Dubai/Abu Dhabi: One can always be seen in the middle of the grime, grease and unmistakable smell of motor oil, another calls the shots behind the cameras, and a third, although only sixteen, is a world-class ballerina.
These are three Emirati women who challenge the social and professional barriers to excel in previously "male-only" fields.
Mariam Darwish is most comfortable in the garage of Al Futtaim Motors' Lexus service centre, where she is one of the leading service advisers.
On a normal day she would work on about 40 cars. "I love this job," says the Emirati single mother of four. "It's different, I like working with my hands."
Emirati Nahla Al Fahad who hates the routine of ordinary work, is the brains behind video clips, commercials, documentaries and promotional films.
She also worked with a number of leading UAE singers and artists.
Nahla established her company, Beyond Studios, in 2007 in Media City. "Being a producer and director made me responsible to establish my own company in order to build my own signature style."
Meanwhile, following in the footsteps of her mother, Svetlana, a Ukrainian expatriate who is a Ballet Master, Alia Abdullah Ali Salem Al Neyadi could not help falling in love with ballet. Today, at sixteen, she tours many parts of world.
"While I'm very proud to be known as the UAE's first ballerina, I don't think I will perform while I'm studying."
