Walid Hajj is the chief executive of Cravia, a food and beverage company he established in 2000. The 46-year-old, from Saudi Arabia with Palestinian origins, moved to Dubai in 2004 after four years spent commuting between his UAE business and his home in Saudu. Mr Hajj started out in the F&B industry at his father’s food import and distribution company. He broadened his marketing skills at Procter & Gamble before establishing Cravia. The brand’s first milestone was acquiring the UAE franchise development rights for Cinnabon & Seattle’s Best Coffee. This was followed by the introduction of Zaatar w Zeit to the UAE in 2005 and launching the company’s first signature brand, The Steak Bar, in 2013. Mr Hajj has two daughters aged 14 and 12 and an eight-year-old son.
What are your favourite things to do on the weekend?
The weekend is a perfect time to unwind and spend quality time with my wife and kids. As the kids get older, I find it even more important to cherish every moment with them. The thought of them going away to college haunts me and I try to take advantage of every minute while they are still around us. A typical weekend usually involves spending the day on the beach (weather permitting). I also make it a point to watch at least one to two football matches on TV every weekend with my children. We are all football fanatics and watching a game of football is a great bonding experience. I also coach my son’s football team and we play every Saturday – a great experience for us.
What do you consider to be your favourite hobby?
Football comes to mind first. I haven’t played a proper game for over 10 years due to knee injuries, but I compensate by watching massive amounts on TV. I also enjoy watching big games live at least once a year. My son and I just came back from watching El Clásico in Barcelona; we were ecstatic watching our team (Barca) win that battle.
What can’t you live without?
I guess I cannot live without technology. I am a tech freak. As much as I make it a point to “disconnect” around the family, technology is at the core of my day – every day. My laptop, my phone, my Cloud, my home automation, FaceTime, etc. All these make my life so much easier and in fact allow me to spend more time with my family and less at the office.
What do you consider the secret to your success?
I am not sure I have reached all my goals yet, but if I reflect back on what got me where I am today, I would say two things were essential: one, taking risks and never fearing failure, even after failure itself; without taking risks you are assured stagnation and going nowhere. Two: having the right people around me professionally (Cravia team and staff) and personally (family, friends, kids). I think these two have been the main pillars to our story so far, in addition to the softer things like making sure my parents are always praying for me.
What advice would you offer others starting out in your business?
I always advise my kids to take chances and believe in themselves. A comfort zone is one’s worst enemy, and this applies not only at work and new businesses but even in everyone’s personal life. You read this in books and quotes, but there is truly nothing more important in life than breaking out of what feels comfortable. It is extremely rewarding at the end too. So, take risks, explore new horizons, think of the upside much more than the downside.
How do you achieve a work-life balance?
It is all about working smart, and not necessarily hard. I established the business so it can serve me and my family, and not the other way around. That always keeps my priorities straight. I do travel a lot and while in Dubai I do not spend too much time in the office, and continue my work at my home office, around my kids and family. I also make sure that three to four times a week the first couple of hours of the day are for me to be in the gym and clear my mind.
How do you relax after the working day?
Being at home and around my wife and kids reminds me that no work stress is significant enough to matter and automatically relaxes me. So I make sure I am always at home after work and before everyone goes to bed.
If you weren’t running your business, what else would you be doing?
I would like to have been a professional football player. Not sure what club, but I love the game and find the spirit of competition, preparation and stamina very similar to starting and running your own business.
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
BLACKBERRY
Director: Matt Johnson
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson
Rating: 4/5
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90+4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
US federal gun reform since Sandy Hook
- April 17, 2013: A bipartisan-drafted bill to expand background checks and ban assault weapons fails in the Senate.
- July 2015: Bill to require background checks for all gun sales is introduced in House of Representatives. It is not brought to a vote.
- June 12, 2016: Orlando shooting. Barack Obama calls on Congress to renew law prohibiting sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
- October 1, 2017: Las Vegas shooting. US lawmakers call for banning bump-fire stocks, and some renew call for assault weapons ban.
- February 14, 2018: Seventeen pupils are killed and 17 are wounded during a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
- December 18, 2018: Donald Trump announces a ban on bump-fire stocks.
- August 2019: US House passes law expanding background checks. It is not brought to a vote in the Senate.
- April 11, 2022: Joe Biden announces measures to crack down on hard-to-trace 'ghost guns'.
- May 24, 2022: Nineteen children and two teachers are killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
- June 25, 2022: Joe Biden signs into law the first federal gun-control bill in decades.
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
Sri Lanka v England
First Test, at Galle
England won by 211
Second Test, at Kandy
England won by 57 runs
Third Test, at Colombo
From Nov 23-27
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
Three stars
