#265 Gemma Gallagher: Design & Dine, Dubai

Gemma Gallagher is an award-winning Visual Artist and the Founder of Design & Dine, a Creative Workshop company based in the UAE and Northern Ireland.

The aim was to create an event where guests could discover their creative abilities and learn to make art in a fun, sociable environment. What started as a small workshop has now grown to become the UAE’s largest interactive, creative experience with consistent sell-out events and over 7000 guests having attended so far.

After founding Design & Dine in 2015, she has built the company up to operate across multiple cities with a team of Artists from around the world working with her to make Art fun and accessible to everyone.

Her vision is to grow Design & Dine to be a global brand, allowing anyone to have fun and connect through the joy of creativity.

In today’s episode we talk about:

• Growing up on the Antrim Road in the 90s
• Working on a banana farm in Australia
• What brought her to Abu Dhabi in 2014
• Her experience working as a teacher in the Middle East
• Where she got the idea to start her business
• How she scaled her events from 15, to 25, to 50, to 100 people
• The secret to incredible in-person events
• What she misses most about home
• And her greatest highs/lows of the journey so far.

Check it out.

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https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/gemma-gallagher-design-and-dine