Dubai: At the age of 19, Karine Yengo Kaisa had accomplished more than most of her peers – she had completed her bachelors’ degree, having jumped a few classes in school, and was already working in the economic capital of her home country – Cameroon, for a logistics company.But somehow, she still wanted to achieve more.“My father is a professor with two PhDs and he’s a big advocate of girl’s education. So, I went to school early and also jumped a few classes,” Kaisa told Emirates 24|7.“At 19, I was working in Douala [city] for a logistics company. But every day, I woke up and it was the same routine … I would get up, go to work, and get back. It was not challenging me,” she added.So, the young professional started looking for cities she could move to, where the environment would not just match her ambition, but also give it wings.In January 2019, she arrived in Dubai. And the next phase of her life – and learning – began.First lessons of entrepreneurship“I always had a dream of being a business mogul. So, I asked myself: ‘What are the skills I would need to make that dream a reality?’ One of the first skills that I thought of was sales – because being a successful business person is all about convincing people, negotiating with them and bringing people to the company. So, I started looking for opportunities in sales,” she said.She landed her first job – as an investment consultant – purely based on her confident style of speaking, and her bilingual skills – growing up in Cameron, she was fluent in English and French.“When I went for that job interview, the manager didn’t ask anything about my age or even my experience. And after I left the first interview, I immediately got a call back for a second one, with the CEO. By the end of the day, I had an offer in hand,” she said.When she asked her boss what made him hire a young professional, with no experience in the field of investment consulting, his answer was simple: He looked at Kaisa and saw someone who was bold, articulate and with strong communication skills. That’s what the company wanted, and that’s exactly what Kaisa delivered for the next two-and-a-half years, building her reputation among high net-worth individuals as well as in the market.The success gave Kaisa the idea of starting her own business, and also her first lesson in entrepreneurship.“I thought that since I was good at sales, I could bring in the clients and work with subcontractors for my own company,” she said.In the first few days, she signed on eight strong clients. But the client journey was not the same.“I learnt that managing the whole business was not easy. Because I was subcontracting to another company, if I was promising excellence, but the other partners were not able to deliver, that’s not good,” she said.“Down the line I kept signing clients but I had zero expertise in operations,” she said.Not one to let pride come in the way of growth, Kaisa realised that she had to do right by her clients – she handed over the clients legally to her previous employer, and decided to jump back into the ‘Dubai-it’ school.“I realised that I was not ready to start my own business, so I went back to being an employee and learning not just sales, but relationships,” she said.In her next job, working in franchising, Kaisa got the chance to work with company heads, and learnt how business works inside out.“I learnt how to manage a team, how to delegate to other people, and also, very importantly, how to control my emotions. That was a big one for me, because I work alone and I expect a certain standard of excellence in everything that I do. But when you’re working with a team, not everyone will work the same way and that is when you need to have the leadership skills to manage those situations tactfully,” she said.Sharing what she’s learntToday, Kaisa works as a regional marketing manager for a company in the construction industry, but also believes in sharing her lessons with others – a component that is key to the world of entrepreneurship.“The journey has not been easy, but it’s been very rewarding. Two years ago, I self-published a book – Crossroads, where I covered how I had built myself professionally, what I achieved, but also what I lost. It was about being able to pick yourself up and rebuild,” she said.And her dreams of being a business mogul are far from forgotten – as she believes Dubai is perhaps the only place where she doesn’t have to clip her ambition.“Dubai has the right eco-system and as long as you have that go-getter attitude, you will see the results. You just have to ‘Dubai-it’,” she said.The Dubai-it philosophy, where bold ambition becomes visible achievement through action, excellence, speed and results the world can see, are clearly reflected in Kaisa’s life as well.“Sometimes I feel like my life is a tornado – everything happens so fast. And this is Dubai! Just the other day, I realised they had opened a new road on a route I take every day, and I thought to myself, ‘When did they do that?’,” she said laughing.“That’s how fast paced this place is – not just with the infrastructure but the people as well as the brands – they are always innovating. I am the same. I’m always looking for something to innovate, and it has to be done with excellence,” she said.“If I wasn’t in this country, I wouldn’t be who I am today, because no other country would have offered me the tools and the ecosystem that I am exposed to,” she added.The ability to learn and grow, to have access to not just government entities but officials as well, being able to merge her passion for AI, with business development and business ethics.“You won’t get that kind of access anywhere. Dubai offers you that platform, to be able to Dubai-it,” she said.
