‘I FIND TRAVEL TO BE MOST ENLIGHTENING’

NISSA NENSEY, CEO, AL HUZAIFA FURNITURE

My husband and I... both have furniture in our genes – each of us has a parent whose family has been in the trade for over a hundred years. However, Al Huzaifa is a business we have brought to life with a vision all its own.

I spent my early years... in teaching, which I loved, while my husband made a foray into furniture trading in the UAE in 1976. He built the foundational strengths of this business. Being with him at every step and looking into the aesthetic side of things, I realised my life’s work awaited me here.

The secret of Al Huzaifa Furniture’s success...

is the fact that it’s been around for four decades. So is there a secret sauce? I’d prefer to call it a secret source. It’s an instinct one develops and refines with time; the ability to understand your customers and evolve with them. It’s about empathy; the ability to learn and unlearn; to love your work but not fall in love with it. Our secret is that we’ve kept evolving. Stocking the latest trends in the most elegant textures and colours, frequenting design fairs in Italy and Spain. Gut instinct or research when choosing

products?... There’s no ‘or’; only a big ‘and’. It’s instinct and homework; observation and conversation; gut and guts. Creative decisions are about risk taking – at scale, in our case. Observation informs your gut feel, while the research process compels you to shape your guesses into hypotheses and test them. The Al Huzaifa take is: Why predict market trends when you can create them? Why follow when you can lead and inspire?

The fusion of form and function... is what great design is. At Al Huzaifa, that’s just the starting point. The overarching goal remains the ownership experience. What should that be? Is it about peace of mind? Without doubt. Pride of ownership? Absolutely so. And yet there’s something more: a relationship of extraordinary intensity. We set the bar high saying, “You don’t possess it, it possesses you.” Does a product possess this quality? Only then can it qualify to represent the brand.

Some qualities I look for when hiring staff

are... instinct, initiative, innovativeness, the ability to execute no matter what and the inability to make excuses even to themselves. To draw on cricket, a sport I follow avidly, every team needs its coach, star batsmen and a skipper who can get out there when the going gets tough and play the captain’s knock. Character is everything. Qualifications may be abundant, but it’s loyalty, honesty and passion for design that tilt the scales for me. As for the most important bit, what makes for success at scale, season after season, year upon year, is organisational culture. A passion for getting it just right. The ability to evolve. Every individual on the team brings their own instincts and ideas.

How I stay updated?... When you eat, drink, breathe and live the business you love, you evolve with it, you imbibe every nuance and yet exercise objectivity - taking what matters and leaving out the rest. My team and I learn from customers as we listen to them.

What I find most enlightening at a personal level – and this is something I cannot

overstate – is travel. Watch. Wonder. Observe. My favourite quip – Oxford Street is a great place to see the world go buy.

I’m blessed with... a family that’s understood my obsession with work. We work as a team where we respect each other’s roles and the overarching goal. My husband - my partner in business and in

life - has... always backed me unconditionally with total faith in my judgement and capabilities. As does our son who’s the third pillar of this business and is taking it into the future. You feel invincible when the most important people in your life believe in you.

My favourite way to unwind is by going bottom fishing. It’s wonderful to be on a boat, feeling the lilt of the water under the open sky, letting the working week wash away as I watch the float and focus on nothing else but the next bite.

Other than design... my passion is reading to my grandson. His expressions are priceless.

I’m happiest... at this point in my journey in life. What better than being able to look back and feel deeply grateful that it all worked out so beautifully. Being on this journey with amazing people makes me feel so blessed.

What makes me sad.. is any

form of injustice.

My strength is... first, my belief that in my life there are only two footprints in the sand. Second, my family - husband Hussain, son Saif, daughter-in-law Tannu and grandson Aayan.

My weakness is.. my loved ones. They’re my source of strength but also my weakness. One guest... I’d like to have at my dream dinner party is Rumi.

My greatest achievement... would be to have lived life doing the best I could in every situation, accepting my destiny and being able to look back on the years honestly knowing I never hurt or harmed intentionally. What keeps me awake at night... are thoughts about the mystery of life. And my current

magnificent obsession – the new Al Huzaifa showroom opening in Al Wasl, this month. The most important lesson life has taught

me... is to give of yourself with love and kindness, and be honest in every relationship. To believe that God is with you in every situation and to be able to leave everything to Him with implicit trust.

What is on top of my bucket list now... is to swirl with the Sufi dervishes. The swing in the middle of the ocean calls out to me from Male. When growing up.. I wanted to be a writer. Still hope I have the courage one day. If I weren’t in this business I would want

to be... a whirling Dervish perhaps.

Some qualities I look for when hiring staff are instinct, initiative, innovativeness, the ability to execute, no matter what and the inability to make excuses even to themselves