The Transformational Power of Failure
I remember attending the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival when I first moved to Dubai. I was inspired by the level of speakers and the professionalism of the conferences. Four years later, I was invited to be a speaker at the festival, to talk about the thing we don’t discuss enough: the deeper, messier, more transformative side of failure.
In improv (thanks to my performance coach Raffi Feghali), I learned that Failure is an opportunity. In Improv we say "Yes, and..". We accept what’s happening, adapt, and turn it into something new. This mindset doesn’t just apply to Improv. It applies to entrepreneurship journeys, relationships, and life.
If you think bombing a joke on stage is bad, try bombing on Shark Tank, in front of a panel of investors and national television cameras.
Years ago, I pitched a virtual reality idea for learning and development purposes. They hated the idea. Rejected it completely. But right before they sent me packing, few of the judges said: "We’re not interested in the business, but we like you as a comedian "
At first, I thought they were just trying to soften the blow. But then it hit me; Maybe this failure wasn’t the end. Maybe it was a pivot… to invest in my stand up career.
Fast forward to today, I’ve now performed in 85+ cities, filmed 2 full comedy specials, built a dedicated team of 10 people who help bring this vision to life. I deliver corporate workshops (based on my failure experiences more than my success), manage my small business Everythink and I am now going on another world tour, Hopefully a bigger one too.
Would I have done all this without Shark Tank? Maybe. Maybe not. But in that exact moment, that exact failure, was the one thing I exactly needed…and I didn’t even know that I needed at this time.
It happened in my career and happened in my personal life.
When I got divorced, I didn’t immediately see the lesson. It wasn’t some grand, poetic learning moment, it just sucked. But over time, I realized: The failure wasn’t the divorce itself, it was in who I was before it happened. The transformation was in who I became after.
Did it make me a better partner? We asked Katia , and I think she nodded yes at the time.
At Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, I wanted to leave people with something different than motivation.
So here’s my takeaway: Fail now. Fail often. Fail more, and then some more!
But let’s not just collect failures like battle scars, but instead, transform them into something we didn’t even know that we needed at this time.
