly their own — ensuring that when the business eventually passes to the next generation, their contribution has become an unmistakable part of that legacy.
