Alia Al Khafajy… The Journey of an Emirati Woman Redefining Success in Her Own Way

Nov 27, 2025

Alia Al Khafajy is a female Emirati business owner from Dubai. Alia graduated from the American University of Sharjah with BSc in Design Management. Starting her career soon after graduating, Alia kicked off her career path at an entry level with one of the main Real Estate Developing companies at the time as Junior Project Manager in the Design team. Not feeling quite settled in the space, Alia open mindedly had followed the advice of her father and moved into the banking industry.

Being a complete shift from what was familiar, and after pursuing further education in Finance she went on to become a certified banker. Alia had pursued a career in banking specifically Private Banking handling assets under management for UHNWI. During that time, Alia was also heavily invested in following her passion for horses and horse riding thereby dedicating her free time to endurance racing. Riding in local and international races over the course of the 6 years, Alia was honoured to be one of the female UAE riders representing the UAE in the very first international ladies’ World Cup Endurance race under the patronage of HH Sheika Fatma bint Mubarak held in Verona, Italy.

Being very influenced by her father, Alia believed that it was only a matter of time before she joined the family business bringing in her experience and skillsets and further developing the company. Faced with many challenges in the beginning, Alia has managed to step in under her father managing the Company’s day to day affairs and decision making.

In recent years Alia has founded O K T A, a distribution company for premium clean conscious beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands offering niche plush skincare and beauty solutions to the GCC consumer. Under her portfolio are brands such as Abel fragrances, Corpus Naturals, Indie Lee, Oio Lab Suntegrity and soon to be launching some newer brands to the portfolio.

O K T A has launched its direct-to-consumer platform, bringing the O K T A family of brands directly to GCC consumers. The platform not only adds a strategic point of sale alongside O K T A’s growing distribution network but also serves as a channel to strengthen awareness of conscious, clean living across beauty, wellness, and lifestyle, further building credibility and trust with our expanding clientele.

Alia strongly believes that her personal values and ethos is inculcated in the Company’s values and goals, working towards incorporating CSR strategies as part of the O K T A brand and growth has been a focal point to build a business that offers more. One for which is contributing towards a cleaner environment, supporting women, promoting wellness and sustainability. Alia looks forward to expanding her business in other sectors thus scaling her company to new heights.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

My idea of happiness is being in nature, mostly by the sea. With close company creating memories. I also love sitting by the fire and staring into it.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I wish I practiced more creativity. Creating something with my hands or playing an instrument. Or gardening. Anything DIY really.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I wouldn't want to change anything about myself, but I would want to practice being more patient. And maybe learn how to say No more often.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I'd definitely want to come back as an animal. A horse, wolf or a house cat.

What is your most treasured possession?

I don't really have a single item but would be some of my parent's belongings.

I'm a sucker for sentiment.

What is your favourite song, book, and movie?

Tough question because I have a lot of faves. But for song I'll go with

'No Diggidy' by Blackstreet ft Fr. few. Movie would be Anna Karenina - because I've watched it so many times but there are others!

What is your most marked characteristic?

I can be quite sarcastic, but also funny.

What do you most value in your friends?

Trust and Honesty, and respect.

The three words that describe me best are...

Kind, truthful and moody

I feel most inspired when...

I'm most inspired around people that I can learn something from.

The place I would love to visit is...

There's a very long list of places I'd love to visit but I've always wanted to explore Cuba and Southern America.

My favorite journey is...

The journey that I'm on. The journey of life I guess.

My style icon is...

The late Katherine Hepburn

The best item in my wardrobe is...

This by far would be the hardest question for me. But my to give you an answer I will have to go with a recent pair of jeans I bought from Uniqlo; they're the perfect wide leg jean.

The motto I live by is...

The motto I live by is to always show respect. To try to listen with understanding the other person's point of view. Be accountable for your actions and asses yourself before others. Learn to become friends with yourself. Learn from your mistakes and move on to become better and forever evolve and grow. Don't follow the herd; keep your faith strong and act with kindness and love.

Bader Al-Kulaib

Sheikh Fahad Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah

Dr. Noura Almashan

Dr. Munira Al-Arouj

Nour Abdul

Eisa Alhabib

Deema Al-Ghunaim

Lama AlOraiman

Alymamah Rashed

Nadia Bader Al-Hajji

Henadi Al-Saleh

Jafar Islah

Abdullah Ghazi Al-Mudhaf

Abeer Al Awadhi

Shahad Alsabeeh

Abdulrahman Bedah Al-Mutairi

Faisal Alagel

Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi

Shaikha Al Majed

Farah Almutawa

Donna Sultan

Dana Al-Mutawa and Sheikha Sharifa Al Sabah and Alzainah Albabtain

Laila Almutairi

Adel Alwasis

Hashim and Amna Naseeb

Dr. Abdullah Al Sumait

Shaikha Al-Hajeri

Shaima Hassan

Sheikha Bibi Al-Yousef Al-Sabah

Free Jabriya

Lulowa Al-Mulla

Salman Al-Kandari

Al-Jawhara-Al-Mahdi

Abdullatif Al Mishari

Hussain Bumejdad

Soaad Al-Faqaan

Maryam Alrefaei

Abdulmohsen AlMarzouq‏

Dr. Faisal Al-Roomi

Noor Al-Nafisi

Shaymaa Al-Terkait

Khalid Muthafar

Dalal AlHajeri

Yousef Alomran

Fahad Al Ghanim

Abdullah Behbehani

Sara Al-kattan

Dr. Manal Aldaihani

Ali Khajah

Raheel Al Roudhan

Bader Al-Kulaib

Sheikh Fahad Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah

Dr. Noura Almashan

Dr. Munira Al-Arouj

Nour Abdul

Eisa Alhabib

Deema Al-Ghunaim

Lama AlOraiman

Alymamah Rashed

Nadia Bader Al-Hajji

Henadi Al-Saleh

Jafar Islah

Abdullah Ghazi Al-Mudhaf

Abeer Al Awadhi

Shahad Alsabeeh

Abdulrahman Bedah Al-Mutairi

Faisal Alagel

Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi

Shaikha Al Majed

Farah Almutawa

Donna Sultan

Dana Al-Mutawa and Sheikha Sharifa Al Sabah and Alzainah Albabtain

Laila Almutairi

Adel Alwasis

Hashim and Amna Naseeb

Dr. Abdullah Al Sumait

Shaikha Al-Hajeri

Shaima Hassan

Sheikha Bibi Al-Yousef Al-Sabah

Free Jabriya

Lulowa Al-Mulla

Salman Al-Kandari

Al-Jawhara-Al-Mahdi

Abdullatif Al Mishari

Hussain Bumejdad

Soaad Al-Faqaan

Maryam Alrefaei

Abdulmohsen AlMarzouq‏

Dr. Faisal Al-Roomi

Noor Al-Nafisi

Shaymaa Al-Terkait

Khalid Muthafar

Dalal AlHajeri

Yousef Alomran

Fahad Al Ghanim

Abdullah Behbehani

Sara Al-kattan

Dr. Manal Aldaihani

Ali Khajah

Raheel Al Roudhan