Gulf Today Features Hoda ElSobky

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By Raghib Hassan, Staff Reporter

DUBAI: Have you ever undergone that experience where, while passing through Happiness Street in Dubai, you tend to smile and get a feel of ease, despite being tired or stressed out? I had the same feeling a few days back when I heard of a book titled, “Dare to Be Happy.”  The title of the book looked very catchy. When I started exploring I found out that the book was written by a Dubai-based debutant writer, Hoda Elsobky, who indeed looks happy and infuses freshness in you while you sit and chat with her. She arrived at The Dubai Mall on Tuesday afternoon to talk about her book, journey and future plans.

Born and brought up in Cairo, Egypt, Hoda graduated from The American University of Cairo in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She majored in economics with a minor in business administration. Later, she received an MBA in marketing.  Armed with the degrees, she went on to work in multinational IT giants in Egypt, like IBM and Oracle, in sales and marketing from 1994 to 2005. Later, she flew to Vienna, Austria, to be with her husband, where she spent three years. A decade ago, she landed in Dubai with her family. It was in Dubai only that she started exploring herself and discovered that she had a flair for thinking and writing. She thinks differently of course, so she started putting her thought into words, which paved the way for her professional writing. Today she is an author of a book. When asked how, after having lived a celebrated life in the corporate world, she plunged into writing, she told Gulf Today, “I read a book called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, long ago, and I should say it was a game changer for me. That book had an impact on me. It really changed my life for the better. It made me realise that dreams can come true and I also can achieve my dream.”

When asked how much time it took for her to complete the book, she said, “It took me almost two years to finish the book. I launched this book in December 2018, and in only 3 months, people started liking and appreciating it.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the response. People instantly liked the concept. Even the sales of my book are unprecedented in such a short span of time,” she added.