Ameera Almulla, Founder of Studio Archive, joins Lucy Gazmararian at the Abu Dhabi Security Exchange on Emirati Women’s Day as a full-time ADX employee who built a photography business on the side, with the full support of her employer, who gave her space to showcase it at one of the UAE’s most important financial institutions.
Her founding story is rooted in memory. Her father was a passionate photographer who took her along to develop film as a child, the anticipation of whether the photo would come out, the physical result in hand. In a world where everyone has a camera roll on their phone and forgets what they captured, Studio Archive exists to revive the art of the physical photograph and help people build a real archive of their most meaningful moments.
On empowerment, her definition is community-driven and deeply personal: you cannot do it alone. A business, she says, is like a baby, and it takes a village. A casual conversation with a friend or family member can be the clarity a founder needs on their hardest day.
Her advice to other female entrepreneurs: start, problem solve along the way, and never let go of the passion. And in the UAE, she says simply, all dreams come true. That is the reality.