“I went home and I was like, Dad, I am not going to be a secretary. I have my master's degree… I'm overqualified. The job is beneath me. And my dad looked me in the eye and he said, You just moved here. You don't know anybody. This is the biggest gift that you could have gotten. He's one of the most well-connected people in the world… If I were you, you go accept that job tomorrow before they give it to somebody else.”
The Messy Parts · October 2026
After moving to Cairo with her family and failing to land a job at an American multinational, Abouelenein was offered a job as a billionaire's secretary through her father's consulting work. She took it, angrily and on a poor salary, and says it launched her career.
Transcript
…days that I did consistently. While still doing while still going to school and having homework and like trying to have friends. And I did go to prom. I did go to high school games, but I did miss a lot of stuff, especially the high school years. I missed a lot of stuff. So you move back to Egypt.
…your dad, you got connected to what becomes your first job. You meet three brothers, and of the three brothers, you end up working for one of them. Yes. By the way, not just anyone. Yeah. These are billionaires on the Forbes list today. Exactly. You know, that's not something that just happens.
…way, no how. I've sacrificed so much to come here and now I have to be a secretary. And my dad looked me in the eye and he said, You just moved here. You don't know anybody. This is the biggest gift that you could have gotten. He's one of the most well-connected people in the world. And you're going to learn all about how to do business in the region. And this is a great training ground for you. If I were you, you go accept that job tomorrow before they give it to somebody else. Why did you listen? I was kicking and screaming, but I didn't have a choice because I wanted to get a job. And so the next day, much to my chagrin, like I was so angry. I accepted it. And they gave me this terrible salary. I hated every day of it. Like the beginning, I was like, This is this is the worst. Like I feel so out of my element. My desk was outside his office. So they have to pass my…
What do you think it was about you? And what do you think the lesson is that allowed you not to just sit there, be bitter and simmering, but turned it into almost like a game of like figuring out, okay, well, I'm going to make everybody who walks in say something positive about me.
First of all, I had a chip on my shoulder because he had put me in this position that I knew I was overqualified for. So I had a lot to prove, the chairman of the company. You might as well name him. I was like, I had a lot to prove because I was like, I'm going to show him that I'm capable of…
But that was kind of an accident, right? I mean, you were sort of in the right place at the right time for that to happen. Yeah. But the thing that I go back to, and I talk to people who are in a place either starting out or mid-career or even later in their career, where they have to make a pivot.…