Dira El Hadidy

I have a long list, but to be honest, it's mostly my dad, who passed away 7 years ago. He always strived for success, and success has different shades. He didn't seek perfection, but he always sought success in himself. He would wake up every morning, look in the mirror, and say 'I'm the successful person, I'm the warrior person.' He always strived through his struggles and failures, always seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how many times he fell, he always stood up, so I always took him as a role model. When things aren't going well for a week, a month, or two months, I remember that's fine, there is a learning out of that. He's my role model when it comes to success and earning up his career. Another person is our CCO at my company. It's unbelievable, the amount of challenge and pressure he handles, and I'm learning how to work under pressure from him. Those are two people that are shaping my success.

Consistency and persistence. It's really those two things that will get you up. Mostly, keep doing what you're doing and pave the way for what you want to achieve, and you will reach there. There is never... I wouldn't advise anyone to listen to someone who says no to you, or you're not good enough, or you're not strong enough, or technically you're not able to reach there, because I've been told that. So no, 'no' is not the end of the career. It's mostly, be persistent, be consistent in what you're doing, and you'll reach there one day.

I would say be open to all challenges, be open to all opportunities. Be bold. Don't shy away, don't freak out from the challenge, no matter how big it is, because really the sky is the limit in this field. There's room for everyone.

The market dynamics affect a lot, since we heavily work in the oil and gas field. With all what's going on in the market dynamics, prices go up, prices go down, and that affects our customers, which ultimately affects how we can help them with our solutions. If the economy is not going well in certain areas or parts of the oil and gas industry, whether they are in upstream, downstream, or midstream, depending on the vertical they are in, that would affect our solution. So I have to come up with strategic decisions with them, think outside the box about how they won't drop the license, how we can maintain them as a happy customer, and manage their struggles. This has been a challenge for the past year and a half that we're still trying to figure out. We're having a meeting in a couple of weeks at our headquarters on how to meet those challenges without losing the customer, but at the same time having an outcome of a win-win situation.

Integrity and honesty are the most important values to me. Just be true to yourself in what you do, because the way you show up is the way you would receive. Every day, on a personal level or on a professional level, this is the energy you will receive back. That's why I said persistent and consistent. It's exactly how you show up every day to yourself first, and then to people around you, whether this is family, whether this is partner, whether this is company, colleagues, however. That's the energy you're getting back. Some days are not my best, yes, of course, we all have that, but it's literally about how you show up. So, what energy do you want to receive?