'My friends are like my brothers'

Ali Alsaloom, 28, is chairman and creative consultant of Embrace Arabia, a UAE-based consultancy firm that conducts workshops and seminars for corporations and individuals who are new to the UAE. The workshops cover UAE history, culture, traditions and customs and the UAE's business environment. @email:www.embracearabia.com I was born and raised here, in the Middle East. My family is spread over the region and I feel very connected to this part of the world. Abu Dhabi is home for me. When I'm travelling and I think of home, the first thing that hits me is the pride of knowing that I come from Sheikh Zayed's land. When I'm travelling anywhere and see a beach or the sea, I immediately think of this place. It's small, but there are so many things here. I can't let go of things easily, especially things that are dear to me.

My internal system wakes me up at 7am everyday; I don't use an alarm. Luckily, Emiratis don't have to worry too much about picking clothes. But I have a hard time finding the right tarboush that matches my kandoura. I spend over 20 minutes picking out the right one. I live in the same building as where I used to work, so I see my former co-workers and have a laugh with them. After that it's straight to my office until the end of the day. My schedule is pretty packed until the end of the day, when I head to the coffee shop I own and meet up with some friends. It would be great if I could add two hours to the day. I would get so much more accomplished.

I live a very different life from others I know. I want to retire when I'm 35. I don't really have a job as such - I run businesses - but I want to retire not needing to work to make a living. I want to work to have fun and to stay creative. The best decision I ever made was going into what my dad recommended - hospitality management. It was something that was in me, a skill I possessed from the beginning. A lot of people say that an educational qualification is something you don't need to be successful. I disagree. I think it's very important. You leverage the knowledge you get and the skills you have into a business. The reality is that I'm in the people business, the culture business, the education business. Without a qualification you're like a beautiful bird that no one can identify. No one knows your value. They know you're beautiful, but they don't know what category to place this bird in.

The majlis style is very close to me, it's in me. My friends are like my brothers. We sit together and catch up and talk about football. My favourite teams are Al Jazira from the UAE, and Real Madrid internationally. Some people prefer going to malls, but for me this is perfect. It's where I spend my time after 8pm. Unfortunately I'm not married yet. I don't know where all the girls are! I joke with my friends and say that I intend to turn things around and that I'm waiting for a girl to ask for my hand in marriage. I think God has a purpose for me - maybe He is saving the best for me. In the future, a perfect day would be me waking up early, taking my children to school and taking my wife to look at the first phase of the house we're building together. Then spend the rest of the day with my family, play some sport with the kids and enjoy our time together.

My dad is my hero in life. For some time now he's been very sick and I'm always afraid of getting a phone call with bad news. I've been living with that for two years. Happiness for me is health. A healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy relationship with God. As a child, my dream was to be an airforce pilot. It was something I could have done without any training. But due to a family tragedy I had to leave that dream. My mother kept me away from the military and forbade me from pursuing it.

I remember leaving a statistics exam when I was doing my MBA in Waterloo, Canada, and getting a phone call saying that Sheikh Zayed had passed away. I was incredibly sad and crying over our loss and not being in the UAE at the time. He was someone I looked up to very much.