Senior vice president at Tahaluf Anabelle Mander began her entrepreneurial journey working on a pet food stall at 13. “This was my introduction to business, and I think it served me well. I continued to work evening and weekend jobs throughout school and university,” she says.    

She credits her introduction to the business world and the Middle East to a two-day visit to Dubai when she was 21. “After some time traveling around Asia, I stopped in Dubai for what was supposed to be a two-day visit. Nearly 11 years later, I’m still here in the Middle East,” she says.    

Today, Mander is one of the co-creators of LEAP, Black Hat MEA, InFlavour, DeepFest, and 24 Fintech. Over the years, she has worked her way up the corporate ladder at Tahaluf, which she joined as a fresh graduate, to become the senior vice president at the booming events management company that is putting Saudi Arabia on the map for global events.  

“My professional career in the Middle East has given me the chance to work on some of the biggest tech projects in Dubai and then go on to co-create mega brands in Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, has allowed me to build awesome teams and be part of the amazing culture within Tahaluf,” she adds. 

Mander tells us that the most important decision she made in her career was embarking on the journey of launching tech events in Saudi Arabia with the now-CEO of Tahaluf. “Looking back, it was the best decision I ever made–Saudi Arabia is such a vibrant and ambitious market,” she says.  

But that journey wasn’t without challenges. In fact, Mander stepped into her first significant leadership role at Tahaluf at the outset of the COVID-19 breakout in early 2020. At the time, event operations had slowed down or stopped, and Mander and her team went against the grain to continue to advocate for events in the kingdom. “We were working on the launches of LEAP and @Hack (now Black Hat MEA), but I had to convince our internal stakeholders that this was the perfect time to scale operations in a strategic market like Saudi Arabia,” she says.  

Mander and Tahaluf took a leap of faith and navigated the path with passion and courage, backed by confidence and firm belief in Saudi Arabia’s vibrant and ambitious market. “Being passionate about what I do and believing in myself has always helped. I’ve got a background in technology, and I knew this opportunity could be phenomenal, but it could only happen if we struck while the iron was hot. And we’re now so glad we did!” she says.  

Backed by her CEO, Mander was resilient and determined to achieve her vision for Tahaluf.  

She knew that success would come by investing in people, the product, and IP creation. She did everything she could to convince stakeholders to invest in recruitment, taking a risk and putting herself forward to lead the way. “This calculated risk massively paid off. COVID-19 ended and we were perfectly positioned to react quickly with a nimble, but strategically excellent, team,” she says.  

A champion for dialogue and collaboration, Mander insists on hiring senior management from different backgrounds, ages, and experience levels. With women comprising 55% of Tahaluf’s team, Mander demonstrates her commitment to gender diversity by creating an environment that is exciting, safe, and positive. “For me, leadership is about trust and leading others to success. It’s about having the respect of your team and creating the right opportunities, which allow others to work towards an aligned vision,” she says.  

Over the last three years, Mander has managed the strategic growth of Tahaluf and contributed to its reputation for innovation. She credits her success to the support of her team and Tahaluf’s growth culture. “We couldn’t do it without the support and buy-in of all our staff,” she says. “Kindness might not always seem important in business, but it’s a big deal for us at Tahaluf. We hire kind, hardworking people because we know that specific skills can be learned with the right guidance.”  

Looking forward, Mander is excited to scale the business in Saudi Arabia and align with Vision 2030 and Expo 2030. “I see myself growing and developing with Tahaluf for the next five to six years, and it is important for me to create opportunities for my team which allow them to grow, develop, get promoted, and increase their earning potential,” she says. 

Besides her professional goals, Mander is driven by a passion for animal welfare. During her time in Abu Dhabi, she volunteered with animal rescue and adoption service Animal Action. Mander began rescuing abandoned dogs in the desert 11 years ago with her sister and has worked on animal rescue in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the UK.