Dubai: British entrepreneur, advisor and strategist Faheem Chaudhry, 36, has lived and travelled all over the world.He was born in London, UK, grew up and studied in South Africa, met and married his wife Asmaa, with whom he travelled through South America, then lived in Paris, France, and returned to London.But his next chapter is set to be the most exciting one yet: It’s been nearly two weeks since Chaudhry and his wife arrived in Dubai. This time, with the intention of putting down roots and calling it home.A long time comingThe couple left London with six suitcases and a golf bag. Picture credit: SuppliedThe couple have a long history with the city. It’s been inviting them for years.Chaudhry, who has extensive experience in leading advertising companies and building communication strategies, said: “I first came to Dubai in 2015 to run a client workshop – three days with 40 CEOs from around the world – on brand and marketing. From the moment I saw the city lights from the plane, I had a physical reaction to the place. I felt excited, I felt alive, and I couldn't wait to land.”His relationship with Dubai just kept growing over the years, as he became a frequent visitor to the UAE. He said: “Every trip felt better than the last. I had more than 30 coffees with people who live here, and the energy and optimism they carried is something I have not found anywhere else.”Unfortunately for Chaudhry, “the season of my life never quite lined up with being able to move”.His wife Asmaa, who grew up in Paris, and is an entrepreneur with a background in luxury and retail, had already lived in Dubai for seven years, from 2010. She too, fell in love with the city, and “that feeling of it being home never quite left her”. She met Chaudhry at a Muay Thai and CrossFit gym in Thailand in 2018, and five years later, in May 2023, the couple married in London.Between December 2025 and February 2026, Chaudhry spent six weeks in Dubai to test whether it was possible to move their lives here. One night, he sat down with his wife and talked about their future: “Not this year, but 10 years out. Where do we want to be, and what do we want to be doing. In that conversation, it became completely clear that the answer was we needed to be in Dubai. Whatever happens in the wider world, we believe that over the next decade, the UAE will win. It feels inevitable when you see the quality of the leadership, the long-term thinking and the sheer efficiency of the system.”From scaling businesses to building his own brandAs a hub for diversity, development, and global brands, Dubai is a place where Chaudhry can see himself Dubai-it – the city’s cultural philosophy of achieving something extraordinary with excellence in record time.Chaudhry went to university in Cape Town, South Africa, where he started his career in advertising as a strategist with M&C Saatchi. A few years in, he moved to London to join their global headquarters, and in 2019, he was recruited back to South Africa to become partner and managing director.After working with the company for 11 years, Chaudhry said: “I gave up the corner office and leading a company of 150 people to go and build something of my own. That road taught me a great deal, and it led me to the work that most lights me up, which is teaching leaders and their teams the craft of communication and influence.”Since then, he has worked with some of the largest companies in the world, with governments across three continents, and has twice addressed the United Nations on the power of communication. He co-founded Lori, a health tech start-up with his wife, co-created Soba Circus, a nootropic drink brand with Grammy-nominated British artist Nic Fanciulli, and founded his own consultancy in the UK, Making Sense of Modern Times.Chaudhry said: “All of that gave me a rare view of how the best organisations and leaders actually operate, and one thing became clear through every bit of it. Communication is the skill that decides everything else. It's the difference between a leader people follow and one who loses the room, between an idea that gets backed and one that gets forgotten.”The Dubai chapterAs a hub for diversity, development, and global brands, Dubai is a place where Chaudhry can see himself Dubai-it. Picture credit: SuppliedWhere better to grow and collaborate on communication, than in a land where over 195 nationalities co-exist in harmony and mutual respect?Now that he’s in Dubai, Chaudhry feels there are bigger things on the horizon. Here, he wants to add value.He said: “At 36, I believe I'm in the most exciting season yet. I have 15 years of experience behind me, and at the same time, my tank is completely full. I want to pour myself into adding value to others, into building, growing, and collaborating, and into pushing past anything I've done before. For that season, there is no place like Dubai. The country backs you, and people want to meet you and introduce you to others. In other places I've lived, people tend to keep their circle to themselves. Here, everyone wants to introduce you to 10 more people, and that culture cannot be manufactured.”Chaudhry has already set up his own practice in Dubai, under his name, and he aims to “teach leaders and their teams the craft of communication at work so they cut through in an age of endless information”. Setting up his business was a simple, straightforward process in the city, which he says “feels like exactly the right place to grow it”.Asmaa, too, is focusing on launching her own venture in Dubai. With years of business development experience for luxury jewellery and haute couture brands, she’s looking to reconnect with her network “and is excited to build the next chapter as an entrepreneur,” Chaudhry added.By focusing on their own ventures, the couple is putting their hopes in the culture of ambition and excellence that Dubai thrives on. Chaudhry said: “The city is living proof of imagination turned into action. Every time you see the Burj Khalifa you're reminded of the sheer scale of it. People doing what looked impossible is happening all around you, constantly, and that is infectious. I have friends who moved here a decade ago and built businesses beyond anything they'd imagined. So, if you're feeling bold and you're willing to do the work, this is the place. My sense is that Dubai will push me to think on a scale many times bigger than before. This, to me, is what Dubai-it is all about.”Making a life-changing moveIt seems surreal to think about, when just two weeks ago, the couple left London with six suitcases and a golf bag.Chaudhry said: “It's a strange feeling… we shipped some things, but standing at the airport, all you really have is what's with you. I find that liberating. I'm a minimalist. I don't like collecting things, I'd much rather collect experiences and memories. So, while I was sad to be leaving my parents, my siblings, and my little niece, I was also so excited to begin our new life here. That's the part people don't always see about a move like this. The excitement and the loss sit right next to each other.”Since the move, Chaudhry said he has been most surprised by how much has been possible in the first week, thanks to the city’s highly competent systems. He said: “Medicals done, Emirates IDs issued, driver's licence converted, personal and business bank accounts opened, medical cover sorted, 20 apartments viewed, a lease signed and ready to move into, and a car rented. And this week, I start my first project work here, which tells you something about the pace of the place. All of it made possible by the efficiency of the system, which has honestly been mind-blowing.”So, what’s next on the agenda? Chaudhry is focusing on settling in with his wife, in their new apartment in Downtown Dubai, and exploring what the city has to offer.He said: “We feel genuinely fortunate to be starting this chapter here, and grateful for how warmly the city has received us in such a short time.”He is most excited about “getting to know the real depth of the city. On every previous visit, I had a week or two, and in that time you only ever scratch the surface. I know that underneath, there are deep friendships, real working partnerships and a whole community waiting to be found. For a place to become home, you need your people, and that's what I'm most looking forward to building here. Ours.”
