Local Enterprise
Asma Lootah
Founder and CEO of
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PROUD EMIRATI, when asked where she is from, Ms. Asma Lootah replies proudly, “I am from Dubai. 100% from the UAE, born and raised!” She characterizes her family as being a tightly knit and conservative Emirati family, with parents who were keen on seeing their children receive the best private school education. Asma continued her education in the United States where she received a bachelor degree in Business Administration and a minor degree in fine arts from George Washington University.
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Asma returned home in 2000 and soon accepted a job offer with Etisalat. “For the first four years, I worked in the Internet Engineering Department. I am not an Engineer so that was definitely very interesting,” she comments. “My business degree was in Information Systems, so perhaps they got confused! Maybe they thought I had a computer science degree.” Asma laughs. Looking back, Asma admits that those first four years at Etisalat were painfully slow. So when I asked her why she stayed for so long, she replies, “I think I am the type of person who doesn’t give up easily. I just wanted to prove that I could do it!”
Issue 10 - OCTOBER 2015
Asma refers to her years in Etisalat’s Engineering Department as a great turning point in her life which she calls her “self-discovery phase.” She spent a lot of her days asking over and over, “What do I want? What do I like? What do I enjoy doing?” She also made a quick career change during this period, moving to the Marketing Division at Etisalat to explore other career options. However, Asma was constantly thinking about her Plan B. “I did not want to leave Etisalat without having a plan B. Everyone in my family works. Nobody sits at home and does nothing so I didn’t want to be labelled as the loser,” Asma says with a chuckle. It was also during this time that she discovered the fitness system Pilates, and became an instant and loyal fan. “I fell in love with the system. It truly changed my life!” Asma exclaims. “It was my escape; something I could look forward to. I loved the teacher, the group of friends that we established in the class, and the positive energy.” There came a point when Asma knew it was time to leave Etisalat. She wanted to resign and start her own business. But what business? She explored options and brainstormed with friends and family members for months, and finally came to the conclusion that if
she was going to open a business, it would be best to create one for herself, by herself. “I asked myself these questions: What do I love? What am I passionate about? What can I give back? To my country? To the people? I wanted a business that reflected me.” When the Pilates Studio Asma attended was about to close down, that’s when it all started. “My brother Arif suggested that I open my own Pilates Studio. It was like he read my mind! This is what I want!” Asma says, giving her brother great credit for her initial inspiration. In 2006, Asma resigned from Etisalat without notice, and with confidence and faith, determined to start her own business. “When I look back, I asked myself: Oh my God, how did I do that?” She says she still remembers her parents’ initial reaction: “Shooo Pilates Studio?! What is Pilates anyway? You resigned from a good job to open this?” With limited funding and a sceptical reception from her parents, Asma opened The Hundred Pilates Studio in Dubai’s Healthcare City in 2008. Asma gathered what she could from her Etisalat savings and investment shares, which she sold for cash. She did her own research and purchased the equipment in her 1600-square foot studio herself. She then created and