From overcoming shyness to leading shifts, these women from across the UAE share the lessons they have learned and the challenges they have overcome behind the coffee counter.
A workday can begin with a coffee machine warming up and end with a shift plan, a customer concern, a technical problem or a rush of orders. For five Emirati women working in cafés across the UAE, the counter has become a place to learn far more than how to prepare a drink.
Shouq, Nouf, Sheikha, Aisha and Laila entered the industry through very different paths. Some were looking for their first jobs, while others had entirely different career plans. Over time, working behind the counters at Starbucks outlets across the UAE helped them learn how to interact with customers, take on responsibility and build the confidence to imagine broader professional futures.
Finding confidence while studying
At 19, Shouq is balancing university studies with work. She joined Starbucks at 18, shortly after finishing secondary school, while pursuing a degree in human resources — a field she hopes to enter after graduation. Before joining the coffee industry, she worked at a hypermarket in Ras Al Khaimah.
Her interest in coffee began during visits to a nearby café, where she watched customers ask staff about different beans and drinks. She knew little about coffee when she applied for the job, and speaking to customers was an even bigger challenge.
Shouq described herself as shy, with a voice so quiet that people often struggled to hear her. But daily interactions gradually helped her come out of her shell and become more confident.
“Before, I could never speak to a customer or to someone I didn’t know. Now I can speak to customers, explain things to them and understand them; my personality has changed a lot,” she said.
The early months were tiring as she travelled between university and work, but scheduling support helped her balance both. The job also taught her how to understand different personalities and remain calm when customers were having difficult days.
One older customer told her he was proud to see Emiratis taking up such positions. The comment left her feeling both emotional and happy. She believes the experience of interacting with customers and colleagues will also help her in a future career in HR.
From IT plans to a future in management
Nouf, 22, had initially considered a career in banking before choosing an IT specialisation. Working in a café was not part of her original plan, but that changed after she developed an interest in coffee and began visiting cafés.
Encouraged by Shouq’s experience, she decided to apply, and joined three or four months later.
She started with only a basic knowledge of drinks and little understanding of the wider coffee industry or the level of customer interaction the job involved. Like Shouq, she was very shy when she first started.
“When I first joined, I felt I did not know anything. I was extremely shy, and little by little I began to break through that barrier,” she said.
Nouf gradually learned how to welcome customers, listen to their concerns and prevent difficult interactions from escalating.
A first job that became leadership
For Sheikha, a 31-year-old mother of four from Fujairah, the journey began unexpectedly while she was taking her daughter to a hospital appointment. She received a recruitment opportunity, submitted the required documents and attended the interview. She was accepted — and it became her first job.
Nearly three years later, she has risen from barista to shift supervisor. She already enjoyed coffee at home, owned a coffee machine and watched videos about latte art, but working in a café proved very different from following online tutorials.
Her role now involves checking expiry dates, preparing shift plans, supporting her team and handling customer concerns.
“It’s not only about making coffee. We create the shift planners and learn how to serve our customers better,” Sheikha said.
Not everyone understood her decision to take the job. Some customers questioned why Emirati women were doing such work or suggested they should seek employment elsewhere. Sheikha’s response was firm: “There is nothing shameful about working.” She saw no reason to leave a job she was doing well.
She also remembers an older woman recognising her from a photograph displayed after she was promoted and telling her she felt proud. Over time, some customers even began asking for Sheikha to prepare their coffee. Her children now recognise the café logo as part of their mother’s work.
The experience has also encouraged her to consider a future in management and, perhaps one day, opening a business of her own.
From giving it a try to supervising a shift
Aysha, 28, from Al Ain, was not initially considering coffee as a long-term career. After secondary school, she worked at a hypermarket for about four months. A barista later told her about openings for Emirati applicants, prompting her to apply.
She joined around three years ago as a barista and was promoted to supervisor at the beginning of this year. She is now responsible for her team, safety and operations during her shift, with ambitions of becoming an assistant manager.
Aysha already enjoyed making coffee at home, but working in a café taught her about the speed and complexity of a busy counter. She bought more equipment, made coffee for her family and learned about different coffee varieties, supplies, latte art and V60 brewing. She also had to become comfortable working around ovens, milk and coffee while wearing an abaya.
As a supervisor, she has learned to solve problems under pressure. When the electricity or Wi-Fi goes down, the point-of-sale system and daily operations can be affected. On one occasion, she arranged for food to be moved to another branch and sent an email explaining the situation.
“Don’t judge a place or a job from the outside until you try it. I had only come to try it, but I stayed, and I moved up,” Aysha said.
Aysha sees customer service as a reflection of Emirati values and remembers a customer praising her manners and upbringing. She hopes to open a café of her own one day, believing hands-on experience is essential to understanding how a customer-facing business operates.
“The most important thing for me is customer service. Even if the quality is good, if the treatment is not good, people will not come back,” Aysha added.
The decision to stay
Layla, a university graduate in English-language education from Kalba, entered the industry by chance after doing temporary teaching work. She saw a vacancy announcement and applied. It was her first full-time job, but she initially worried about how people would view her. After two weeks, she wondered if the job was right for her.
Her first store manager encouraged her to stay for another month. That advice changed the direction of her experience. Layla has now been with Starbucks for almost two years and has been promoted. She said her confidence changed “180 degrees” as she learned to greet customers, speak to strangers and recognise familiar faces outside the store.
One encounter has stayed with her. A visibly upset customer came into the café, and Layla offered a spontaneous prayer for her comfort. The woman later returned to say the words had helped her leave feeling calmer. For Layla, the moment showed that customer service can be personal as well as professional.
After about a year and a half as a barista, Layla moved into a shift-supervisor role, learning new systems, computer work and files while taking responsibility for the team, the store environment and customer concerns. Rush periods and balancing work with responsibilities at home remain challenging, but the experience has made her more patient, responsible and confident.
“The most important thing in all of this is self-confidence. If you have self-confidence, you will be able to enter any field,” she said.
For these five Emirati women, the coffee counter is not the destination, but a starting point — a place where they have faced their fears, developed practical skills, built professional confidence and discovered new possibilities for the future.
