Jenny Joseph: The florist turned entrepreneur whose life blossomed in the UAE

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00:00When I came in Dubai, you know, my grandmother brought me up to become a parish priest

00:07She never allowed me to speak to anybody. I was sleeping under her bed

00:13I mean that much, I mean she loved me and I was pet and

00:19She wanted me to be a parish priest

00:22Then my father died. Then she said you have to go somewhere because my mother got 10 children

00:29So I must go out

00:32And even I don't know how to go to the street because she never allowed me to eat ice cream

00:38Talk to the people. I just go to the college and home. This was me and

00:44Then you know, I worked because I don't know where to go for the work. The person who brought me

00:50he was a car washer and

00:52where he

00:54And there was sleeping

00:56There is a room without AC and I used to sleep on the terrace

01:00Those days in the summer season the terrace because I know nothing about Dubai or how to do, what to do, where to go

01:08Nothing. Somebody gave me a job in a hotel as a room boy. I was working the cleaning and everything

01:17then you know

01:19Tough. It was a tough because there was no money, no guiding, nothing. I was nothing

01:27but you know

01:29The circumstances

01:31forced me to choose myself

01:35What to do? I mean jump to something

01:38Thank you

01:38And I was doing in a hotel industry as a cleaner

01:41But all of sudden with my hard work that owner gave me that hotel and he left to the Singapore

01:50That was a 10 rooms hotel

01:53and you know then I was running little bit and the social work started because

01:59I'm a social since childhood. I am doing the social work, you know, then I joined the Kairali Kala Kendram

02:06It was the first Malayali organization in Dubai. I

02:10Joined there as a member

02:13That made me as a character to

02:17Go to in front of the people

02:19How to talk to the people, how to utilize the people and these and so many cultural activities

02:26Like that it was going on. Then I started that hotel business

02:31Then it was a very old building and the owner came and said he wanted to demolish that building

02:36Then I said just I went to flower shop for a part-time. He had a taste in karama

02:42He need a part-time somebody I went to there

02:45I was very very artist like in other flower and then I was doing the flower arrangement there

02:52Then my friends asked me why don't you start? I said what is it? Where is the money? Where is nothing?

02:59I didn't have anything monthly. I was getting thousand or thousand two hundred dirhams. How do I start? Okay

03:05that one part but

03:08When they demolished the building I have nothing there is no choice

03:12Then I started with five thousand dirhams. Two friends helped me also a small shop Jenny flowers

03:20You know in childhood

03:22My garden I was so much fascinated in the garden making and my mother used to bring lots of plants and I used to do

03:29That okay, and there is a month the May, you know, we have in the church

03:35Mother Mary's one month and it was my duty to make the garland from the jasmine to put her

03:43Okay, and I was attracted in altar and everything

03:46There are so many flower arrangement sisters used to make it but then I said why can't I do that?

03:52You know

03:52I I was so much even in the home also with my grandmother with my company like Mangalore's got the wood industries

04:01So it was my duty to decorate the altar

04:04everything so that

04:07Habit came here. Then I said I'll make flower shop. Okay, I

04:13Started in a small and all of a sudden then the war came

04:18then collapsed

04:20Everything has been collapsed. I

04:23Didn't have the money for the food. I sold the shop then

04:28Even one day I'm siding then, you know for the food I was working in the three home

04:35to the kitchen helper for my food

04:39Then I sold the Jenny flower to one man. See what he said Jenny. It is your tears

04:47Nobody else can take over

04:50Nobody else can touch the shop and he gave me my shop back without anything one day

04:56This is your shop you can run

04:59Those days I was doing the you know, there is Gulf landscaping. I was doing the flower designing there

05:06They were giving me very high salary

05:09then

05:11From the day from childhood. I was so much

05:16Servicing to the special needy children who paralyzed from childhood only then when I came to Dubai I

05:23Used to visit some of the people and there was in a local person. Mr. Abdul Barry. He was completely paralyzed

05:30He needed someone to speak to him

05:33Then I used to always go there when I just speak to him because nobody is there to speak to him

05:39Then I used to go to him. We become so close friends, you know, then

05:44After the war he gave me the key then Mr.

05:48Abdul Barry said you take 30,000 dirhams. Why don't you restart again?

05:53Then I restarted then I didn't look back

05:56Because from the failure because the Gulf war that time because lots of people didn't pay means

06:03There was no business man the people who was to pay

06:07They don't pay so like that I collapsed but again I came out

06:13After that one by one and I had a one staff with the bicycle

06:18Okay

06:19From there. Now I have 40

06:22Vehicles and 150 staffs and we are doing the mainly landscaping. Then I started the gardening

06:29Landscaping the mainly the landscaping and the flowers

06:33And that lots of activities in Jenny flowers. Now, we are mainly the landscaping division

06:39Okay, we have Abu Dhabi

06:41Mustafa area and Sharjah and Dubai and in India

06:46We have in Kerala and the USA one branch like that. We do international flowers

06:53International gift delivery. So we have the connection all over the world and we used to do help that

07:00Landscaping we are doing in Kerala like a northern Kerala and all over UAE

07:04The land of UAE is a mother that you know, because I don't know how about the new generations, but the older generations they made

07:13That's also give and take

07:15Okay

07:16They give the good opportunity to people and the people serve this country the better way to come up

07:22I believe the people are compared to other country that the freedom they enjoy and they serve like

07:30I'm say more than their country. I believe now we're even now also new generations

07:35also, they love this country and this is

07:40Highness Sheikh Mohammed's policy to to serve the people and the people serve to him

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