It's not goodbye...just... see you later, Mate!

Dear Friends, Clients, Candidates, Connections, Followers and previous Colleagues,

I write this as I experience my last 3 days in Dubai, having had the privilege of living in this highly dynamic city, Dubai, for the past 16 years. Dubai and LinkedIn have been an intrinsic part of my professional and personal journey to date.

My engagement on LinkedIn started in 2007 when I recall receiving a Sales call from an Irish chap and I remember thinking “LinkedIn, could they not have come up with a shorter and better name?”. Who knew that I would end up spending more time in my day, on LinkedIn, than with my children, utilizing the platform as a tool to learn, network, research, build a business and grow my career.?

I eventually went on to champion LinkedIn regularly during my In-house roles and specifically drove engagement with the 50 plus Talent team members during my time at?Emirates, trickling over into HR and other parts of the business. I loved the enablement and empowerment that the platform gave me, to do my best in my role and add value to the business I was working for. I was even lucky enough to represent Emirates at the Talent Connect even in Las Vegas which I will always look at as a defining moment in my career, so far.

I have built Groups, shared jobs, shared Shout Outs for good talent, stalked ;0), headhunted exceptional talent, connected people, generated leads, screened millions of profiles at lightening speed (I really wonder how many!), supported my connections with articles and felt like a Super User Researcher conducting key word searches on LinkedIn Recruiter, creating projects that act as my database, which as a small business is imperative.?

My Career has largely been based on my utilization of this tool and I really believe that I would never have reached my personally considered level of success, without having this platform. Technology has served me for the good in this case and now as I mature, I tend to become a creature of habit, having to force myself to use new tech and utilizing my teenage daughters as my personal help desk but with LinkedIn, I’d like to think I am a Super User and can show my daughters a thing or two!

The UAE has also been a catalyst in my career journey, offering up otherwise ‘needle in a haystack’ opportunities, with massive talent competition to fend off, having the opportunity to work for the largest brands in the world as well as a successfully acquired Start up, helping them spread their wings across the region. Being part of the growth story and evolution of the working landscape, made for fun times and lots of learning (not to mention frustrations but mostly learnings).?

I often wonder, where I would be now, if I had moved straight to Australia from England or even stayed put in the UK. The UAE provided a landing for an accelerated, exhilarating career that ultimately led me to build my own lifestyle business that sustained my want/need/like for work but need/want/like to be present in my children’s day to day school life as well.

‘The Brave Ones’ where born exactly out of that..bravery to step away from the corporate world when you are earning great cash and working for a great brand, to follow your gut and live your own life preference. I am proud of the fact that I have been able to recruit and service global organizations as a one woman band! Visa, Facebook, Liferay, Finastra, Global Data, Discovery, Virgin… to name a few as well as some interesting start ups in Dubai, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All down to a combination of my ambition, technology and the regions emerging market.

The Brave Ones will continue to service Clients from all over the world, so please do reach out and continue to entrust your hiring needs with a dedicated, experienced Recruiter who loves putting the pieces of the puzzle together and aligning value-based organisation with the right Talent.?

I write this post in order to record this personal reflection and say goodbye to my Candidates, Clients, Client thats where Candidates, Colleagues and Colleagues who became friends. And not to mention a little thank you to the UAE and LinkedIn for supporting my journey these past 16 years.

On to new and exciting adventures in Australia!

Brisbane, here we come!

Shukran,

Judy - OG

The Brave Ones