“It’s my duty and honour to inspire women of all ages to reach their potential and guide the region into an new era of influence.”
Asil Attar inspires and empowers women to break through barriers and achieve their full potential. She shares her own journey and experiences, and provides practical insights and tools to help women build confidence, resilience, and leadership skills.
As a women empowerment advocate, Asil Attar is passionate about creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce. She believes that by empowering women, we can create a more equitable society and drive economic growth.
Participating in as many conferences as possible, championing women in business, employing women in all the organizations that she have worked for, inspiring them to go for their ambition. Attar truly believes that regardless of gender, the only thing that’s stops you from achieving is yourself.
‘‘I am always humbled and honored to represent women and recognize that I am one of a few CEO’s in an industry run by men. I know that now more than ever Women Empowerment is hot on the agenda and the subject on how to optimize the number of women in management roles is the number one topic.
With over 28 years in the retail industry in senior executive roles, I often share this thought with women that I meet, whilst unfortunately only 15% of board room seats globally are taken up by women, the question I ask is why? Granted it has to do with the leadership that the companies have, are they taking the right decisions to have diversity in their boardroom and are they leading the change and empowering women to hold senior executive positions? However, I also think it has quite a bit to do with ambition, confidence, knowledge and surrounding yourself with great people.
I have held the position of CEO for leading groups in the Middle East, I earnt these positions based on merit. These companies both interviewed over 10 candidates each, all of which were men, however, they both decided unanimously that I would be best person suited for the job, both of them empowered and placed me in that seat without hesitation, based on my experience, caliber, reputation and global knowledge of the industry. I have worked incredibly hard in my career, was ambitious, wanted to know the A-Z of fashion and retail, interviewed for many roles, was continuously rejected, but I kept trying, no one held me back, I wasn't about to stop.’’
‘‘I believe that sometimes as women, we get caught up in the gender argument and have the mindset that we have to fight for a seat, however, it is up to us to pursue our dreams and pave the way through the strength of our leadership. This is what is required to optimize women in leadership, turning a minority into a majority. However, it is up to us to show companies that placing women in such roles would drive change through reaching out to a wider audience, show empathy, enable multi-tasking, strengthen teams and with heightened emotional intelligence would re-shape the organization bringing transformational change.
I am part of the small percentage of women in senior roles. Therefore, I see it as both a duty and responsibility to inspire my own staff, and women of all ages, to reach their potential and help guide them into a new era of influence from the differentiators that women can bring to the leadership and boardrooms of the great companies we have in the Middle East and Globally.’’