Martina’s Story
Martina says her husband can’t imagine her not working. In the 23 years they’ve been together, the only time she took a break was when she was pregnant with their two children. Whether it was financial planning in the UK, selling corporate gifts in Hong Kong or running her own real estate brokerage business in the Philippines, Martina has always been busy and involved as she’s followed her husband’s career around the world.
When she first moved to Dubai 2 ½ years ago she wanted to find her niche in the property market as she could see that there was so much construction going on. At first she continued to sell property in the Philippines to expatriate Philippinos in Dubai, working out of her home, but found it was difficult to deal with the paperwork and felt out of touch when she was so far away from her market.
After a year she decided to join a top real estate agency in Dubai. “When you work with someone who is established here everything is easier. The secretarial services, administration, appointments are very important in our job” she says. ‘’I prefer what I’m doing now and I like the independence of not having to pay staff to work for me. The company I work for takes the responsibility and when I go on holiday I don’t need to worry as I have backup.”
She finds the driving, talking to clients in the car and her ever-ringing phone can be stressful but she’s becoming adept at multi-tasking. “It was good I got this job after a year in Dubai” she says “because at least I knew my way around”.
She had read quite a lot about Dubai before moving here, but was pleased to find it more western than she’d expected. In particular she likes the freedom women have compared with many other countries in the Arab world. “Here we are free to do what we want” she says. And despite her busy schedule she often finds time to drop into the ExpatWoman coffee mornings, which someone suggested she try soon after she arrived. “I felt very welcome” she smiles.
Martina and her husband expect to be in Dubai for another 5 years and then retire to the Philippines where they plan build their own home, but for now she says “I like what I’m doing here.”