CONNECTOR.AE 58 CONNECTOR.AE 59 LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE Connector In Conversation With Kunhali Syed: A Life In Sales, A Soul In Photography Imagine a man who has navigated boardrooms across the Gulf region, negotiated deals that shaped markets, and trained sales teams to think beyond the transaction. “I worked in the UAE for six years in sales, then all around the Gulf region. But the UAE was alwaysmy base”, Kunhali recalls. Kunhali’s career spanned industries, from working with industrial bakeries, helping IFFCO manage snacks and confectionery verticals, and later consolidating markets and distributors for global brands. What bound all of this together was not the act of selling itself, but something more profound. “Recently, I trained an entire team on how not to sell”, Kunhali says. “It’s not just about selling for companies to succeed, it’s about discipline and making things work. Very little selling is actually involved”. Whilemany expats extended their years in theGulf for financial stability or luxury, Kunhali’s motivation was singular: photography. “I needed money to feed my hobby”, Kunhali admits. But for him, photography was never just about picking up a camera. “To get my hands on the right equipment was important. My first Leica cost the equivalent of four cars back in India at the time”. It was this discipline, the same rigour that guided his sales strategy, that allowed him to pursue his passion uncompromisingly. Where others might have compromised, Kunhali persevered, investing heart, not just money, into his craft. Imagine a man who has navigated boardrooms across the Gulf region, negotiated deals that shaped markets, and trained sales teams to think beyond the transaction. Now picture the same man crouched in a mangrove, waiting hours for a kingfisher to take flight, Leica camera poised, eyes alert not for clients but for colours, light and the fleeting rhythm of nature. This dual existence, of executive precision by day and artist’s soul by heart, captures the essence of Kunhali Syed, a sales strategist and mentor, photographer and writer whose journey across the UAE and the Gulf region at large has been as much about cultivating discipline as it has been about chasing passion. For Kunhali, sales was never simply a career. It was a vehicle that allowed him to fuel something deeper. “I came to the Gulf to feed my hobby”, Kunhali says. That hobby, photography, has taken him from darkrooms of his childhood to the pages of National Geographic and beyond, always pursued with quiet integrity and purpose. Connector spoke with Kunhali to explore his journey of navigating duties and hobbies with exceptional finesse and poise. The Salesman’s Discipline Kunhali’s story in the Gulf begins in 1998, when he first arrived in the UAE to build a career in sales. Over the next two decades, he would work across the Gulf, spending time in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and repeatedly returning to Dubai, which remained his anchor. “It’s not just about selling for companies to succeed, it’s about discipline and making things work. Very little selling is actually involved.”
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