Meet Hiba!

Growing up in the U.S. as a native Arabic speaker, Hamati learned the importance of language learning, which encouraged her to pursue marketing and International Business. “I’ve spent most of my career in corporate America, and I’ve learned and gained so much experience, and when the pandemic hit, it pushed my desire to take my background and help small businesses and entrepreneurs.” In her position as the Marketing Director at Language Learning Market, Hamati works in convergence with her professional, educational, and personal background to supply consumers and educators with the resources to learn a new language, as well as provide a platform for small businesses.

1. What do you enjoy about your current position/profession? What I love most about working for Language Learning Market is knowing that the work I’m doing is bringing the best language resources around the world, and providing small business a channel to sell their products. At a young age, learned the importance of languages and language learning, and I love being apart of a company that is bringing language learning and appreciation to people across the world. 

2. What is a professional highlight of your career, either where you currently work or in the past? I had the opportunity to work abroad and help a client on-sight in Dubai, which taught me how to interact with people in other departments. When you have a team, you get comfortable, but when it’s just you and your client, the dynamic changes. I had to adapt and push myself out of my comfort zone to build relationships and take on more responsibility. This translates into my work at LLM where I am working with interns, vendors, and an executive team.

3. Did a UT Dallas professor inspire you? Who was that and how was that person inspirational? Dr. Tevfik Dalgic sparked my interest in international business. His lectures were engaging and he was a very passionate speaker which made classes interesting— you always wanted to know more. I think of him when I present because I want to reflect that same engagement and passion because I know the impact it had on me.

4. What is something you wish you had done while you were in college and why do you wish you had? I would have loved to study abroad. College is a time to experiment and try new things, and to have an immersive experience through traveling is perfect for that. Every time I travel, it is an educating experience and it changes you for the better. I have had travel experience in my work, but to have had it has a student would have been eye opening.

5. What advice do you have for college students hoping to succeed professionally? My advice is to work— jobs, internships, jobs, different fields. School is so important but working experience transforms a degree to where you’re not just studying experiences, but going through them. I worked at a global telecom company in high school, and it was an incredible experience because it taught me so much about how corporations and businesses work. I got an education that set me up for success, and I in every job I have had since, I applied something I learned from that job. I was pushed to do different things and I would like to provide that experience for other interns and students.

6. What makes an effective leader? An effective leader is someone who is motivating, inspiring and pushes their team to improve not just for the leader’s sake, but for the employee’s. I had a boss that would tell us when an employee left, he felt honored to have pushed them to a better version of themselves where they grew and learned.