Brand new vision

Rowan Nicholls, vice-president retail at The Atlantis Hotel, tells Sangeetha Swaroop why he enjoys jumping out of aeroplanes, travelling in Africa and swimming when he is stressed out.

In many ways, it was a fairly-large swelling that Rowan Nicholls discovered on his skin a few years ago that changed the way he looked at life. "I was working in David Jones in Australia at the time and I initially ignored the lump which was the size of my fist," says Nicholls, who is now vice-president retail at The Atlantis Hotel in Dubai.

Around the same time his father was diagnosed with cancer and that gave him a minor jolt. He consulted
a doctor who asked him to seek medical attention ASAP.
"Fortunately the lump turned out to be benign but it did have a life-changing impact on me," says Nicholls. "I was in my mid-thirties at the time and I realised that it could have threatened my life.

I realised how valuable our time on earth is and this led me to question what I really wanted to do during my lifetime."
Nicholls made a list of 40 cities that "I had to visit within a year.

I had a great job in a professional company and there was no reason to quit but I wanted to seize the moment.

So I resigned and booked a trip around the world. I decided that it was time for my gap year." Nicholls had savings that could see him through the tour although "I also had a mortgage to pay in Sydney. [But] sometimes you need to take on life with a dash of spontaneity."

Nicholls managed to see 21 cities
on his list in Cambodia, Russia, South Africa, South America, Egypt, Spain and Scotland, among others. "It was an incredible experience," he recalls.

"Travelling opened my eyes and I decided that I wanted to live overseas again as I had spent 10 years in Sydney. I wanted to experience a different culture. Initially, Cape Town was my choice as I had travelled to Africa a couple of times and Cape Town appealed to me strongly.

I had a couple of interviews there and I was preparing to move there, when a consultant from Sydney called me and said that there was an opening in Dubai."

Nicholls did some research on Dubai "and the job offered to me was to work with American brands that I had worked with while I was with David Jones, so there was a touch of comforting familiarity.

"I came to Dubai to see what it was like and who wouldn't be impressed by this city? It was so exciting. I finally made the choice between Cape Town and Dubai."

I, me, myself

I started studying zoology. At that stage I was quite determined to work with animals. However, in my last year of college, I got a six-week contract to work for an upscale department store over Christmas time. I worked
in David Jones where for the first time I came to know what merchandise is all about.

I was captivated seeing the joy people got out of buying products. Those six weeks changed my career direction and consequently my life.

I was a dreamer as a child.
I would often just stare into space. The dreamer is still
in me, although I don't wander in oblivion anymore. Now staring at things inspires real ideas. This trait has certainly helped me in converting dreams into a reality. It might be a small dream such as using a certain colour in a garment, but one such small characteristic helps me move on to bigger ideas.

I became a buyer with another company, which gave me a bigger challenge. I had to travel a lot, inspect garment quality and buy garments suitable for the store in Melbourne. During my five years with the company, I began to master the art of buying and negotiating with diferent companies in China, New York and London.

Then one day my old company David Jones called and offered me a position in Sydney. I was happy where I was but changing cities offered a new experience so three weeks later, I was in Sydney. I joined as a buyer, then moved up to senior buyer and eventually ended up as general manager.

I believe being passionate about something is not enough. Passion is sometimes not as attractive as you might think it to be. You need to make that passion come alive. There are skills that you need to make that passion within you ignite.
I was passionate about zoology but
I guess it wasn't really that attractive. On the other hand, I was drawn to retail and that has become my passion.

I need my regular doses of adrenaline.
So I take part in adventure sports. From skydiving to bungee jumping – I have done it all. Even as a child I loved going on rides – the scarier the better. I have jumped out of a plane about 10 times. My latest skydiving experience was
a tandem jump with friends in New Zealand. It was a particularly special experience. Even here when Aqua Venture first opened to the public, I wanted to be the first to get to it.

It's been some time now since I have felt that rush and I am due to do something soon – hopefully skydiving and maybe a tandem jump with some colleagues in the near future. I also want to do ballooning. A couple of years ago I bungee jumped out of a balloon! I have never tried ballooning as a sport, so I would like to try that here.

I lived by the philosophy of 'work hard and party hard' in my twenties. I believed that these were the two things you needed to live for. In my thirties I did go out and party but I was also considering other things.

I think life's all about balance.
You have to have a life outside of work. You do need to take a break. At the same time, when work requires you to spend a certain number of hours focused on the task at hand, you have to prioritise it. I love entertaining at home. I do go out from time to time as I love meeting new people.

I, me, myself

Me and change
I love change. I think it's the only thing that is constant in life. I have changed cities, which, for a lot of people, is extremely difficult, but I thrive on it.
I like seeing new cultures and meeting new people. I take risks but I am not impulsive. I like to experiment and
I'd rather try than die not knowing.

Me and criticism
I accept criticism... I am not closed to it.
I appreciate feedback from others and am open to ideas. I am introspective
and can be quite critical of myself. I also have a couple of friends who give good corporate counsel and I will turn to them for advice if I am not sure how
to approach a situation. I consider my actions carefully.

Me and Africa

I have always been fascinated by
Africa. This fascination was probably engendered from when I was young and wanted to work with animals. I have travelled extensively in Africa. I love the wildlife and find that the people there have such great energy. We only hear about crime in Africa but when you visit the towns and villages there, you'll see how generous and sweet they are; sometimes people who have the least, give the most.

I loved travelling in Africa on the local buses listening to the locals talk and sing. I have even slept on the roof of a bus with mosquitoes having a go at me.

At some stage of my life I would like to live in Africa. I would base myself in Cape Town and travel to East and West Africa. Cape Town is an urban city that is rough around the edges. It has a cosmopolitan lifestyle surrounded by wilderness. I love the duality of the big city and its rawness.

Me and charity
I currently sponsor a couple of children with World Vision – that's what time permits me to do at the moment. However, later on I would like to work solely for a cause. There are many causes that I want to make a contribution to but the one I feel strongest about is the loss of culture in many African towns.

Culture is the casualty of progress and I want to help preserve these people, their culture and spirit. I have gone to many African towns a number of times and I have seen their spirit and culture eroding. I would like to get involved in
an outreach programme to start that process.

Me and stress
For a lot of people, stress is a modern disease, but I consider it a challenge. There are times when I do get stressed but then I have found ways to beat it.
I start my day with a run, some exercise and meditation, which gears me up for the day. I think people who don't have time for themselves are the most stressed out. When I get stressed
I usually try to 'swim' it out. I very rarely raise my voice apart from when I am watching football. I believe yelling doesn't reap better results. Sometimes
I will talk to friends to vent frustration.

Me and my philosophy of life
I like to maximise everything
I do in life, as I know I only have one chance. I believe in setting a goal and then splitting that one big goal into smaller parts in order to achieve it.
I want to leave my mark on earth.
I want to influence others through positive energy.

I, Me, Myself
Have you ever thought of getting into the business of retail on your own rather than working for someone else?
The thought has crossed my mind once or twice but the opportunities that I have had have been incredible. The brands that I have worked with throughout my career have been fantastic. In a large company, the expertise and marketing is unrivalled.

I have all the expertise required to branch out on my own but the kind of turnaround that I see working for a company gives me great satisfaction.

Many people think that expensive brands have better quality. What's your take?
More expensive doesn't always mean better quality. A lot of good brands invest in great quality, good fabrics
and designs and if you are buying unique pieces, then there's definitely a price attached to it. In cosmetics, women pay a phenomenal amount of money for what I call 'little jars
of hope.' I think cosmetics can have that brand image and it does make people feel good.

But now a lot of people mix and match – not everybody wears a single brand; there are a lot of high street brands which have great quality but are also good value for money. However, I believe that Italian and French brands have an intrinsic value and their pricing is absolutely worth it.

What are the next steps for the retail industry
in Dubai?
The retail industry in this part of the world is thriving as a number of international brands are coming to Dubai. A lot of brand awareness has been generated but there's still more
to do on that front.

Marketing the brand is very important; the challenge here is the languages and nationalities variety. The diversity is fantastic, but it makes marketing difficult, as the audience is so diverse.

Are you a brands person? Do you
like shopping?
There are some brands I buy not because it's a brand but because I like the product. It's not like I don't look at the tag if I like something – there is a threshold on the amount
I will spend on a certain item. I don't enjoy shopping. If I like something, then I buy five of them so I don't have to make another trip to the store. I shop for myself only when
I need something. Having said that, I love window-shopping to see what's happening – the colours being used and what's new as that's my job.

I have spent [a large part of my] life in shopping malls; I enjoy studying malls and keeping myself abreast with different brand strategies.

Which is the one category of retail that you would like to venture into?
I have worked with men's and women's garments, gourmet food, shoes and luggage categories. I love the garments category – especially women's wear, as it's so in tune with fashion and there's something exciting happening all the time. However, I do like new challenges and what I really enjoy at Atlantis is that I get a chance to work on a lot of new categories.

For the souvenir shop, I got involved in soft toys, developed books on marine life for different age groups and came up with different items for the store. I also worked on spa products, which was an exciting challenge, as we wanted the range to be environmentally friendly.

Do you get emotionally attached to the brands you work with?
Always! They become my family
and I want them to do well. Being emotional is a part of the passion
that drives me to excel. Once I learn about the new member of the family I nurture it, as I want it to grow.

I still keep track of the brands that I worked with in Australia. If I don't get emotionally attached to a brand, I won't put in the extra effort necessary to its success.

– Sangeetha Swaroop, a Dubai-based freelancer