PEOPLE · KUWAIT TO DUBAI
Dana Alhanbali
Designer turned brand strategist. Founder, podcaster, consultant. After fifteen years in MENA communications and a Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx record at her own firm Beattie and Dane, Dana sold the business and moved to Dubai. She now hosts the podcast Something to Consider and runs Bark and Berg, a strategic consultancy for regional CEOs. She is also writing a book.
THE WORK
I had a head start.
How did you start your career?
I studied design at the American University of Sharjah. Mid-way through junior year I worried I had made a terrible mistake. I started interning across different companies. By senior year I had a part-time job at a multinational branding agency, which opened doors and gave me the confidence to know I had more to offer.
How long did it take you to get here?
Career wise, fourteen years. But I am, and forever will be, a work in progress.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
The beginning. The free-flow stage where anything is possible, before the brand or business decides what it wants to be.
And least?
Communications is a two-edged sword. The hustle culture in advertising can be very toxic. I do not like working on things I do not believe in.
CHARACTER & SUCCESS
My success has not changed me.
Proudest accomplishment?
That my success has not changed me, or my values. I am still the same Dana.
What motivates you?
My drive to be better than my last accomplishment. It can be exhausting and toxic at times, but it keeps me moving forward. I also want to make impact. I constantly look for meaning in my work.
Biggest fear?
To unintentionally hurt someone in a way that could have been avoided.
Would you consider yourself successful?
Yes, by the standards I set today. I am healthy, I have everything I need, and the people I care most about. That beats any material success.
Biggest complaint?
That I am my own worst critic. Nothing is ever good enough.
DAILY LIFE
Write. Shower. Laugh.
Three things you must do every day?
Write. Shower. Laugh.
What can you not go a day without?
My iPhone.
Tidy or messy?
Super tidy. The Monica of my friends group. I secretly hate doing the dishes.
CULTURE, LOVE, AND THE EVERYDAY
Manaeesh on Friday mornings.
Favourite family tradition?
Every Friday my father goes out and gets us fresh manaeesh for breakfast before he leaves for prayer. We have had this ritual my whole life.
Favourite family recipe?
Biryani and chicken. The only dish that tastes like home.
Favourite childhood memory?
Watching movies with my mom at night. She is the reason I love movies and writing.
Define love.
Consistency and commitment. To love is to make the choice, and it is hard work. But because it is hard work, it is worth it.
Most daring thing you have done?
Walk away.
A nickname?
D. Dano. Hanbali. My close family call me Dandoon, Dandoona, Dandooni.
Last book you read?
The Pact We Made by Layla Ammar.
Motto in life?
Stand for something or step aside.
What song best sums you up?
My Way, by Frank Sinatra.
FOR BOUJEEZ
A regional brand mind with a writer’s instinct, in the most interesting decade of Gulf consultancy.
What makes Dana Alhanbali interesting to Boujeez is the combination she carries. The strategic discipline of a senior agency operator, paired with the introspection of someone writing a book. She is the kind of consultant the region’s CEOs increasingly need. Someone who has built a creative firm and then walked away from it, who treats communications as ethical work, and who is candid about the toxic culture of the industry she helped shape. The Gulf is in a generational shift in how brands are built, and the voices defining what comes next are voices like this one.