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MEET TH

E MAVERICKS

Rule-breakers. Rogues. Mavericks. Esquire talks to four m

en who are m

aking a difference the only way they know

how: their w

ay.

ESQU

IRE AD

VERTORIA

L

ISAA

C VINER

HEA

D B

AR

TEND

ER, W

ESLOD

GE SA

LOO

N

DU

BA

I, 27

What m

akes you a maverick?

To me, a m

averick is someone w

ho constantly finds a way

to better his craft. In my line of hospitality, people think

that it’s all about mixology, but the truth is that the real

skill is creating a fun and comfortable environm

ent for people w

ho lead stressful lives. I see it as my job to m

ake sure every single one of m

y customers leaves the bar w

ith a sm

ile on their face. And what’s m

ore, in my line of w

ork, you have to do it consistently, every day.W

hat do you remind yourself to do every day?

Before I go to work I tell m

yself to not come back hom

e until I’ve learned som

ething new.

In your professional life, what has been your biggest challenge?

The hospitality industry forces you to constantly pick up your life and m

ove it to somew

here new. Rebuilding

your life and contacts somew

here new is not easy, but

developing the right mindset, w

orking hard and keeping m

otivated towards your goals is w

hat has led me to every

fantastic opportunity I’ve had,, from rebranding bars to

running them. Not bad for a tattooed kid from

Ottaw

a.W

hat makes you stand out from

others? I don’t believe that standing out is as im

portant as being a genuine and honest person. I w

ould never comprom

ise on w

ho I am for perceived success. Know

ing who you

are, learning and building on that is what w

ill take you furthest in life.W

hat’s one piece of advice that you carry with you in life?

My father alw

ays told me to w

ork smart, not hard.

Outfit: Jacket and trousers, H&M

; Shirt, w

aistcoat and rings maverick’s ow

n

What m

akes you a maverick?

Since I was a teenager, taking the safe

option was never an option. I w

as constantly changing schools and eventually dropped out at 17 to start m

y first company that

looked to digitise advertising in the print m

arket. It’s not that I didn’t like learning, it’s that I knew

what direction I w

anted to go in, and w

anted to concentrate on that.W

hat do you remind yourself to do every day?

I have my life goals fram

ed on a wall at

home. It focuses m

e and makes m

e want to

achieve them. Every day.

In your professional life, what has been

your biggest challenge?W

e all face daily challenges both big and sm

all, but what distinguishes successful

entrepreneurs is their ability to always

find a solution, regardless of the size of the challenge. The late, great M

uhamm

ad Ali once said: “It is not the m

ountain ahead to clim

b that brings you down, it is the pebble

in the shoe”. W

hat sets you apart from others?

I’ve always been very curious and

questioned everything. Right now, I am

questioning the w

ay people choose to buy luxury products. I don’t believe that the

future of shopping is bricks and mortar, so

I am trying to create a new

way to connect

the entire world of luxury item

s on a digital level. W

ith The List I am trying to

give customers access to any product from

anyw

here in the world, in the shortest tim

e possible. It’s an achievem

ent that I believe w

ill change the market.

Is there a piece of advice that has helped you succeed in life?Success is earned, not given. I believe that dream

s can become reality but it’s up to you

every day, every hour and every second to m

ake it happen.

AN

DREA

S SKORSKI

FOU

ND

ER A

ND

CEO

OF TH

E LIST, 25

Jacket, waistcoat,

shirt and trousers: all Dolce & Gabbana; shoes by SuperGa

4 ESQ

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NEEL KU

MA

RFILM

MA

KER

, 30

Tell us about a time w

hen you’ve opted to not take the safe option?W

hen I was younger I w

orked in the creative departm

ent at Saatchi & Saatchi. I was

starting to get the hang of it and was picking

up awards and accolades for m

y work.

I decided to make a film

about the Saatchi Dubai offi

ce and it was sent around our

offices w

orldwide, for w

hich I got a personal thankyou from

the global CEO. It was then

I decided to quit. I went on to set up m

y own

film production com

pany, and I knew just

enough to know that I barely knew

anything about production! I rem

ember how

terrified I w

as, but I did it anyway. O

ver the last five years I haven’t regretted that decision once.W

hat do you remind yourself of every day?

I knew that w

hen I quit advertising it would

be easy to go back — it felt like a safety net of

sorts. So I went and tattooed the nam

e of my

production company, Akela, on m

y hand. I’ve got tattoos everyw

here, but it is the only one that I can’t cover up. Every day it rem

inds me

to push myself to stay afloat.

What is the biggest challenge you face?

Writing. I’ve w

ritten almost everything that

I’ve directed, but it still scares the hell out of

me. It’s like perform

ing surgery on yourself and it’s w

hat keeps me up at night. It has

taken me seven years to w

rite a screenplay I actually like. After dozens of tries I think I’ve finally done it w

ith a short film w

e’re shooting in August. W

hat makes you stand out from

others?I take a lot of risks. I don’t like being safe —

I don’t have the tim

e! I go with m

y gut feeling a lot, and I don’t think I’ll stop anytim

e soon. The w

ay I see it, taking risks results in one of tw

o things: success or a valuable lesson. Speaking of w

hich, what is the m

ost valuable lesson you’ve learned?M

y uncle always told m

e: “Jump, and learn

to fly while you’re falling”. As a director,

there’s so much I don’t know

. But if I’ve learned anything in the last five years, it’s that it’s okay not to know

. Everyone says “I’m

not ready yet”. It’s something I hid

behind for the longest time. But w

hat I learned from

my uncle w

as that you’re never ready. You only really start to learn under pressure, w

hen you’re responding to a challenge. It’s the constant fear that you m

ight hit the ground that makes you w

ork hard to stay in the air.

Gucci jacket Dhs 9,050, Gucci shirt; m

averick’s ow

n jeans; Hermes

shoes Dhs 4,440

Words: M

atthew Priest. Photography: Richard H

all. Make-up: Toni M

alt. Fashion Assistant: Om

ar Salama.

Location: Weslodge D

ubai, JW M

arriott Marquis

SCOTT CH

AM

BERSFO

UN

DER

AN

D M

D O

F SUR

F HO

USE D

UB

AI, 32

What m

akes you a maverick?

Setting up a surfing company in D

ubai was

a pretty big gamble. W

hen the city was in

a stage of hyper-growth, it w

as pretty easy for a graduate to secure a w

ell-paying job and m

ake a lot of money, fast. That’s w

hat everyone I knew

was doing, but w

hile I w

atched everyone turn right, I decided to go left. Surfing w

as a non-event in the country, but I knew

that there would be people w

ho shared m

y passion for it. Today, the Surf House has now

become an em

bassy for ocean living. W

e’ve created a comm

unity from

the ground up that revolves around

surfing, yoga, art, really good coffee, and giving back.W

hat do you remind yourself of w

hen you start your w

orking day?To focus, w

ork hard, and keep staying the course no m

atter what.

What has been your biggest challenge?

I was alw

ays taught that creating anything of genuine value takes tim

e. Creating a business that didn’t yet fit into the local system

wasn’t

easy. Having enough passion for something

is what gives you the steam

to persevere w

hen things get hard. We pushed through

several years of consistently practicing what

we preach and w

ere able to bring things to the stage they are now

at. W

hat makes you stand out?

I’ve always had a hunger to create things

that I believe in and things that haven’t been done yet. D

ubai is my hom

e, and the fact that I have been able to help add to its cultural offerings is som

ething that has been a privilege. W

hat was the best lesson you learned?

Anything is possible. Decide w

hat it is you w

ould like to do and put everything you have into it. It’s never about w

hat you can get, it is alw

ays about what you can give.

Prada jacket, Dhs9,380; Prada

trousers, Dhs9,920; Prada shirt,

Dhs2,660