Other Women's Jobs // A Day In The Life & Career Of Muna Mustafa

NAME:  Muna Mustafa

AGE: 43 I think (I can never remember)

INSTAGRAM HANDLE: Muna_must

JOB TITLE: Co-Founder of Supper Club Middle East

MOVED TO THE UAE IN: 2009

Muna Mustafa is the Co-Founder of Supper Club Middle East. She builds and manages the partnerships and relationships with luxury venues, restaurants, beach clubs and spas.  Every day, Muna spends the bulk of my time talking to General Managers of hotels, Directors of Marketing, or F&B (Food & Beverage) Directors about what’s working well, new ideas, and how many guests the company have sent their way.

Today, let's discover a day in the life and career of Muna:

5AM:  My alarm goes off and when my husband is on shift at work and not home, these mornings I am much more likely to actually get out of bed, get dressed, do some quick stretching on the yoga swing in my office, then grab the baby monitor and head out to the back garden to breath the fresh air while I work on an important work project while most of the world still sleeps.

6AM: My 8-year-old finds me outside when he comes out to fill up our dogs' water bowl, and we have a 5-minute conversation about what he wants to do after school, or something he wants to buy, or something he’s asked me 84 times before, and I said no.  He is the best salesperson I’ve ever met, and I try to learn his techniques every single day.  I try to explain that these things cost money and he needs to think of a business idea to EARN money first (it’s never too early, right?) and I feel confident that by having this conversation with him nearly every morning, he will one day (soon) start his own business. 

By this time, my other two boys have woken up and are jumping around.  I have the best nannies in the world, making breakfast and helping them get dressed so that I can save my willpower for the long day ahead.  Just before I head out to take them to school, I hear the baby waking up from the monitor, and I run upstairs to kiss her good morning and make some squeezy sounds with remnants of the English or Arabic language somewhere in there.

8:30AM: Back home, I grab a strong hazelnut drip coffee with oat milk and straight into a 20-minute no-interruption play session with my 1-year-old baby girl.  This typically involves making pretend food in the play kitchen or watching the mini cars go down the runway, followed by a walk around the garden to see if there are any ripe tomatoes or figs, which are her favourites. She has filled my metaphorical sweetness cup, and then my SupperClub meetings start, one after another luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia, followed by a Michelin restaurant in Dubai, followed by an award-winning hospitality group across several countries.  All very exciting, and we're receiving most giving verbal confirmations to join the platform, as we are “differentiated,” “elevated,” or “sophisticated and unique.” All these descriptions are ones I thoroughly enjoy hearing, because it means we have built the company correctly. 

My business partner, Mehreen, is pinging me to ask for a 5-minute Zoom meeting, which is almost always 28-87 minutes long and ends with us breaking out in dance, even when we're in a bad mood, especially then.  No joke.

2PM: Time to pick up the kids and their quirky questions on the ride home gives me the exact perspective I need about life.  Get them settled with snacks and a show or activity, then I’m back to my home office for another meeting or two and some follow-up emails, proposals, contracts, and forecasts.  My husband walks in and steals a kiss while I’m in a Zoom meeting, and I rarely turn my camera off fast enough for him to realise I have it on in the first place.  It’s funny every single time.

5PM: I forcefully close my laptop and RUN away before I can be sucked back into the work that I love.  Go outside to hang out with my kids before sunset and feel entirely peaceful only when I “forget” my phone upstairs. I stare at the flowers and take a stroll around the garden listening to sounds of my kids playing, arguing, yelling (why do they yell so much?) and doing very impressive flips on the trampoline to get my attention.

8PM: Have dinner, sometimes with the family, just me and my husband, and put the kids to bed. Then we joke about the funny things they did this week, talk about when we’re going out next for dinner, dancing, or a movie.  My husband goes to the gym and I either sneak in some work or watch one of my favorite shows (Shrinking, Ted Lasso, This is US, Entourage, Yellowstone or Erin Brokovich) while sending messages to Mehreen about the next big thing we’re going to do and three hundred new ideas we just came up with in the last five minutes - story of our lives.