Interviewed by: Maali Jamil from the 360Moms team.

Please introduce yourself and Abu Dhabi Moms.

My name is Lana Kaati, I am a Canadian of Syrian origins living in the UAE. I'm a mother of two little jewels (five-year-old Livia and three-year-old Liam). As a child, I grew up in Abu Dhabi and then relocated to Canada in the mid-nineties where I finished MIS from McGill University & HR diploma from Concordia University. Before having kids, with my hard work, I was lucky to have a successful career and hold a major position at top companies where I accumulated 10 years’ experience in leading and managing. I moved back to the UAE in 2012 and settled in Abu Dhabi in 2013. In 2014, ADmoms was created as a social group on Facebook; it is a community that focuses on mothers as women first, to connect and support each other through their journey in Abu Dhabi.

What inspired you to start this community?

For women like me, when you change roles from a working woman to a stay-at-home mom, you need inspiration and empowerment to keep on moving and not lose focus on advancing yourself and career. After having kids, I wanted them to connect with the culture, and I needed a community that has a mix of Arabic culture with Western innovative ideas. When I moved back to Abu Dhabi, I came across many helpful support groups but most of them were either focused on “women” or on “kids.” I wanted a place where you can socialize, meet new people, have play dates for kids, learn new life tools, and interact with business-minded women.  

An important note to mention is that one of the major motivational points was sourcing information in Arabic regarding kids, events and social needs. I’m very sociable and good at hunting for information, so this made me believe that I can give back to the community by sharing the knowledge I have about the community we live in. I wanted a special mix with a little bit of everything and so ADmoms came to life and moved from a virtual Facebook group to a real social group.

What impact do you feel Abu Dhabi Moms has made so far?

I strongly believe that we brought many moms together! Through our community, moms started to know, feel and see that even when you are in the role of a mom you can still be a successful woman and make a difference in your surroundings. Whoever relocates to AD and needs a helping hand to guide them with where to start, with either renting/schools/activities/salons can get answers for all their needs through the group in their preferred language, focusing on Arabic. We have also helped raise awareness through our events as a way to help moms raise their kids with the right information from proper specialists in different fields. Moms now have a place where they can express themselves freely with no boundaries. We were able to bring mom-entrepreneur to connect with other moms to inspire and empower.  

Tell us about an inspirational project you've worked on.

Introducing life-coaching to ADmoms, many didn’t know about it, especially in the Arab community. Once we started this project over multiple free sessions, we have seen many lives change. For example, I came across a mom who came out of depression and left medication behind and now she is finishing up her university education. Or a mom who decided to challenge her culture and allow her teenage girl to play football and train professionally, and now she is a famous player. Another one is a mom who was not focused on her potential goals, she left her job and now opened her fashion shop.

Another great project we had was volunteering. We might think it’s a common interest within the community, but the reality is that it is only common in our minds. There is not much action, someone needs to give a push & motivate others to join a cause. For example, together as moms, we came to have a book club where ladies can share their passion for reading, meet at Operation Smile for coffee in the morning to exchange knowledge, help sort & sell books. All to donate smiles to the kids. The organization was around for many years but many didn’t know how to be involved and how a simple fun task can change kids' lives.

What are your future plans for Abu Dhabi Moms?

Many ideas are in the pipeline to make sure we reach out to all moms regardless of their nationality or location within the Emirates and looking forward to spreading our wings with uaemoms.com.