UAE-based, award-winning architect May Barber is passionate about creating beautiful things regardless of their material or scale. Her creative curiosity took her into fashion design followed by fashion buying and writing. Coupling her aesthetic eye with her entrepreneurial drive, May founded The cARTel, a fashion concept store that features wearable […]

Jewelry has always been in Susana Martins’ blood. Born and raised in northern Portugal in an area with a rich goldsmithing history, she trained as a goldsmith and stone-setter before pursuing a post-graduate diploma in design alongside gemology and diamond grading qualifications. Fast forward a few years, and today her […]

When María Dolores left her native Mexico in the 1980s, she took with her a grand passion for Mexican cooking. Settling down with her Swiss husband, María Dolores was so shocked at what passed for Mexican food in Switzerland, she felt compelled to start her own business. Since then it’s grown […]

Interview with Dani Saveker, Founder, Families in Business T. Saveker and Sons was founded in 1903 in Birmingham, England. A manufacturing company for shop fittings, the family-owned business faced many highs and lows over its hundred-year history. The Saveker family members, one generation at a time worked dutifully on their […]

Interview with Dr. Alicja Hadrys-Nowak It is well documented that women face unique challenges in the business world – in both publicly owned as well as family owned companies. For the most part, existing research investigating the role of women in the family business sphere focuses solely on female family […]

Interview with Claudia Ritzel, President Fundown Caribe, Colombia Claudia Ritzel was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is an Industrial Engineer and has worked mainly in the administrative, financial and commercial areas, of one business unit of a 4th generation family business in Santa Marta, Colombia. Today, she is […]

Family ownership is often considered amongst the most sustainable ownership models. And yet, despite their many strengths, research shows that family-owned companies can struggle to find the right moment to innovate and “think out of the box”. WIFB met with expert Marijo Bos to ask her opinion on how family […]

Interview with Rawan Issa, Issa Holding, Lebanon  You have been with the family business for quite a while. How did you join the company and how has your career developed so far? I joined the family business in late 2006, in Dubai, and started by opening up a branch for […]

Interview with Carole Hübscher, Chairwoman of Caran d’Ache Established in 1915, Caran d’Ache is one of the leading writing instrument and luxury stationery suppliers in the world. For nearly a century, the family-owned business has been at the forefront of innovation in its industry and has uniquely offered its international customer base […]

Interview with Ana Maria Matallana-Boggio Ana Maria Matallana loves her country and lovingly spends half her time finding solutions to the social challenges faced by Colombians every day; even if she lives thousand of miles away. Aside from supporting her husband, involved in running a multi-generational family business, she is dedicated […]

Mercedes Salazar is one of those women that seem to make it all work with relative ease: Career, marriage, and children are radiantly healthy examples of how this remarkable woman coordinates her life. We interviewed Mercedes to find out how she balances work, life, and love and produces jewelry that […]

An Interview with Dania Besher What is your role in the Family Business? I am an Architect by profession and have always worked as a freelance Architect. This gave me the chance to take on many projects for the family. Since 2010, I have also been very focused on the Governance […]