It was July 2018 when I first moved to the Middle East with AG, I was not married and I did not have any kids. Seven years later and all that has changed. Life has moved, and moved fast!

With a wedding in 2021, the birth of our first daughter in 2022 and our second in 2025, life in Dubai has been an experience of constant change. My work at AG has also mirrored this. When we originally moved over the firm was just starting to build a Middle East finance offering. We had a limited number of bank panel relationships and were certainly in a "growth" phase. Fast forward seven years and we can now confidently call most (if not all) of the financial institutions in our geographies a client.

Since qualification this is the longest I have ever lived in one location and Dubai now feels like home. That has positively shaped my approach to working here and knowing we are settled as a family has encouraged me to build out my network. The investment I have made in relationships in the region has been incredibly beneficial both professionally and personally.

AG’s growth across the Middle East has been rapid, and I really think the quality of our people has been a key driver of that. Culture is not something that happens by accident, and my colleagues here have been consistently excellent in their approach to working together, doing so with a level of ingenuity and good humour which overall makes it a fun place to work.

We all know it is a pressurised work environment and there are plenty of demands associated with our profession. I do feel that this is genuinely recognised at AG though and people bring a level of humanity and empathy to their job. This encourages me to do the same and I am consistently trying to ensure that I contribute to our culture in a positive manner.

As people join the firm - both in Dubai and elsewhere - I feel a great sense of pride about the journey we have been on, and an excitement for the road ahead.