Natalie is a Dubai girl through and through

Natalie Daghestani, the founder and managing director of Crystyled, at her workshop in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai. Christopher Pike / The National

DUBAI // Natalie Daghestani is British by nationality, Welsh by birth, but deep down she is a Dubai girl through and through.
The 27-year-old moved to the emirate when she was just two after her pilot father landed a job at Emirates Airlines. Her new home was a long way from her parents' native Wales, but the family soon took to their new life in the sun.
"I grew up playing at the beach where Madinat Jumeirah now is and going out on my roller blades," said Ms Daghestani. "Your parents never having to worry where you were. School was so fun because I had friends from all over so I'm used to having that multi-cultural friendship base."
She is one of a generation of expatriate youngsters, who despite not being born in the UAE have firmly laid their roots in the country.
"I have such great memories of growing up here. I'm not Emirati but I feel Dubai is part of my culture."
After finishing her studies at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Ms Daghestani found success as an accessories designer, creating original, one-off pieces for the likes of Kim Kardashian, British radio host Fearne Cotton and the late model and television presenter Peaches Geldof, daughter of philanthropist Sir Bob Geldof.
Her products, such as mobile phone covers and customised headphones, were even stocked in big name department stores Harrods and Selfridges.
"I went from being a graduate thinking I couldn't really have my own business to being in these huge stores and having celebrities coming to me," she said. "At school I was always playing with bits of broken glass and sticking things to everyday objects to make them more beautiful. I didn't know this is what I'd end up doing. I'd always customise things like my clothes and school books."
However, in spite of the rapid success she found in the UK, the UAE was still drawing her back.
"I had an enquiry from a Sheikha in Bahrain and all the while my parents were still in Dubai and I just realised this was the place for me to be and build my brand," she said.
"It was a case of now or never. I thought if this client loves it, there must be lots more opportunity in the Middle East region so why not be here? I was really missing home and it was always my goal to come back so I felt I had my ticket. It was still a risk but I felt it was worth it."
Having grown up in the Emirates, Ms Daghestani knew first hand people's obsession with all things glitzy, glamorous and preferably studded with jewels. She decided to return to Dubai and set up her business Crystyled, a specialist crystal customising company working on items from phone covers to fashion and interior design.
"It's an inspiring place to be and you see so many people become successful here," she said.
In 2012 she set up a warehouse in Jebel Ali and trained a team to help build her brand.
"It was great to come back but I was back to square one. I started off supplying to the gift shop in the Atlantis Hotel and the big hotels, the main business came from the kiosks in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates."
She is not alone in her love of the city she grew up in, with many of her old school friends heading back to the emirates after stints away.
"So many of us went away for a few years but came back," she said. "You feel you haven't left your family and circle of friends. For us there's some continuity even in the change of it all. Dubai is a unique little gem."
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