Unmasking Brilliance: How 'Dubai Bling' Catapulted Ebraheem Alsamadi's Entrepreneurial Ambitions "I always want to be remembered as the boss that treated his employees as family."
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When I join Ebraheem Alsamadi over a Zoom call on an overcast afternoon in late February, it starts off as the first interview of my journalism career where I have to momentarily slip out of my seat to allow someone else to speak to my interviewee first. After asking his permission to "allow me to be unprofes- sional for just five minutes," and receiving an animated "Of course!" upon relaying who I want to bring into the call, Alsamadi has a conversation with my mother- who is one among the millions of viewers who've watched him on Netflix's reality show Dubai Bling.
Over the next three to four minutes that I observe the two of them converse, Alsamadi's affable demeanor reminds me of what he had told me just a week prior, at Entrepreneur Middle East's Legends of Entrepreneurship Awards. "I believe if I have the blessings of mothers, then I will continue to always be successful," he'd said.
But this is just one side of the serial entrepreneur's multi-faceted persona. There are many ways to answer the question "Who is Ebraheem AlSamadi?" Entrepreneur. Creative. Netflix's Dubai Bling star ("antagonist" some would contentiously say). A filial son. And in his own words, "a multitasker and a visionary." But in the little over 30 minutes I get to interview him, it becomes clear that to attempt to define Alsamadi in a sentence or two wouldn't do justice to the amalgamation of experiences that have shaped who he is today.
The biggest product of this journey, of course, is his flagship luxury gifting brand Forever Rose London. Indeed, it was a chance observation during a 2014 trip to China when Alsamadi got introduced to the concept of preserved roses. That eventually led him to Forever Rose London, which at the time was a UK-based family owned artisan florist and events business that supplied lifelong roses to royal palaces in the UK and Belgium. Having already established his own hospitality and retail company Al Samadi Group in the UAE in 2010, Alsamadi saw an opportunity to build Forever Rose London into a luxury concept- a vision that came to fruition when Al Samadi Group acquired the brand in 2014.
Today, with stores across the UAE, Qatar and London, Forever Rose London has been transformed into a one-stop boutique concept that offers long lasting roses (reminiscent of the rose enclosed in a glass bell jar in Disney's Beauty and the Beast), premium chocolates, specially selected fragrances and Ouds, and a collection of jewelry. "I'm just very observant, and that's what helped me in my business," Alsamadi says. "Because as I traveled the world, like Ibn Batuta did, you know, I got things from different places. But I never copy! I always either make it a different concept or I take two concepts and put them together. So the roses I found when I was in China, I found them there at some random place. The chocolate is obviously in Dubai. The cafe was in London when I went to the cafe for the Fendi pop up. Everything I've learned was from my travels. And that's why what's amazing in Islam is that our Prophet [peace be upon him] said don't tell me how much you're educated, tell me how much you travel, because travel is education."
The "cafe" Alsamadi refers to is the Forever Rose Café, an extension of the brand that he launched in 2020 in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Built with intricately designed black and white interiors that give the illusion of sitting in a two-dimensional space -much like the illustrations in a story book- the cafe combines all the existing elements of the Forever Rose brand with a high-end all-day dining experience. Its unique ambience and high quality servings earned it the title of being one of the "Most Instagrammable Cafes" from both customers and media outlets alike. And according to the founder, the fanfare surrounding Forever Rose Café has translated into monetary milestones as well. "It's been five years now and there has not been a drop in revenue," Alsamadi says. "With F&B in the Middle East, it's always like there's... they call it the six month honeymoon period, and then that's it. But here it's not like that. It's always getting new customers, and it's becoming interna- tionally known as well. It's just amazing. So I'm super happy about that."
Source: Forever Rose
Now, much before the launch of Forever Rose Café in 2020, Forever Rose London had already raked in the moolah- in May 2018, a press release from online business intelligence platform Zawya revealed that the luxury brand had grown by 1,080% and achieved a revenue growth in excess of 300% per annum since its launch. But by then, once again displaying his keen observational skills, Alsamadi had begun to notice signs of the global luxury market slowing down. While multiple factors induced this shift -including economic recessions and currency fluctuations- it was the onset of consumer behaviors that favored online shopping as well as sustainable luxury that Alsamadi was war of. "All of this started to get even worse after COVID-19 because people started to realize "why should we be spending money?" whereas Gen Z were saying they wanted comfortable, affordable clothing," he recalls. "At the same time, everyone had also begun to order flowers online, and had a "I don't have to go to the shop" approach. So we were losing [our brick-and-mortar store] customers to Amazon and all these different places. So I said, you know what, they cannot bring an experience to their house! They have to come to the experience. That's when I thought that if luxury is taking a hit, let me make a cafe for the brand. That way I can attract people to come back to our locations. And I said, let's do it with the black and white theme. It was a very big risk because it was my first business in F&B -even though I have an extended family business in F&B- but for me it was my first."
That risk, as we now know, eventually paid off handsomely for Alsamadi. Spurred on by the cafe's performance, he also launched Forever Oud, a luxury fragrance brand, in 2022. But profitable achievements aside, the founder shares an anecdote on why Forever Rose Café's success offered him personal vindication as well. "When I first decided to create the cafe, my brother was like, "I'm not going to help you with this business", but he has experience in F&B!" Alsamadi tells me. "I asked him why, and he told me that he didn't think it was going to succeed. So I told him, "Shame on you! How can I not do something that succeeds?" And I proved him wrong. I still remember I took my first award for the cafe -the most Instagrammable cafe award- to him and I smirked and walked away."
That smirk of success still stubbornly positioned on his visage is in many ways a reminder of how personal circumstances have often been the driving force behind Alsamadi's entrepreneurial pursuits. Indeed, to understand how the 37 year-old has built Forever Rose into the brand that it is today, it is necessary to first get familiar with his 14 year-old self.
Those who've followed Alsamadi on social media would know that that was his age when his parents divorced- a life-altering event that led to him becoming the sole breadwinner for his mother and sisters. But in a pleasing revelation, Alsamadi shares that he'd possessed business acumen even before this personal crisis set in. "When I was five or six years old, I used to tell my mom that I would do extra chores in the house to get more money, and I used to create funny businesses for my brother," he says. "I remember once -I was probably 10 years old- I used to record a menu on a, we had this thing called a boombox back in the day that you can record things on. And this was, like, 26-27 years ago, right? Anyway, I recorded myself speaking a menu on the cassette, because I knew that listening to a menu is better than reading a menu- and that was more lucrative. So I would give it to my brothers, and say something like 'if you want to order something, I'll cook this food for you but you have to pay me.'" However, when Alsamadi turned 14, "it wasn't a game anymore."
His parents' divorce meant he had to move out of his father's wealthy home in Kuwait into a small apartment in the US, which is where Alsamadi's mother is originally from. To sustain the household as a teenager, he began selling clothes on American e-commerce platform ebay from his mother's apartment. His first deal was selling a pair of Levi jeans which he had bought for $10 at a price of $20. That business stint was one among many different odd jobs Alsamadi worked to support his family. "All of a sudden it was about making something to put my mom in a place where she was before," he says. "Because when she left my father she left everything behind- the cars, the villa, the jewelry, everything. She started from zero and I thought why should she have to sacrifice everything, because she wants to be alone. You shouldn't have to...just because you don't want to be with someone doesn't mean you have to change your way of life, right? So I was like I need to work. So I began pushing myself and found ways to make money. I was very determined, and...I wasn't a normal teenager. I wasn't able to go to the cinema with my friends because I was trying to save money. It was the ultimate struggle even to the extent that I went to go learn karate, to learn martial arts, because I was like I have to defend my mom now if something happens. I need to know how to fight, I have to protect my mom, I have to protect my sister. I'm responsible! So I took that responsibility at a very early age. I don't think any teenager should have to go through what I went through but it was something that I did."
Source: Forever Rose
Having battled a series of challenges as a teenager rewired his mindset towards life and, by extension, business, notes Alsamadi. "It was challenge after challenge after challenge, but slowly I started to kind of enjoy them," he says. "That became kind of crazy. Because if it wasn't challenging, I didn't want it. I wouldn't want a business if it wasn't challenging for me, which started to become a bit insane. Like, why would I want such a challenge? But I would go looking for it, thinking, "Wait, what? Why is nothing going wrong?" Sometimes it's almost like we need problems for us to solve them so we can feel accomplished, you know?"
In many ways, it was this risk-taking mindset that encouraged Alsamadi to take the path of becoming a reality TV star on Netflix's hit show Dubai Bling- a role that he swears he took on solely for the sake of his businesses. "I never thought I would be famous nor did I seek it, but I knew I needed to have credibility," Alsamadi shares. "So initially I had to be on social media for people to trust me and to work with me. So what was amazing when I was approached for the show is that it was called Dubai Life. And they said, it is going to be a show for successful businessmen. So I thought, "This is it! This is going to be my show!" But then I found out that there's going to be other people and it's called Dubai Bling. And I was like, oh my God, what did I get myself into? But I'm a true believer of something my father said, which is to follow the waves to where they take you. Don't go against it because you get tired. So I said, let me try it but I told them I'd do it on one condition: you have to film my businesses. You film my businesses, we're going to have a show. You don't film my businesses, we're not going to have a show."
That was in 2022. Today, three successful seasons of the show later, Alsamadi has not only earned himself a sea of admirers and well-wishers, but garnered the credibility he sought out to get for Forever Rose. "Before, whenever I would go internationally to get a meeting with, let's say , big companies, I would have to wait for the meeting...one week, two weeks, three weeks," Alsamadi says. "But now there's this attitude of "we'll do it right now, whenever you want." The ball's in your court. So it gave me more credible opportunities, which is very good. It's priceless."
But well before the Netflix fame catapulted Forever Rose's reputation and brand value, some thrifty decision-making from Alsamadi had already set the course for its future growth. Part of this involved a staunch stance to not have external investors pouring capital into the company. "Every penny I make, I just reinvest it, and I keep my spending to a minimum," he says. "I only spend on necessities. Even when I first started doing business, I didn't mind traveling in economy. I was very smart. Because, with the amount of travels that I do, it'd have been crazy if I traveled first or business class every time. So I sacrificed my own comfort for the company's success and capital, because I didn't want to rely on anyone. I didn't want to get an investor. Imagine you get an investor just so you can have better spending and you travel with your team and you travel business and you spend extra money. But then you have to report to an investor. So I said, no, I would rather sacrifice my comfort. But at least I know that I own the company and I don't have to report to anyone!"
By this stage, I have already asked Alsamadi half the questions I'd prepared for this interview. And in each of his answers, and the body language that accompany them, there is an excitement and passion that almost oozes out of the screen. So, for someone who has been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, has there ever been a moment when Alsamadi felt his creative juices dry out? "Absolutely not!" he replies almost instantaneously.
"What's even crazy is that it multiplies every single day. You know, my vision is actually that I'm building Forever Rose to sell it. So we've started franchising. We sold at least 20 franchises in the past month, and we're going to be selling a lot more franchises internationally. And I want to build like 100 franchises worldwide. And then I want to sell the entire company. I've already gotten hints that some people will be willing to pay up to US$200 million for my company. So if I take $200 million, what I'll do with that... I mean, that's double my net worth... I'll keep that money. It's not going to change who I am. I'm not going to buy anything else other than what I already have. But whatIwanttodois-Ilovetheartof creating..."
Amid the stunning revelation that he wants to eventually sell the brand he's owned for over a decade now, Alsamadi then begins describing what his next business venture will look like. "So I want to open a creative business agency where basically people come to me and they're like, "Listen, I have AED100,000- what can I do with it?", and I'll tell them what they can do with it," Alsamadi explains. "And I kind of want to make it [a model] where I'm not going to charge you for my advice until you succeed. Because I think that the world is better when people do what they're best at doing. You know, if you love to write, then you're a journalist. If you love to cook, then you are a chef. If you love to take care of people, then you're in the hospitality industry. So for me, I genuinely love creativity. I love to sit there and to tell someone this is the name of the brand [they're thinking of creating], and see what they think about it. I love people's reactions! So when I can sell creativity to people, I will get to sit in an office, meet new people and change their lives. That way I have a double impact. I have the impact of changing someone's life, and I've also created income for my business and the employees that are working under me. So that way something from this brain has been sold."
Ebraheem AlSamadi with his mother Khadejah Dowd. Source: Forever Rose
While the dream of owning such a consultancy is perhaps only a distant one for the time being, Alsamadi has already applied his creative prowess to building a brand for the most special person in his life: his mother, Khadejah Dowd. In January this year, to help her battle the listlessness that comes with being all alone at home, Alsamadi launched Call Your Mother Cakes, a boutique cake brand that offers custom-made cakes that encapsulate the concepts of love, family, and honoring mothers. "I always remember my mom making cakes for my siblings and me, and baking, so I asked her, 'Mom, what if we open a business called Call Your Mother Cakes?'" Alsamadi recalls. "She was like, yeah, sounds good. So we talked about it for a long time, but I didn't tell her I was doing anything. I just surprised her with it because we talk about a lot of business, but we never do it. But I wanted to make sure that I do it, and it's going well because it keeps her busy. She's not actually making the cakes. We have a team, but she's actually following up and checking and making sure, you know, the sales and everything is going well."
Ebraheem AlSamadi with his Forever Rose team. Source: Forever Rose
Now, at the beginning of this feature, there were four aspects of Alsamadi's story that I'd outlined (and eventually elaborated upon): entrepreneur, creative, a Dubai Bling star, and a filial son. But all of those titles have become attached to him courtesy the work he's done hitherto. But what about the Ebraheem Alsamadi of the future? How does the man himself hope he will be remembered decades from now? "I always want to be remembered as the boss that treated his employees as family," he says. "I hope every time people remember me, they say "my boss was like my brother." And I want to be remembered as the person who is always putting a smile on people's faces. You know, I like to see people happy. If someone's crying in front of me, even if I don't know them, I get hurt. So I want to be that person, that businessman, the boss that gave back to the community and didn't only think of himself. I want to be remembered as the person who thought about everyone else before he thought about himself."
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