Finding passion in corporate world

Manama : It was very early on during her university studies that Egyptian-born Nada El Barshoumi, became well-acquainted and got exposed to the corporate world. 

That was when she received  a one-year work placement to work with an online marketing team for XEROX in London. Barshoumi, who was raised in Bahrain, graduated with a degree in Digital Media Technology from Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

After graduating, she moved back to the Kingdom and started out as a designer for six months in PR and design agency Obai & Hill. She gradually became promoted as Senior Account Manager and she became an equity partner for the firm. She has worked with a wide range of clients across the GCC, Middle East and Europe, including Subway, McDonalds, Mercedes-Benz and Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company.

But Barshoumi desired to challenge herself even further as she looked to move into a team that was more internationally based with higher profile clients. She was lucky enough to get an opportunity with Industry, a global brand consultancy headquartered in London with regional offices in the Middle East and Australia and partner offices in New York and Singapore. She is now the Lead Brand Consultant for the MENA region based in Bahrain.

Previous Experiences

It is very clear that Barshoumi’s internship and working experiences in local and regional agencies like Obai & Hill has geared her towards a line of work that she would find herself enthralled and passionate about, as well as professionally and personally polished in. 

“My initial focus has been a lot more design-based and I think that branding consultancy actually suits me very well because its great combination of the strategic, technical and creative parts, which I enjoy personally as well,” she said.

Lead Brand Consultant for Industry’s MENA region

Barshoumi is now mainly in charge of the day-to-day handling of clients in the MENA region liaising with the London office, where the main design and strategic team is based. She contributes to business development and consulting clients on their specific needs and goals.

She explained that conducting research to distinguish factors and ways to solve problems and improve clients’ needs has been the kind of work she discovered to enjoy the most.

“The kind of work that we do involves a very strategic approach. It involves doing a lot of research on competitors in the market and the different factors that can contribute to your brand image. The work is not necessarily formulaic, there’s not one right answer for each kind of problem, so it is challenging and difficult sometimes, but I enjoy pushing myself and trying to creatively solve a problem, think strategically and put myself in the shoes of my clients and help them get to the best solution possible. “

Barshoumi has expressed that working in this field is sometimes considered dull or boring, but she finds an excitement and challenge in the everyday work she does. 

“No two days are the same, every day is different, every client is different. I think with this kind of work, it’s very dynamic, it’s interesting because of the nature of different industries that we work with. Most people would say that financial services is boring or dull, to the contrary, I actually find it quite riveting. Working with the team and clients that are heads of departments, CEOs, CFOs, there is a lot of valuable information and experiences that you can gain in this kind of position,” she said.

Work culture challenge

Barshoumi’s main challenge is to convince the clients of strategic, productive and modern ways to rebrand, reposition and restructure their companies.

“Middle East is an exciting place to work at this time. This part of the world has always been a kind of a late bloomer but as a side effect of that, sometimes it can be difficult in dealing with more traditionally minded clients. It’s a little bit tricky to explain things to them in a way that allows them to see the value of long-term vision, and this is because of the nature of the region, many institutions and companies built their wealth in a very short period of time.”

However, Barshoumi believes that this shift in the mind of working youths is beginning to take over and help fill this gap.

“I think as the second and third generations are now taking over, a good proportion of the younger generation is well educated, they have more global perspective even if they are not educated abroad,” she added.

Barshoumi’s Advice: Hard Work

“I’ve always lived by the mantra that there is no substitute for hard work. I think a lot of people try to figure out how they can get things done the easy way and kind of take the short cut. The one thing that I’ve learned in my relatively young career is that there is no substitute for hard work and it does pay off. I think having a strong work ethic is extremely important, being completely dedicated to what you do. If you don’t truly enjoy what you do, you probably will not have that strong work ethic. Therefore you won’t be able to put in the hard work required,” she concluded.