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Today's Featured Biography
Matthew Davis
I was unfocused at 21 and my father advised me, "Matt, you're a fireball of energy but you have no direction, what you need is a shot of boot camp" and sure enough, he was right, so I joined the Army, jumped out of planes, rappelled out of helicopters, got beaten up, and kicked ass as well… I missed Desert Storm and the Somalia 'Black Hawk Down' experience, because I was in hospital for six months with a concussion and skull fracture from a training accident. Yeah, you get beat up in the army in terms of the training regime but you're young/rough/tough and you're fearless, invincible, and along the way you find out what a sense of accomplishment feels like. And it can be the wake up call (the harshness of life some people desperately need) and I needed it at that point in my life. The Army was a big change from my spoiled life. What I'd previously thought was hard suddenly seemed pale in comparison to the military life, especially being an infantry grunt. After recovering from several accidents and injuries, I got reassignment options of Hawaii, Italy, or Alaska… and I chose Italy because it sounded great. We conducted support missions varying from humanitarian relief, disaster recovery, to fighting terrorism. I was based in Italy from 1994-1996 but my CRT (Combat Reconnaissance Team) spent most of that time in other places, like Rwanda… yet another wake-up-call for me, and realized I had enough of war zones. I wanted to do something less life-threatening, so I then became a civilian in Italy. As much as I loved 'la dolce vita', I was offered an attractive job package in Germany and then I spent the next four years on a career fast-track in IT/Communications industry.
The money was great and the job was rewarding but something still wasn't quite right, so at 32 I took a year off to do full-time Masters in Business Administration at the European School of Economics, paid for with my military education entitlements from US Department of Veterans Affairs under the International Studies in Higher Education Act. After being awarded my degree from Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Michael Spence at graduation, I became a Management Consultant and examined emerging markets with case studies and economic research in such places Shanghai and Hong Kong. I'd always been curious and wanted to know what's going on in the Middle East, so Dubai was next, plus I had a girlfriend I from Italy who was living in Dubai selling helicopters and yachts, so I came over to visit her and check the place out at the same time.
My point of entry in Dubai was drafting my Master’s Thesis into a revised research paper for the Department of Economic Development, based on various Middle East Emerging Markets industries with reference to Dubai's Competitive Edge. Now I'm Regional Director and New Territories Developer for Global Village Partnerships, we publish the renowned BEST OF DUBAI as part of an international annual book series which tells success stories here about everything from fashion to technology, architecture and dining. We're franchising the global brand with a BEST OF SERIES for Egypt, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, Egypt and many more. BEST OF DUBAI Vol-1 was the flagship success-story and it blossomed into an international enterprise. From May onwards, I’ll be in the US to begin similar projects for the Americas.
Outside of work, I listen to music, I exercise, try to de-stress by working with my hands and watching movies… my favorite is 'Remember the Titans' with Denzel Washington, about MY high school TC Williams in Alexandria Virginia! The things I love about Dubai include the four-wheel driving and dune-bashing, all this dust and sand to run around free in. And the locals are absolutely fantastic, they're polite, humble, courteous, and I admire how much respect and love and tribute is given to HH Sheikh Mohammed, leadership, and the Royal Families. If I could tweak anything though, it'd be roadway safety, the traffic here is insane. It's getter better though, with over 200 families arriving here every month, the traffic is getting heavier so ironically there's not the opportunity for the speeding and weaving through the lanes so much.
In terms of media in the UAE, I'd like to see more freedom and flexibility. They say that the media can express themselves in any way they want but clearly that's not exactly the case. I enjoy the cinema and I'd like to go out for a good film and not have to worry about chunks of it being cut out. I love being here though and it's given me a different perspective too, like observing the Arab-Israeli conflict, being here and seeing the media coverage has been very enlightening and a very different angle than if I were sitting at home in the States. All in all, this is a challenging, fascinating place and I think I'll be here a while and enjoy making the best of Dubai.
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