What does it take to put your people before your clients, even when there is money on the table?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King speaks with Jamie Hosie and Lloyd McMillan, Managing Directors of M+C Saatchi Sport + Entertainment Middle East and co-founders of DUNE | 23. In just over three years, they grew DUNE | 23 from two founders around a kitchen table into a recognised regional sport and entertainment agency, before its acquisition by M+C Saatchi Sport + Entertainment.

Jamie and Lloyd share how they hired people better than themselves, why they turned down significant work to protect their team, and how they have kept the soul of a homegrown agency alive inside a global creative group.

🧠 Key Themes:
● Why people are the real leadership lesson of building a business at speed
● Hiring those who want to achieve rather than those avoiding failure
● Trust, honest disagreement and friendship between co-founders
● Choosing staff over clients, and the culture line item that never appears on a P&L
● Standing by the team through a challenging time when others cut jobs
● High performance without burnout, and the cost of never switching off
● Protecting the DNA of DUNE | 23 through acquisition
● Following gut instinct in a data-led organisation

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What if being a good leader simply starts with being a good human? What if kindness in business is not a weakness, but the most demanding and courageous thing you can do?

Kate King speaks with Sabahatt Habib, Chief People and Culture Officer at The Giving Movement and LinkedIn Top Voice, on what it really means to fight for humanity in a high-pressure, metrics-driven world.

🧠 Key Themes:

• Why kindness is the most demanding form of leadership
• Spiritual intelligence: why IQ and EQ are no longer enough
• Emotional mislabelling: stressed vs overwhelmed vs burnt out
• Losing her father as the turning point
• How workplaces ripple into families and communities
• Journaling as a leadership practice
• The quiet danger of false positivity

An honest conversation for leaders who want to honour their people and lead with the courage to be kind.

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What if the drive that made you successful is the same thing holding you back? What if the ten-year-old version of you is still running the show in the boardroom?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King speaks with Ruban Shanmugarajah, CEO of Baby Shop, the iconic Landmark Group omnichannel retailer with over 53 years of heritage across the Middle East and beyond. With 18 years in executive leadership at Landmark Group, Ruben has built a people-first culture rooted in trust, humanity, and sustainable performance.

From surviving a South London playground as a child who could not speak English, to leading one of the region's most recognised retail brands, Ruben shares how the survival patterns forged in childhood drove his success but eventually became its ceiling.

🧠 Key Themes: ● Why calm is not the same as slow, and how stillness actually accelerates leadership ● How a childhood survival pattern was quietly running his boardroom decisions ● Why people-first culture is the true competitive advantage in retail ● The difference between compliance and commitment in teams ● Intentional vulnerability vs dumping on your team ● Why the shift from having answers to asking questions changed everything ● Leading with humanity: behind every KPI is a human story

This is an honest, reflective conversation about what sits beneath leadership performance, not corporate theory. It is for leaders ready to look at the patterns driving their success and ask whether those patterns are still serving them.

If you are navigating growth, imposter syndrome, or the pressure of leading at scale, this episode is a reminder that awareness and acceptance are where everything starts.

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What if the stress you have been trying to eliminate is actually the most important signal your body is sending you?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King speaks with Alice Law, stress mastery and resilience expert, Sunday Times Bestselling Author, and Co-Founder of Unstressable alongside Mo Gawdat. After nearly a decade of lived experience overcoming chronic stress and loss, Alice now empowers leaders and organisations to not just manage stress, but to use it as a signal for peak performance and regulated resilience.

🧠 Key Themes:

● Why the old version of resilience is quietly breaking people
● How stress spreads biologically through entire organisations
● Why chronic stress takes your brain offline and what to do about it
● What a regulated leader actually looks like in practice
● Human skills as the ultimate competitive advantage in the age of AI
● Practical tools for releasing stress held in the body

This is a real, practical conversation full of lived insight, not corporate jargon. It is for leaders who want to honour their people, build meaningful work cultures and lead with genuine presence under pressure.

If you are navigating burnout, loss, or the pressure of leading in uncertain times, this episode is a reminder that regulation is not weakness. It is your greatest strength.

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What if the most powerful thing you could bring to a boardroom wasn't your expertise but your presence?

In this Season 2 premiere of Highest You, Kate King sits down with Sheila Chaiban, award-winning Global Chief Marketing Officer, to explore what leadership looks like in the shift from the knowledge era to the human era.

With over 20 years of global leadership across FMCG, retail, and beauty, Sheila shares why hierarchy can block contribution, why certainty is often a performance, and why humanity is now a strategic advantage.

🧠 Key Themes:

● Why Sheila is "allergic to status" and how hierarchy can kill genuine connection
● Crying in front of 40 team members and why it built trust instead of weakening authority
● The high cost of ignoring your gut in business
● Moving from performance to presence in leadership
● Why humanity, not technical skill, is your true edge in the age of AI

This is a grounded, honest conversation about emotional courage, coherence, and leading from who you truly are, not who you think you should be.

If you are navigating growth, pressure, or reinvention as a leader, this episode is a reminder that your inner state shapes your outer impact.

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What does it really mean to lead with soul in the fast-paced world of beauty and branding?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King sits down with Tarek Sabbouh, Creative Director at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., to explore authentic storytelling, cultural representation, and building fearless, high-performing teams.

They discuss how trust, clarity, and emotional presence are becoming non-negotiables for modern leadership — and why burnout, urgency, and anxiety might actually be signs to slow down and reconnect with your highest self.

🧠 Key Themes:
● Authentic storytelling and Middle Eastern representation
● Building cultures of trust and psychological safety
● Burnout as a growth signal, not a weakness
● Soul-led leadership and intuitive decision-making
● Stillness, breathwork, and managing pressure sustainably

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How do you lead with love in a high-pressure industry?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King speaks with Mounir Harfouche, CEO of MullenLowe MENA — one of the region's most awarded creative agencies — about building cultures of loyalty, safety, and creativity in the age of AI.

Mounir shares how resilience, authenticity, and leading without ego can shape teams and redefine success beyond the usual buzzwords.

🧠 Key Themes:
● Love and authenticity in leadership
● Cultures of belonging and loyalty
● Human leadership in the age of AI
● Resilience, reinvention, and true impact

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What does it mean to lead with soul in the world of luxury retail?

In this episode of Highest You, Kate King speaks with Giulio Dal Dosso, Finance Director at HUGO BOSS, on shifting from numbers to empathy. With a background at LVMH and years of global leadership, Giulio shares how trust, curiosity, and cultural awareness shape high-performing teams.

🧠 Key Themes:

● People-first finance
● Trust and empathy in leadership
● Leading across cultures
● Staying grounded through sport and meditation

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