Turned Struggle Into Global Success

Some journeys are built around a single profession. Others are shaped by curiosity, change and the courage to keep starting again.

Sarah Al Janabi belongs to the second kind.

From growing up in Mauritius with Palestinian and Iraqi roots to becoming an entrepreneur, published poet, business psychologist and marketing leader in Dubai, Sarah has created a career that does not fit neatly into one category. Her story is not simply about professional success. It is about identity, reinvention, creativity and learning how to turn difficult experiences into something meaningful.

Today, her journey is entering another chapter as she combines business, psychology and creativity to explore what leadership can look like when people are placed at the centre of it.

Growing Up Different Became Part of Her Strength

Mauritius gave Sarah a multicultural childhood, but her Palestinian and Iraqi background often made her feel different from the people around her.

Being one of the few Arab people in many of the spaces she entered could have encouraged her to hide the parts of herself that felt unusual. Instead, those experiences became part of the foundation of her creative identity.

Poetry gave Sarah a place where she could explore questions about belonging, identity, emotions and life without having to choose one version of herself.

By the age of 18, she had published her first poetry collection, Meraki. Two years later, she followed it with More Than Pretty Words. Writing at such a young age was more than an artistic achievement. It became a way for her to understand herself and communicate emotions that were difficult to express elsewhere.

Her early relationship with writing also established something that continues to appear throughout her career. Sarah has always looked for ways to understand people, connect with them and create spaces where they can express themselves.

From Working Behind the Counter to Running a Business

Sarah’s entrepreneurial journey began much earlier than many people would expect.

At 15, she started working in her family’s café business, Lea Café, in Mauritius. She did not enter the business directly as a director. She started from the ground level, taking on practical responsibilities and learning how the business worked from the inside. Her experience included customer service, cleaning, cooking, barista work, accounting, operations, procurement, human resources, training and marketing.

That experience became one of the most important parts of her leadership education.

Instead of learning business only through textbooks, Sarah experienced what it meant to serve customers, manage teams, solve operational problems and make decisions when things did not go according to plan.

By her early twenties, she had taken on a major leadership role within Lea Café and helped develop the business while navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic years. Her story demonstrates that leadership is often built long before someone receives a formal title.

Turning a Café Into a Community

What made Sarah’s entrepreneurial journey particularly distinctive was her understanding that a business could be more than a commercial space.

Lea Café became connected to her creative interests as well. Sarah used the venue to organise poetry nights, entrepreneurship events and creative workshops, creating opportunities for people to meet, perform, learn and share ideas.

This approach reflected her own experiences of searching for belonging.

Sarah understood that creative people often need more than an audience. They need a community.

Her efforts helped create platforms for emerging writers and performers in Mauritius, while allowing her to combine several parts of her personality at once. The entrepreneur, poet, mentor and community builder were not separate identities. They were becoming parts of the same story.

Her multidisciplinary background continues to be recognised today, with her work described as bridging art, entrepreneurship and psychology.

Education Became Another Form of Reinvention

While managing business responsibilities and continuing her creative work, Sarah also invested heavily in education.

She completed a Bachelor of Commerce focused on Entrepreneurship and Marketing before pursuing postgraduate studies in Psychology. Later, after moving to Dubai, she completed a second Master’s degree in Business Psychology at Heriot Watt University.

Her academic journey is especially interesting because it connects directly with the questions that have shaped her professional life.

Why do people behave the way they do?

What makes teams work?

How does culture influence performance?

What allows people to feel safe enough to contribute their best ideas?

These questions have become increasingly important in Sarah’s professional direction.

Her second Master’s degree was another major milestone. She graduated with distinction and was recognised as the best performing student in both the Dubai cohort and the wider programme.

For someone who had already built a career, returned to university and changed academic direction, the achievement represented more than another qualification. It showed her continued willingness to learn and start again.

Dubai Became the Setting for a New Chapter

In 2024, Sarah moved from Mauritius to Dubai.

Moving to a global city after building much of her identity on a small island was a significant transition. But rather than leaving her creative roots behind, she carried them with her.

In Dubai, Sarah continued creating spaces for writers, performers and artists through open mic events and workshops. Her creative work has increasingly focused on authentic expression and bringing people together across different backgrounds.

The move also gave her an opportunity to take her professional experience into a broader corporate environment.

That transition from entrepreneurship to corporate leadership is one of the most interesting aspects of her evolution.

Building a More Human Approach to Leadership

Sarah currently works as Head of Marketing at ICAN in Dubai, where her professional interests extend into organisational development, leadership and psychology. Her current work reflects the combination of experiences she has accumulated across business, education and creative communities.

Rather than seeing leadership simply as authority, Sarah’s approach is centred on understanding people and the environments in which they work.

Her recent professional work has included contributing to leadership initiatives and conversations around organisational effectiveness. She has also been involved in leadership-focused experiences with senior professionals, including work connected to major corporate environments.

This direction feels like a natural progression.

The young woman who once used poetry to understand identity is now using psychology to understand organisations and leadership.

The entrepreneur who learned to manage people from the ground up is now thinking about how leaders can create healthier and more effective workplaces.

The creative facilitator who once built community around a café is now helping create spaces where professionals can think differently.

Creativity Still Has a Place in Her Professional Life

Despite her growing corporate responsibilities, Sarah has not abandoned the artistic side of herself.

Her identity as a poet remains an important part of her story. Her work continues to explore themes such as identity, love, emotional resilience and the inner experiences that people often struggle to express.

She has also continued participating in creative workshops and poetry events in Dubai, proving that professional growth does not have to mean leaving personal passions behind.

For Sarah, the two worlds appear to strengthen each other.

Psychology gives her a deeper understanding of people. Business gives her structure. Poetry gives her emotional language. Creativity gives her freedom to experiment.

Together, they form a leadership style that is difficult to reduce to a job title.

A Journey That Continues to Evolve

Sarah Al Janabi’s story is ultimately not about having everything figured out at a young age.

It is about being willing to evolve.

She moved from Mauritius to Dubai. She moved from entrepreneurship into corporate leadership. She moved from poetry into psychology and then found ways to bring all of these interests together.

Each transition could have looked like a departure from the previous chapter. Instead, each one became an addition to her identity.

That may be the most valuable lesson in her journey.

Success does not always require choosing one path and staying on it forever. Sometimes it means allowing different experiences to shape you until they reveal a bigger purpose.

Inspiring People to Find Their Own Voice

Sarah’s journey continues to resonate because it is deeply human.

Behind the degrees, business achievements and professional titles is someone who spent years trying to understand where she belonged and eventually learned that belonging does not always have to be found.

Sometimes it can be created.

She created it through poetry. She created it through community events. She created it through business. Today, she is creating it through her work in leadership and psychology.

From an island in the Indian Ocean to one of the world’s most dynamic business cities, Sarah Al Janabi has built a career around curiosity, resilience and connection.

Her next chapter may take her in another unexpected direction. But if her journey so far offers any indication, she will continue bringing her different worlds with her.

And perhaps that is what makes Sarah’s story worth following. She is not trying to become just one thing. She is building a life where every part of who she is has a purpose.

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