For Asma Alamoudi, building a career as a chef was a childhood dream that might have been beyond her grasp.
Now Ms Alamoudi, 29, is one of countless young women in the kingdom whose horizons have been expanded by sweeping reforms in the kingdom.
“As a seven-year-old, I remember whisking up new dishes with my aunt in our kitchen. That's when I started taking interest in cooking. But it was Gilmore Girls that sparked this dream and yearning for owning my own bakery one day,” she says, referring to to the popular US TV series.
About two thirds of Saudi Arabia's population are under the age of 35, found a study last year. Most grew up watching western shows.
Ms Alamoudi works as an assistant chef and barista at Meraki cafe. Like other Saudi women, she drives herself to work and does the same jobs as her male colleagues without restrictions such as wearing an abaya.
“People don't realise that none of this was possible around six years ago until new laws came into place,” she says. “It's hard for us to remember, considering we are the new generation.”
“Things have changed drastically.”
Ms Alamoudiwas born and raised in Jeddah, the kingdom's second-largest city. She studied health and nutrition at King Abdulaziz University.
“We didn't have many culinary art venues when I was in college in 2011, but today we have a Saudi culinary academy, Misk programmes encouraging young Saudis to participate in professional classes and a new culinary school in Sharqiyah,” she says.
None of this seemed possible until Saudi Arabia launched its ambitious Vision 2030 economic strategy in 2016. Since then, young people have been encouraged to follow their passions.
After graduating from university, Ms Alamoudi worked at a food sensitivity test clinic, assessing people's tolerance or allergies to different foods, before working as a barista at two cafes. She has since taken a job at Meraki, where she works with female chefs.
“I learnt latte art, which was fun, and finally am able to work in the kitchen and experiment with recipes,” she says. “In fact, I will be launching my first ever creation, pumpkin pancakes, for fall this month. I am so excited.
“The head chef is a woman and so are the assistants. In fact, we were thinking of adding a male member to the team.”
Vision 2030 and the kingdom's National Transformation Programme 2020 have made female empowerment a priority in the kingdom, which aims to create one million jobs for women by 2030.
Since 2018, Ms Alamoudi has worked for companies owned by Saudi women.
I work comfortably in mixed spaces. It is a very chilled atmosphere
Saudi barista Asma Alamoudi
She believes women can play a more prominent role in running businesses, but says life was “very different” for women born in the 1970s and 1980s.
“For those of us born in the 1990s, life is very different from what it used to be for the older generations. I drive to work, I go to the gym, come to work in a mixed environment and work alongside men, all of which is pretty normal for us now,” she says.
She remembers when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman changed the course of the kingdom with social reforms, such as granting women the right to drive in 2018.
Thousands of new jobs were created for women and many took roles in malls, restaurants and cafes.
“You didn't see Saudi girls working as baristas or chefs in the open before. I work comfortably in mixed spaces. It is a very chilled atmosphere,” she says.
“The crowd is open-minded and we really enjoy what we do. Today, I have the opportunity to do what I love most. Working in the kitchen takes me back to the happy memories of that seven-year-old version of me.”
She says the role of women is changing in today's society.
“I realise women were more domesticated or were raised to restrain in some ways, in my personal experience,” she says.
“But I want to change that for our generation and for the next one. I always encourage my niece to speak her mind, and my nephew to support her — and each other. We've got to break the cycle.”
She likes to spend her spare time focusing on her mental, physical and spiritual health, watching shows on Netflix and posting videos on TikTok.
TikTok is something that happened for her during the pandemic, she says. “I got so many positive reviews. I have colleagues coming up to me saying 'I am such a big fan', so it's really encouraging,” she says.
“I haven't given up on the Gilmore Girls dream. I hope to open my own bakery in my home town one day.”
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
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What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
bundesliga results
Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')
Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
RESULTS
Tottenham 1
Jan Vertonghen 13'
Norwich 1
Josip Drmic 78'
2-3 on penalties
More coverage from the Future Forum
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
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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
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
