What does it take to build a media empire from a VHS tape and a guessed email address?

Reim El Houni, CEO of 22 Films and creator of Mission Visible, did exactly that and in this episode, she's refreshingly honest about the hiring mistakes, leadership lessons and hard-won perspective that came from nearly two decades of producing TV in one of the most unpredictable industries there is.

In this episode of the HR Sisters Podcast, we sit down with Reim El Houni to unpack her journey from a 16-year-old intern emailing every name in the BBC credits, to building 22 Films and scaling teams from a core group of 20 to 60+ for major productions like Expo's daily TV show and the Burj Khalifa opening.

We go deep on the topics that matter most to founders and business leaders:

Hiring for Attitude, Not Skills: Why Reim tells every candidate in their interview that she takes positivity seriously, and how willingness to evolve outweighs any skill on a CV.

The Cost of Control: Why she will never introduce a clocking in and clocking out system, and what it taught her about flexibility, trust and erratic industry hours.

The Hire That Taught Her the Most: An honest account of scaling too fast for Expo, hiring under pressure and what she'd do differently with hindsight.

Letting Go to Grow: How a self-described perfectionist learned to pick her battles, delegate without micromanaging, and teach instead of taking over.

Culture on a Budget: From a gratitude WhatsApp chat to mandatory office dance breaks, the cost-neutral rituals that shaped her team's culture.

Perspective: The Burj Khalifa story, the night she thought she delivered the worst show of her career, and the phone call that changed how she defines success.

Whether you're a founder, a people leader, or someone trying to build culture without a budget, this conversation is full of honest, hard-earned insight from someone who has lived every part of it on camera and off.

What happens when you start a business before you've really figured out how to manage people? Lara Geadeh, founder of Cameo Communications, did exactly that and in this episode she's refreshingly honest about what went wrong, what she learned and how she built a lean, loyal, high-performing team she's proud of today.In this episode of the HR Sisters Podcast, we sit down with Lara Geadeh, founder of Cameo Communications, to unpack six years of building one of Dubai's respected PR and communications agencies from the early days of trial and error at 23, to developing a hiring philosophy that puts flexibility, attitude and integrity above everything else.We go deep on the topics that matter most to founders and business leaders:

• Hiring Without a Rulebook: Why Lara stopped hiring for skills and started hiring for character and how that single shift transformed her team.
• Leading a Lean, Remote Team: How she gives her people full flexibility and freedom while still maintaining accountability, trust and high delivery standards.
• People & Performance: Why accepting 70-80% work is actually a winning retention strategy and how a success fee structure keeps her whole team invested in growth.
• Founder Advice: Take it easy on yourself and your people. Document your processes before you need them. And define your non-negotiables before the first interview, not after.Whether you're a founder, a people leader, or someone building something from the ground up in the UAE, this conversation is packed with honest, practical perspective from a founder who's lived it.

What does it really take to build a business that holds through a global pandemic, rapid growth, and the unique pressures of doing business in the UAE?In this episode of the HR Sisters Podcast, we sit down with David Cook, Chief Everything Officer at Contractors Direct, to unpack 17 years of hard-won entrepreneurial experience. From founding a project management consultancy in 2008 and navigating the 2008 financial crisis, to launching a new platform in January 2020 just weeks before Covid hit. David's story is one of resilience, reinvention, and radical honesty. We go deep on the topics that matter most to founders and business leaders:Hiring & Culture: Why David only hires people he knows, likes, and trusts and why he believes that's the only way to build a high-performing, ethical team in the UAE.Leadership Under Pressure: How to show up as a calm, steady leader when you're waking up at 4am with anxiety and why your team is always watching.People & Performance: The real cost of a bad hire, why remuneration should never be tied to nationality, and how optimising your existing team can double your revenue without adding a single headcount.Founder Advice: Don't leave your job too soon. Build it on the side. Only jump when your income from the business matches your salary. David's practical, no-nonsense advice for anyone thinking about starting up.Whether you're a founder, a people leader, or someone building something from the ground up in the UAE, this conversation is packed with perspective you won't hear anywhere else.This episode is proudly sponsored by Cercli, the HR platform built for people, not just systems. Cercli brings hiring, payroll, and compliance together in one place, with a native ATS that surfaces the right candidates faster and payroll that runs without manual reconciliation.