From Fetching Water for Tips to Earning Dh400,000: A Dubai Creator's Journey

Aaliya Lala moved to Dubai from neighbouring Abu Dhabi with no job, no savings, and a father who was unhappy with her decision. Raised in the UAE capital by an Indian family, she wanted to discover what she could build independently. After moving into a shared space in Dubai and running out of money for food, she improvised. When her roommate needed water delivered, she offered to fetch it, earning tips that funded a daily shawarma until she secured employment.

Today, Ms Lala is a UAE-licensed travel and lifestyle content creator with over 14 years of industry experience, collaborating with international brands, luxury hotels, and tourism boards. She also manages a media house that connects influencers with brands and travel agencies, invests in UAE real estate and financial markets, and earns an annual income of approximately Dh300,000 to Dh400,000.

Reflecting on her early days, she recalls getting her first small job at 17 in Abu Dhabi through her father's company, writing an article for around Dh80 a month. She later worked with Al Gharbia, a news channel in Madinat Zayed, where her first official salary was Dh4,500.

Discussing her current role, Ms Lala shares that her passion for travel, culture, food, and connecting people drives her work with tourism boards. Having started in modelling and photography, she brings a comprehensive understanding of being both behind and in front of the camera. Despite losing her social media pages twice and having to rebuild them from scratch, she maintains a successful career spanning more than 14 years.

Beyond content creation, she runs a B2B travel media house and invests heavily in her business operations, including photographers, videographers, and travel costs. Her top monthly personal expenses include clothing, travel, and fitness, noting a significant personal milestone of losing around 25kg in the past two years.

Committed to building generational wealth without relying on debt, Ms Lala invests in UAE land, property units, market stocks, and mutual funds. Guided by her mother's early lessons on saving and reinvesting, alongside her own entrepreneurial experiences, her primary financial goals are to cultivate multiple income streams, expand her businesses internationally, and achieve long-term freedom and security for her family.