Humantra founder Charlie Wright has failed “loads of times”. Developer Mahdi Amjad recalls being told that one of his most ambitious projects would never be built. Chef Izu Ani believes getting ahead should not mean holding others back.
The three Dubai-it Award winners work in different industries, but they reveal the challenges behind their achievements and how living and building businesses in Dubai shaped their response.
Wright was recognised in the Entrepreneurs category, Ani in Hospitality, and Amjad, founder and executive chairman of Omniyat Group, in Real Estate Projects.
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They were among six recipients announced on November 4 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE. The announcement completed the winners’ list for the inaugural awards, which recognise exceptional achievements delivered with speed and quality.
For Wright, the recognition is not an end point. “I feel like it’s day one all over again, and we’ve got so much left to prove,” he said.
‘I’ve failed a load of times’
Wright’s electrolyte brand began with a personal change when he started paying closer attention to his health and looking for ways to protect it.
That search repeatedly brought him back to hydration. Rather than building a business trying to address every aspect of wellness, he chose to focus on one. “You can’t put a price on it,” he said to Khaleej Times about health.
According to the award announcement, Humantra grew from a single office into a brand operating in 10 international markets, reaching more than two million customers within 15 months.
But Wright, who said he has spent 13 years in Dubai, described a journey that involved setbacks as well as growth. “I’ve failed a load of times, but there’s something about Dubai’s ecosystem that gets you to keep on going,” he said.
“When you’re ready to roll with the punches, think bigger, dream better, then great things can happen here.”
The award, he added, reinforces his commitment to keep improving rather than draw a line under what he has achieved.
“Self-mastery for me is never an endpoint,” he said. “It’s like a continual pursuit for finding where your potential is.”
The landmark doubters said would never be built
For Amjad, the project that best represents Dubai is The Opus, designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid. His reason is straightforward — it was the hardest thing he had done.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, he recalled searching in 2005 for an architect who could bring a vision of Dubai’s future into the present. He believed Hadid was the person to do it.
Delivering that vision required difficult decisions. Hadid wanted the building to meet the ground rather than sit on a podium, he said. To accommodate parking and services below it, the team had to excavate 26 metres and create six basement levels.
The doubts were not only about construction. Amjad recalled people questioning whether the development could succeed financially. “I remember everyone saying to me, ‘Mahdi, this is a white elephant; it will never be built,’” he said.
For him, completing The Opus demonstrated the possibility of turning an ambitious idea into a physical landmark despite those doubts. The award announcement recognised his work in translating architectural designs into projects that have added to Dubai’s skyline, including The Opus and The Lana.
Yet Amjad said scale and speed should never become goals detached from the people a project serves. “The goal is not to be faster and bigger. No. The goal is how being faster and bigger serves the person using it,” he said.
He described that focus on people as a lesson learned from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. When considering a project, he said, he puts his own family in the customer’s position and asks what would create a better experience for them.
‘I don’t need to stop you from running’
Ani’s recognition followed the development of restaurant and hospitality concepts that began in Dubai and expanded overseas. His portfolio includes Gaia, Carine, Shanghai Me and La Maison Ani, with projects reaching destinations including London, Monte Carlo and Miami.
For the chef, the award acknowledges years of work and dedication. But his view of ambition leaves room for others to succeed alongside him.
Asked what first inspired him, Ani recalled a saying he attributed to Sheikh Mohammed about a lion and a gazelle — the lion must run fast enough to catch its prey, while the gazelle must run fast enough to escape. For Ani, the message is that whichever one you choose to be, you must get up and run.
He said that determination reflects the attitude the UAE encourages, even when the work is difficult. “Every day is not going to be perfect. Every day is going to be a challenge,” he said.
When asked whether he saw himself as the lion or the gazelle, Ani chose the latter. “Me, personally, I prefer to be a gazelle because it’s elegant,” he said. “I like to run quick. I like to get somewhere with a purpose. But I don’t need to break down anybody to do that.”
Rather than holding others back, he said, he wants to encourage them and offer a helping hand. “Come with me. Run as quick as me. Run with me, I don’t need to stop you from running for me to run,” he said.
That outlook also shapes what he wants his overseas restaurants to carry from Dubai generosity. “When we give something, we give it with a full heart,” he said.
Ani described using halal meat and avoiding pork at his London restaurant as part of retaining that connection to the city. He also recalled inviting guests to a restaurant in France, explaining that the invitation was about welcoming them to his table, not expecting payment. As the concepts travel, he said, their Dubai origins remain central to the way they welcome people.
For Amjad, too, the recognition leaves room for more work ahead. “God willing, we can do more and more,” he said. “Today is a new beginning for us.”
Source: Khaleej Times