PORTRAITS OF PURPOSE OUR BEST SELF IS OUR TRUE IDENTITY It’s 2009. I leave my home country Lebanon Speaking of hard times, exactly ten years before I and land in Dubai not knowing what to expect joined Havas the second time, an unfortunate and or what this city has in store for me. I join Havas almost fatal health scare had a formative effect on as a public relations executive – not exactly me, forging the person I am today on both personal following the political sciences and mass media and professional levels. That pivotal moment in my communications path my studies have laid out for life pushed my positivity to the next level and led me. I am nervous but equally excited about this me to believe things happen for a reason. Genuine new adventure. Little do I know that this job would connections that I had formed with colleagues shape my career and propel me into the vibrant, became tight-knit, life-long friendships and ties I constantly evolving world of PR, while also giving had formed with clients flourished into long-lasting me the chance to incorporate some of my personal relationships. I came to understand that embracing traits to my ‘work-self’. my true self, even at work, was not a liability but a strength, and I grew conscious that I did not care “ Be who you are, stay true to yourself and to your to be ‘perceived’ in any other way. I just wanted to principles”. This is the advice my parents had given remain true to who I was/am on the inside, and that my brother and me since childhood, and it made is an identity trait I still value dearly. much more sense to me in this new world that was brimming with unique individuals. As I tried to find That being said, my path to today’s ‘me’ did not my place in the whirlwind that is our industry, I took come without bumps; many years ago, I found solace in the realisation that our identities are not myself grappling with an identity, or perhaps a singular, but rather a kaleidoscope of intersecting belonging, crisis. As the years slipped away outside characteristics, and bringing my authentic, Lebanon, learning a lot through work, and growing unapologetic self to work meant a lot to me. Havas as a person by interacting with different people felt like a safe space where I was free to unfold the and travelling the world caused my once sturdy layers of my identity without fear of judgment – Lebanese identity to fade. The struggles of my especially as a young adult away from home for the homeland seemed increasingly distant, and I began first time. It was very comforting. to embrace the adopted country I called home for the better part of a decade. And yet, I recently found Fast forward to 2021. I join Havas again, in a new myself wondering where I belong in the long term: role, after having spent eight years exploring other not in Lebanon, which feels disconnected from my ventures. From the moment I step foot in the office, daily life; perhaps not completely in the UAE after I see that familiar environment that celebrates having been here for fourteen years. However, this individuality. It feels natural and right, as exciting internal questioning serves as a catalyst for growth. as it was the first time around. As the weeks pass, I now realise that my identity isn’t linked to where I I hear colleagues I met when I worked there 12 years belong, but rather to who I am, wherever I might be. earlier say, “You haven’t changed!” and wonder if they’re referring to my positive outlook and love of Here, today, in 2023, I leave you with a repetition of life. It makes me recognise that despite different the best advice I’ve been given (and that I wasn’t experiences, big learnings and hard times, my core too stubborn to blindly trust and apply). “Be who you is still the same. are and stay true to yourself.” That is what we leave behind. Not a passport, not the campaigns or media plans that win us awards, not the extra hours we put in. Our best self. That is our true identity. Tanya Kassab, Marketing & Communications Manager Havas Middle East We asked Tanya for images of objects that contributed towards her identity. This is what she provided. Thanks Tanya! DARE! 03