Hi, I'm Aila Obiocha.
I host Building Wealth And Business, a podcast about entrepreneurs and investors building successful businesses in the Middle East.
I run The Wealth Circle community, where I show people how to build an investment portfolio that pays them every month (using lessons I learnt going from $50,000 of debt to a multiple 6-figure investment portfolio).
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The Podcast
Building Wealth And Business
I started with a question that had no clear answers.
Is there a playbook for success in the Middle East?
- Is building a business here different from building one anywhere else?
- How do you sell to customers in this region?
- How do you hire?
- What works here, and what doesn’t?
I could not find the answers I needed. So I decided to ask the people who already knew.
Forget what you see on social media. This is what it really takes.
Long before there was oil, there was trade.
This region's roots are in commerce, and they run deep. The tech startup everyone celebrates today was a baqala in Deira Souq 50 years ago. Startups are exciting, but SME businesses quietly hold up the economy. Over 80% of businesses in UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi are small and medium-sized.
Most of their stories have never travelled past the street they are located on.
I want to celebrate this business owner, to tell the immigrant's story. Somebody who came here for a job, and stayed for the opportunity to build something. Sometimes they chose that moment. Sometimes it was chosen for them.
of businesses in UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi are small and medium-sized.
The Community
The Wealth Circle
Making money is one thing. Keeping it is another.
Every person I interviewed has solved the first one. What I kept noticing is how many people solve it and still have no idea what to do with the money afterwards.
I know, because that was me. I hold a first-class degree in finance and economics from the University of Manchester and an MBA in finance from IE Business School. Spent my career advising companies and professionals on what to invest their money in.
Yet, 7 years into my career, I was deep in debt. $50,000 deep. No savings. No investments. No asset.
Nothing changed until I built systems to manage my money. Not for a company. For me.
That is what took me from $50,000 in debt to a multiple 6-figure investment portfolio that pays me every month.
It took 10 years, with no guidance, no mentor, no playbook. I made every mistake and learned every lesson the hard way.
So I built the room I needed.
The Wealth Circle is where I show people how to do it.
The Resources
Everything You Need to Make It. Keep It. Grow It.
Start wherever you are. Take what you need.
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