Dubai: When Tamara Ainsworth moved to Dubai two years ago, she knew the city well. She had visited at least seven times, had family and friends here and had spent years hoping to make the move.
What she didn’t expect, though, is that in just two years, she would build a version of herself and a life she had never imagined.
“I’ve experienced some incredible career highs, worked on brands and projects I’m incredibly proud of, taken on new challenges and grown more professionally than I could have imagined,” the 29-year-old marketing manager from Brighton, UK, said to Emirates 24/7.
Creating community
The biggest lesson she has learnt, through the two years in the city, is to “keep going, even when things do not go to plan”.
The lesson was hard-earned, after Ainsworth lost her job earlier this year. But thanks to the network she had already established in the city, she says she was able to find a new role.
“I’ve learnt how strong I am. I’ve had to jump a lot of hurdles and obstacles, and looking back at everything, I know I have the strength to get through that,” she said.
In just two years since moving from Brighton, Ainsworth has built a life in a brand-new city. She transitioned into a completely new industry as a marketing professional, ran the Burj 2 Burj half marathon to honour her late uncle, created a dinner club to bring women together, and formed global friendships she never would have made back home.
“There have been spontaneous plans, new experiences, plenty of lessons and moments where I’ve looked around and thought, how is this actually my life,” she said.
Taking the jump
Dubai had been on Ainsworth’s mind long before she finally made the move. Having family in the city meant she had visited the city at least seven times growing up.
At university, she took a job at Harrods in London, and interacting with customers from the Middle East helped further cement a feeling she had always had – she wanted to move to Dubai.
“Dubai is full of opportunities, and I always wanted to move. In Dubai everyone’s got the same mindset – they want to get better and they work hard. Yes, life is great in Dubai, but it doesn’t come easy. And I think I like that,” Ainsworth said.
Moving away from the industry she was familiar with – fragrance and beauty, Ainsworth began working in the food and beverage industry in Dubai. While the decision wasn’t easy, she says the learning has been huge.
Working and living in a city that always looks at the next challenge can also have a knock-on effect on the people who call it home. For Ainsworth, the ‘Dubai-it’ philosophy of working on ambitious ideas with speed and precision, was something she resonated with immediately.
Having lost her job earlier this year, she said that while it was a challenging time for her, the network and community she had established in a short time in the city helped her find a new role.
“Obviously, that was a challenge, but I think when you live in Dubai, you just have to keep going. You pick yourself up,” she said.
Being ambitious, however, does not always have to be a lonely journey. Ainsworth spoke about how the city almost naturally draws in people who aren’t just looking to do better, but also help others along the way.
Last year, she and her friend Millie Foreman began talking about the communities they saw springing up around Dubai – from running clubs to Pilates groups – and how much easier they made it for people to meet.
“That is something I absolutely love about Dubai – how willing people are to put themselves out there and make new friends and connections,” she said.
Building on the idea, the two decided to club together their passion and experience to create a community of their own – the Girl Dinner Club.
“We host at different venues and it offers people a way of exploring the hospitality scene in Dubai, where you have new restaurants opening up so quickly. It’s also a nice experience for girls who may have just moved out here. Some of them work, some of them just got married and can sometimes find it hard to make friends. This just gives them a great reason to dress up, discover new places to eat and in the process, make new friends as well,” she said.
Ainsworth and Foreman work with restaurants to create the whole experience, making it a special, personalised experience for the attendees, with specially created menus, place cards, gifts and music.
Their most recent event, Ainsworth said, brought together around 25 women.
“Some of them have become our friends,” Ainsworth said. “We’ve basically brought our passion for F&B together to create our own community.”
‘The littlest things make a difference’
But the sense of community isn’t just limited to the many clubs in and around the city.. For Ainsworth, it can literally be seen in the way people in the city operate.
“A few weeks ago, my sister and I set up a table outside our apartment, with a sign that read ‘Thank you to our delivery riders’, with sweet treats and water for delivery riders to enjoy,” she said.
But after a few days, as the supplies started running out, Ainsworth said she noticed something beautiful – neighbours started adding their own contributions to the table.
Last week, as she left home for work, a neighbour she had never met before asked her: “Are you the ones who’ve done the lovely initiative for drivers?”
When Ainsworth said ‘yes’, the neighbour simply complimented her for the initiative, with a final “God bless you”.
“It was just such a touching thing. It’s the littlest things that make the difference,” she said.
And while she has just been in Dubai for two years, Ainsworth said she sees her future very much in the city, ready to ‘Dubai-it’.
Her long-term ambition is to take everything she has learnt across beauty, marketing, F&B and hospitality and build something of her own.
“I do see my life in Dubai,” she said. “I think having that big vision is really important.”
