00:00Hi, my name is Nadia Shami. I'm a marketing executive here in Dubai and I'm a former
00:05Mini Meeting Pilipinas International. It wasn't really planned. I had an opportunity
00:11through LinkedIn. Someone sent me a message offering me a job here. It was a tough decision
00:19because I've been three years with my job and they offered me a higher position. I just got
00:24promoted then. They gave me a PR job for the entire Philippines. But then also getting an
00:34opportunity outside the country with a bigger salary is also a big deal. It was a family
00:40decision and I took a lot of prayer and everything fell into place. A mixture of everything,
00:49first of all, overwhelming. Your first two months in Dubai, maybe it felt like you're only a tourist,
00:56you know, going around, your friends treating you and showing you places. It felt like that.
01:02On your third month, that's where all the hardships step in because you're on your own,
01:09you cook your own food, you prepare your own clothes. Although I do that, but it's very
01:14different because you're far from your family. I never knew that we're over 700,000 Filipinos here.
01:23When I first came and rode the Metro Bintu-Satwa-Ringa, I was shocked. I thought,
01:32oh my gosh, it didn't, you know, movies didn't show this. Well, not exactly because after the
01:38I left the limelight, but if a person is a pageant enthusiast, let's say, you know, our friends
01:47who are, they love pageants. Like sometimes in the Metro, they know my entire name. Like,
01:53you're Nadia Alician Chami. I'm like, hi, do I know you? Yeah, sometimes they do. They still recognize.
01:59Work is fun. I work for, it's also a Filipino food brand. And sometimes I also help
02:08the manager for the Indian food brand. It's a lot of fun because I'm into food, apparently.
02:15I wish, no. No special treatment or all the same. Well, they just tease me for being a beauty queen
02:22because there are times I come to the office, they easily know your name. Oh, she's the beauty queen
02:27from the office. So that's the only thing. Well, a part of me wants to like be not in the show
02:35business, but my frustration since I was a kid is to do theater, like singing. But, you know,
02:42parents, especially my mom and my grandmother always wanted me to join beauty pageants. It's
02:47always in that direction. But other than that, I prefer being behind the camera, running.
02:54It may be boring, but I watch Netflix at home, read books, but mainly running, biking, swimming.
03:03It's free. It's fun. And there are lots of areas where you can do it here in Dubai. I'm excited
03:12to always share my life as an OFW to the Filipinos in the Philippines or anywhere to show them that,
03:21hey, actually, you know what? It's actually a good and noble job because you're not only
03:28helping your family, but also you're presenting yourself to the world as a Filipino. I am still
03:35praying for what's next for me. For now, it would be my career. I also have plans of pursuing
03:41PhD, not in the near future, but yes, it's one of my plans. Maybe have a family if the right
03:49man comes along. Other than that, yeah, just focus. And if there's an opportunity somewhere
03:54else or back in the Philippines, I'm always open.
Comments