Shortly after opening her beauty salon, Tara Roux realised she had something in common with many of her employees.
The vast majority of them are – like she was when her son was young – single mothers.
So she decided to use her business to help the mothers in every way she could, not only by offering them a job but also through training, mentoring and financial support.
She now actively recruits women in the same position to work in her salon, Kalm Holistic Beauty in Dubai, which employs 32 ladies, about three quarters of whom are single mums.
“If I have two candidates who are very close to each other and one is a single mum and one is not, I will choose the single mum hands down,” says Ms Roux. “When I first started I didn’t start my business saying, ‘Right, I am going to start my business and I am going to employ single mums’.
“But I started to realise that there were so many women [needing help],” adds Ms Roux, 43, who is from the United Kingdom but grew up in Asia. She has lived in Dubai for the last 20 years. She split from her first husband shortly after her first child, now 18, was discharged from hospital following a three month stay after being born prematurely at 28 weeks. He weighed just 1.2 kilograms at birth.
He suffered from severe dyslexia and major learning difficulties growing up.
The Dubai Government paid for her son’s premature care in hospital at the time – back then everyone paid a small fee for a health card that covered all your treatment – but she struggled financially.
“I ended up in an apartment in Karama on my own with him. And he was a very difficult child because of his issues,” says Ms Roux, who has since remarried and gone on to have two more children.
“Of course we didn’t know when he was little what the issues were. He didn’t speak until he was three-and-a-half and he didn’t walk until he was well over two.”
The teenager was recently accepted into university, something Ms Roux credits his special schooling for.
His education was expensive, though, which made the process of setting up Kalm all the more complicated. The first two years after she launched the business, she juggled a full-time role as a regional marketing manager from 9am to 6pm working an evening shift at the salon from 6pm to 10pm.
She quit her job when the business was making enough.
“Of course I wanted to start a business, but then as soon as I started I realised I had this power to help people. And if you help people they just automatically help you in return,” she says.
“I have had comments like, ‘you are too soft with your staff’. Well actually no, I’m not. I am just fair.
“And kindness just comes straight back to you. My staff are very positive with me because I really do try to help them, whether it is giving them new skills or giving them targets where they can make extra money. The better the salon does, the better they do. When we do well we all gain from that.”
Recruiters say the strategy makes sense from an economic and social standpoint, by both increasing employment in the region, particularly of women, and doing something good.
“I find it heart-warming that an entrepreneur, in what is often a competitive market, so actively pursues a social agenda that will make a difference to people’s lives,” says Toby Simpson, the managing director of The Gulf Recruitment Group in Dubai.
“I very much hope and expect that such largesse will be rewarded with loyalty and hard work, making the policy not just one of the heart but one of the head.”
At first Ms Roux handed out loans to her staff, but that quickly became a burden, bringing the business Dh50,000 of debt.
Today she pays her employees early if they need money and offers financial incentives to women who take on training. She also treats her staff, paying for them to eat at places like the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on special occasions.
Such initiatives mean a lot to employees such as Crismen Tucneg, 36, a mother-of-three from the Philippines. She has worked for the company ever since she arrived in Dubai five years ago.
“I have been a single mum since I came to Dubai. It is hard when you think of your kids. It is a battle of emotions with homesickness and finances,” she says.
“Kalm it is not about the salary anymore. It is a part of it. But when you work in Dubai you have to consider the attitude of your boss.
“All of the girls stay here for three or four years now. They don’t leave. It is my second family now. It is like a second home.”
business@thenational.ae
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SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
SPECS
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MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Pathaan
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
Profile
Company%20profile
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
