Dubai’s Inspirational Women

Tamam Humariff

Bridal designer & Owner, Humariff Fashion house

International Bridal Designer Tamam Humariff grew up in Dagestan, Russia in religious Muslim family. Since she was a child, she always dreamt of living in a world of fantasy. She started sketching dresses at the age of ten however Tamam’s family did not take her interest seriously and instead Tamam pursued and graduated from the university with a law degree.

In 2010, Tamam Humariff opened her first wedding boutique in Makhachkala catering to a growing private clientele while simultaneously working as a full-time lawyer.

In October 2012, Tamam got married and found a supporting husband to pursue her love for fashion designing. In 2013, Tamam started creating her first-ever collection by creating her own team who could bring her fashion dreams to life. In 2015, Tamam presented her couture collection for the first-time during Moscow Fashion Week gaining momentum with the media and the fashion industry in general. In 2016, Humariff opened her very first boutique in Moscow, Baku and in Dubai (Humariff Fashion House is located on Al Wasl Road).

Recently, she launched her capsule collection in Dubai with the idea to create flexible buying options for brides-to-be. It is interesting to know that Tamam is the sole designer of the Humariff fashion house. She creates all the designs by herself and could draw over 70-75 sketches in one night. She considers this talent as a gift and she believes that she has the power to use her endless imagination.

She added, “After all, I have chosen a very unique path in life. Transforming from an ordinary girl from the mountains with a big dream into a designer, while being not a standard of beauty, without good financial support and an underdog, it was a tough path to create and leave a lasting impact especially in an industry run by men. I plan to make something innovative and empowering for women, and this is just the beginning.”

Sonia Majeed

Singer, Playback singer, Musician & Global Goodwill Ambassador

Sonia Majeed started singing from a very young age. Originally from Pakistan, Sonia has the prowess to sing in as many as six different languages- Urdu, Punjabi, English, Arabic, Malyalam and Spanish.

Apart from live performances, Sonia has also lent her voice to few Hindi film songs. She has been the lead Vocalist and playback singer in the movie ‘Salam Madrasa Hindustani’- one of a kind crossover film with cast and crew from India and countries from the Middle-East. It is also the first Indian film that portrays the humanity and brotherhood taught in Islamic schools. Sonia’s mellifluous voice has aptly justified the scenarios and emotions in the film. She also sang ‘Khwabo ka Ghar’ in the movie ‘Saathida’- a journey of two girls hailing from rural Rajasthan.

She has been wearing several hats and has been awarded several accolades, Global Good Will Ambassador and winner of International Peace Award, Best Singer (by the House of Lords, British Parliament), Best Emerging Female Singer Award & Women Empowerment Achievement Award Holder just few of them. She is also the Country Director UAE- World Youth Forum.

Sonia has had the privilege of performing on highly privileged platforms of United Nations, Switzerland, Meydan. She was also the singer for Ras al Khaimah New Year Eve 2020 celebrations.

Anna Mellor

Founder & CEO, Nightingale Health Services

Anna is one of the UAE’s leading healthcare entrepreneurs and the founder of Nightingale, which provides home nursing, babysitting, baby care, midwifery, and physiotherapy services. After recognising a gap in the Dubai market for a superior standard of home care, Anna launched Nightingale Home Nursing in 2016. Since then, its team of DHA-licensed nurses has grown from eight to 48, with plans to recruit another 20 this year.

In 2019, Anna opened Nightingale’s health hub in Dubai’s Gold & Diamond Park and renamed the company Nightingale Health Services to reflect its growing range of support. The latest addition is Nightingale’s new 2,000 sq. ft. physio clinic staffed by a team of physiotherapists and a chiropractor. It offers treatment for musculoskeletal and cardio-respiratory conditions, sports injuries, neurological diseases, post-surgery rehab, pre and post-natal, elderly, and paediatric patients.

Anna says: “Nightingale’s evolution has been incredibly rewarding. My initial aim was to introduce a level of community care and support that was missing in the UAE. Then, when feedback from clients and the wider community showed they were looking for a broader range of services from us outside of the home, we opened our health hub. Despite the challenges brought by periods of lockdown and subsequent restrictions, the demand for expert in-clinic care is greater than ever, and we have an amazing team in place to take things forward with more exciting developments to come.”

Originally from the UK, Anna has trained as a nurse at Birmingham University before spending several years working as a practice nurse and nurse manager with the NHS. She also spent time with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, managing a private clinic team that dealt with all aspects of female reproductive health.

Marianne Tafani

Pilates Instructor & Founder, The Core Connect Method

The Core Connect Method is aimed at effecting positive change for women, through the prism of core function. Being a core strength guru and a pre-and-post-natal Pilates instructor, Marianne has developed her very own methodology which she brings to clients both in-person and through online bespoke programmes.

As a child, Marianne was a competing rhythmic gymnast who, by the age of 16 was ridden with feet and pelvic injuries. At that time, not having access to physiotherapy and preventative therapies in her small hometown of Bandol, in the South of France, Marianne was forced to stop competing and training altogether. Despite medical treatment, professionals were not able to explain her pain after the acute phase was over. It was only years later, in 2008, whilst studying for her degree in London that Marianne took her first Pilates class which proved to be life-changing for her. Throughout the practice, Marianne started to regain control over her body, both physically and mentally and continued to practice Pilates religiously.

Having experienced a difficult childbirth and isolating first year postpartum, Marianne worked towards developing a thorough, compassionate and holistic approach for prenatal and postnatal training. She created and hosted workshops for expecting mothers, along with a comprehensive pre-natal and postnatal course for instructors. Her second birth was a much happier and restorative experience, thanks to putting her own honed techniques into practice and having a fantastic team around her. Today, Marianne’s goal is that no other mother in her community, would have to go through what she experienced the first time around. Her aim is for women to feel connected to themselves, their bodies and to others as they navigate the early postpartum days.

Through the development of her postnatal abdominal rehabilitation programme, Marianne was struck by how relevant the techniques that she used with new mothers were to her regular clients and clients in rehab alike.

Over the past five years, Marianne has completed over 900 hours of training, taught and coached over 5,000 hours, completed 1,100 hours of self-study, developed two original courses to certify Pilates instructors. Her commitment is to keep educating herself and others endlessly, fostering creativity, joy and a sense of community through movement.

Lina Malas

Co- founder & Managing Director, Aventura Parks

Lina Malas has over ten years of experience in the private sector in management consulting, project and product management while working for Electronic Data Systems, Deloitte and Touche and MCI Worldcom.

Her education and experience in the corporate world as well as her roles as a mother, a spouse and a tomboy contributed to the creation of Aventura Parks. “After many years in ‘Corporate America’, my interests in human development, my love of raw nature, and my passion for education culminated into the idea of committing to building something greater than myself.”

Lina and her business partner shared a vision of bringing something new and different to Dubai. “We kept thinking about how as a family, we would travel during the summer and seek out experiences in nature for our children, and it made sense to create a beautifully raw and wild space here in Dubai, where families, teams, students, and individuals could learn a skill or two while having fun on thrilling zip lines and challenging themselves to think out of the box.”

As we pursued the idea,  there were several challenges, including the fact that in Europe and the US, adventure rope courses are designed on tall trees such as pines and here, we live in a desert. The Aventura journey became a reality when we discovered the  beautiful Ghaf Tree Forest in Mushrif Park, Dubai.

The result took shape in the form of Aventura Parks – Dubai’s largest zip line park with 24 zip lines, 6 circuits, 80 obstacles, 1640M of tree top games. Our team building park hosts compelling activities with plenty of space to bond and reflect.  Engaging and powerful team building programs, life skills camps, school programs and a beautiful nature trail that celebrates the flora and fauna of the UAE were developed.

Aventura Parks provides a space where visitors can stretch their limits, think out of the box, challenge themselves and feel a sense of achievement in a safe and friendly environment. “As I navigate the tree top circuits or walk along the nature trail or help a team conquer the Aventura Leap of Faith, I listen to the birds and feel the nature around me and I realize this is just the beginning.”