Brought up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saakshi Khubani noticed that Dubai’s local media scene is saturated with content targeted at only a handful of ethnicities, which actually comes as no surprise considering the city’s multi-cultural set-up where each ethnic communities tend to have its own way of keeping abreast about what’s going on, mostly through social media.
“I hope to create content with a wider appeal,” Saakshi tells Dubai Vibes Magazine.
“When I initially came to Dubai in 2016, it felt foreign to me, even though the culture is quite similar to that of Saudi’s. It took me a while to adjust, but I happened to fall in love with the city eventually.
“I love the diversity in terms of cultures a little too much as it helps me understand different people as well as learn a thing or a two about each culture. Also, this city never sleeps, one can never get bored with the number of things to look forward to every single day!” she added.
Saakshi, born in India, said her passion for the public relations industry and her goal to one day be able to “create impactful campaigns that can genuinely prove to be helpful to the society,” keeps her going, not to mention family and friends, “who are so supportive of everything I wish to accomplish in life.”
Saakshi, with her voracious appetite for the communications industry, has done an opinion piece on mass communication in the UAE, which has been notably featured in one of the national dailies, she had co-developed a public relations campaign that won second place in a competition hosted by the Ramada Ajman, and participated in a Student Integrated PR campaign at the Dubai Lynx – Festival of Creativity 2019.
Moreover, while pursuing her BA in Media, PR, and Advertising at Middlesex University Dubai, Saakshi further explored the local media scene with several internships, workshops, conferences, and competitions. Her internships gave her backstage access to world-renowned brands and industry giants like ADNOC, Burberry, Roberto Cavalli, the Jumeirah Group, and Tiffany.
It’s her fondness for the arts and writing since she was a child that enabled Saakshi to find her love for communications and socializing, which the public relations industry fused.
“Given my love for art and events since childhood, unlike most people my age who were undecided about their career, I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to do my bachelor’s in communications,” Saakshi said.
“I then decided to move to the UAE to pursue B.A in PR, Media, and Advertising from Middlesex University Dubai. Throughout my three years in university, I took up several internships in multiple agencies including and volunteered for several events to understand different roles that exist within the media industry. After graduation, I decided to take a job in PR as it naturally aligned with my passion and gave me a chance to build on multiple skills at once,” she added.
End of the day, she said there is “nothing in this world that you cannot do if you put your mind to it and there is no one in this world that can replace you.”
