I could have just shopped, but built a business instead.

HOUSEWIFE-TURNED-CEO NOW LIVES IN MANSION WITH 24K GOLD CEILINGS

- BY MANJUSHA RADHAKRISHNAN

Anita Surani had all the makings of a classic rich Dubai housewife: A mansion on the Palm, a pink G-Wagon for her teen daughter, and ceilings literally gilded in 24-karat gold. But instead of sipping oat lattes and matcha tea in Louboutins all day, she rolled up her designer sleeves and built a design company from scratch — mostly staffed by women.

"I have a lot of money. I could’ve just shopped," she shrugs. "But I didn’t. And I continued," she says.

Today, Anita is the CEO a boutique design firm named Zena after her daughter — a business born out of grit, glamour, and a little tough love from her husband Moiz Khoja. “He said, ‘The money I’m investing in this... you have to get it out. You’re not doing it for fun. Otherwise, just go and do your shopping’,” she says.

Anita’s story didn’t begin in the plush corners of Palm Jumeirah. Born into a middle-class family, she moved to the US as a student and worked her way through college.

“It was a struggling phase. I worked part-time — in a convenience store, then a jewellery store,” she recalls.

Turning point