Misty Copeland, Zahra Lari and Amna Al Qubaisi on breaking barriers

All three women know what it's like to be the 'first' in their fields, and spoke on International Women's Day about smashing the glass ceiling

Zahra Lari, the first hijab-wearing figure skater and founder of Emirates Skating Club, at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

“Part of the price of being the first is taking the body blows,” said Misty Copeland, the first black woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.

On International Women’s Day, she addressed a room full of women who also know a thing or two about being “the first”. Copeland’s talk was part of the Forbes 30/50 Summit, held in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Among the other speakers were two Emirati women — Zahra Lari, the first hijab-wearing figure skater and Amna Al Qubaisi, the first Emirati woman to drive race cars.

Copeland first discovered ballet at her local community centre in California when she was 13. She took a class on a basketball court, an experience, she said, that “completely changed her life”.

“To have the ballet studio become this safe haven for me, a place where I felt protected for the first time in my life,” she said. "There was a lot of abuse in my household, we didn’t often have a home, I was living in a motel when I was 13, so that space became so sacred to me. It was a place where I could express myself. I started to develop the tools that I wasn’t getting in school, not everyone thrives in that environment and works in the same way.”

In 2014, during the American Ballet Theatre’s tour to Abu Dhabi, Copeland made her debut as principal dancer in Coppelia. The following year, she made history when she became the first black woman to be promoted to principal in the company’s history.

Misty Copeland makes her debut as principal in Coppelia in Abu Dhabi in 2014. Photo: American Ballet Theatre

“I understand the impact that I have by being representation, I understand what it is to have people look at me and see themselves,” she said. “That was me for so many years looking up to so many incredible black and brown women who paved the way and have not been given their due respect and their flowers. I feel like it’s my responsibility to make them proud first and foremost, but also to carry their stories and tell their stories.”

Lari is the first figure skater from the Middle East to compete internationally and the first Arab woman to compete in a hijab at an Olympic qualifier, after falling in love with the sport at the age of 12.

“I didn’t realise I was the first from the region at that time,” she said. “I was just going out there and having fun. I was very passionate about it.

“I’m all about pushing myself and doing something out of my comfort zone, and I think since I was a kid, that’s what I have been doing.”

Lari is the founder of Emirates Skating Club, the first officially registered club in the region, which she set up to help offer the training and support that was not available to her when she was starting out.

“Finding a rink here was pretty easy, finding time on that rink was a challenge,” she said. “Everyone knows hockey takes priority and us figure skaters have to be there at 4.30 in the morning. The facilities were there but the coaches were not, that’s the reason we opened up Emirates Skating Club, to make sure we could offer the best training.”

She was joined on stage by Al Qubaisi, who has taken great pleasure in breaking gender stereotypes within her sport and the region.

“I trained in gymnastics, but there was only one competition a year or so for me, it was very boring,” she said. “My dad was racing cars, so at home, everything was all about racing and I was intrigued. I wanted to be a part of that conversation so I asked if I could start karting when I was nine years old. My brothers were never interested, so my dad was confused; he was like, ‘is something wrong with the DNA, did something get switched up’.”

Amna Al Qubaisi, Emirati Formula E racing driver, during the Forbes 30/50 summit. Victor Besa / The National

In 2018, Al Qubaisi became the first Middle Eastern woman to take part in a motorsport test programme for Formula E after the Diriyah ePrix in Saudi Arabia, shortly after women were legally able to drive in the country.

However, her rise has not been easy, and she has even been driven off the track a few times by men who did not like being overtaken by a woman.

“People used to use ‘drive like a girl’ as an insult, so I wanted to change that perception,” she said. “When I was karting internationally, I would beat the guys, and they would come to me and say things like ‘oh your engine is way better than ours, that’s why you’re winning’ and I’d say ‘no, no, you should just drive like a girl, that’s how to win’.”

Scroll through the gallery below for more pictures from the Forbes 30/50 Summit

Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State, at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

From left, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, Clinton and co-moderator Mika Brzezinski during a talking at the summit

Clinton during the Forbes 30/50 Summit

Forbes 30/50 Summit guests

Zelenska at the summit on International Women’s Day

Journalist and activist Gloria Steinem at the summit

Jessica Alba, Hollywood actress and founder of The Honest Company, at the summit

Former tennis champion Billie Jean King, centre, at the summit

Shafiqa Khpalwak, poet, writer and women’s rights activist, at the summit

Olga Kravchenko, co-founder and chief executive of Musemio, at the summit

Reem al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Judith Richter, founder and CEO of medical technology company Medinol, at the summit

Ms Al Hashimy and Dr Richter with Randall Lane, chief content officer at Forbes

Mo Abudu, CEO of Ebony Life Media, centre, and UAE film director Nayla Al Khaja, right

Ms Al Khaja speaks about the importance of building bridges

Ms Abudu speaks at the summit

Mika Brzezinski, founder of Know Your Value, a career network for women, chairs the summit

Francine Katsoudas, chief people, policy and purpose officer at Cisco

Kike Oniwinde Agoro, founder and CEO of BYP Network for black young professionals

Emirati racing driver Amna Al Qubaisi during the summit

Zahra Lari, founder and chief executive of Emirates Skating Club, at the summit

Jessica Smith, co-founder of inclusive talent agency Touch

From left, Saudi Arabia's Princess Lamia Bint Majid, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies; Ramia Farrage, presenter at Forbes Middle East; and Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation. Victor Besa / The National

Schwab-Pomerantz at the summit

Princess Lamia speaking at the summit

From left, Moira Forbes, executive vice president of Forbes Media, and Emmy-winning actress Catherine O’Hara at the summit

O’Hara at the Forbes 30/50 Summit