The people who make your world larger
A birthday reflection on a relationship that began with an angry customer in 1997 and became a lifelong friendship and mentorship.
Today is APG’s birthday.
I have known him since 1997, although our relationship did not begin as a friendship. It began when he called me into his office as an angry customer.
I remember the complaint less clearly than the conversation that followed. We talked about technology, possibility, and a world that was becoming connected much faster than most people realised.
That conversation did not end in his office.
APG introduced me to Dubai and, in doing so, gave me a larger view of what my life could become. From Emirates, to the Dubai Press Club, to Emirates Towers 😉, those early experiences changed the scale at which I thought about technology, business, and my own future.
What mattered most was not simply the doors he opened. It was that he believed I belonged on the other side of them.
He believed in me before I had done enough to justify that belief. He challenged me when I needed it, stood beside me through uncertain moments, and remained present through every version of the person I was becoming.
That is what the best mentors do. They do not try to shape you into a copy of themselves. They help you see further, expect more from yourself, and find the confidence to walk into rooms you might otherwise have avoided.
Over the years, APG became far more than a mentor. He became one of the few people whose honesty I trust completely, whose advice stays with me, and whose belief has carried me through moments when my own was not enough.
Some relationships begin with perfect timing and obvious chemistry.
Others begin with an angry customer.
Happy birthday, APG. Thank you for making my world larger, for taking me along, and, most importantly, for staying.