Soraya Narfeldt is the top executive and founder of the logistics firm RA International. When her business cards came back from the printer with the title “Chairman” instead of “Chairwoman,” she asked herself, “Why do I have to make such a fuss [for you] to know I am a woman?”
These and many other questions arose on October 15 when Narfeldt visited Beirut, where she was born, to speak at the third annual New Arab Woman Forum at the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel.
The forum featured panels packed with female entrepreneurs, media figures, writers and community leaders. The only consensus reached among the speakers and the vocal attendees in the audience was that there would be no consensus.
Narfeldt and fellow speaker Amal Daraghmeh Masri, a Palestinian entrepreneur, have both learned that the best way to succeed as an Arab businesswoman is to make your own rules because every situation is different, as the heated conference discussions proved.
The right man for the job is a woman
For Narfeldt, that means getting the right “man” for the job no matter what tradition demands. When she needed to train a fleet of cleaners for a project in Chad, she thought of the dynamics of her own home.
“We were just about to start waste management and pest control for the United Nations and I said, ‘You need to go train some girls because they’re going to do it a hell of a lot better than the boys’,” she says. “They’re not going to cut corners, because I don’t cut corners when I clean. But, I know my husband does.”
After the training and the conclusion of her UN contract, the 30 women that Narfeldt’s company trained will have certificates validating their professional training.
Though her company is based in Dubai, Narfeldt’s true workplace is in post-conflict zones, whether it be Chad, Afghanistan, Sudan or Somalia. But she says that the real challenges of being a businesswoman comes up when her work takes her to London, New York or Washington DC.
Battling stereotypes
“Most men in the industry, especially in our industry, think that it’s going to be too hard for [women] to see the sad side of life or its harshness,” says Narfeldt. “In my industry it’s very tough sometimes, but most of the time I ensure that I earn that respect. Most men expect you to be fluffy and warm and cuddly. Well, no. We’re doing business.”
But while Narfeldt is often forced into the center of an old boys club, Masri is still looking for ways to break in.
“Men go to the gym or go drink something together and I’m at home cooking for my children. So, this is another barrier,” says Masri, general manager of Ougarit Advertising and chairwoman of the Business Women Forum in Ramallah, Palestine.
After teaching university and holding several marketing jobs, Masri decided that self-employment was the best way to become a successful businesswoman. She began her advertising business in 1999 and eventually expanded into media buying, print and production as well as real state.
Going it alone
“Having a household to take care of and having children at the same time is a real challenge,” she says. “That’s why I encourage women to have their own businesses. It gives them flexibility with their families.”
Masri insists that being a woman has never garnered a negative reaction from clients, but she does think that government support is needed to help women start businesses.
“Women in general do not own things. They don’t own land or apartments, so they can’t use them as collateral to get loans,” says Masri. “Let’s give some tax exemptions to women who open businesses for the first five years.”
