March 12, 2025 • 37 mins
EventNewsDXB - Ep. 8 - Amy Morris: Building Creativity And Innovation In The Entertainment Industry.
In this episode of EventNewsDXB, host Ian Carless sits down with Amy Morris, CEO of PopUp Global, to discuss her journey from cruise ship performer to entertainment entrepreneur.
Amy shares how a Disney cease-and-desist notice led her to pivot her UK-based business, eventually winning a major cruise line contract. She reflects on navigating the challenges of expanding to Dubai, from cultural differences in business operations to sourcing top-tier talent.
Amy also dives into the importance of mental health support for performers, the power of saying no to the wrong opportunities and her excitement for upcoming projects.
Tune in for insights on innovation, resilience, and the evolving entertainment landscape in Dubai and beyond.
Podcast Rundown
• Starting out in entertainment.
• Receiving a cease and desist letter from The Walt Disney Company.
• Transitioning from freelance to limited company.
• Navigating COVID and winning new contracts.
• Setting up in Dubai.
• Establishing the business focus.
• Being a woman in the event industry.
• Mental health initiatives.
• Looking ahead.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Ian Carless
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producers: Ian Carless & Joe Morrison
Produced by: EventNewsDXB & W4 Podcast Studio
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ian Carless (00:00):
Welcome to Event News DXB.
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(00:37):
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Thanks a bunch.
Look into the world of events inDubai, the UAE and the MENA
region.
I'm Ian Carlos and each weekI'll bring you the latest news,
industry trends and insiderstories from the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets.
This week, we're talking toPopUp Global's founder and CEO,
(00:58):
amy Morris.
After cutting her teeth as aperformer in the entertainment
industry, both on land and atsea, amy began to focus her
talents on creatingentertainment shows and programs
.
However, a cease and desistletter from none other than the
Walt Disney Company forced herto rethink her business strategy
.
Despite this temporary setback,her business in the UK has
(01:19):
flourished, but it was theopportunity of a big contract in
Dubai that saw Amy move to theEmirates 80 months ago and, safe
to say from this point, she'snever looked back, amy.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hello, now, I usually start bysaying how did you end up in
Dubai, but I'm going to take youa little bit further back than
that.
How did you end up inentertainment?
Amy Morris (01:40):
Wow, that's a big, big question.
It's all I've ever known, sinceI was two years old.
No-transcript to where I amtoday yeah, it's interesting,
(02:13):
that isn't it?
Ian Carless (02:14):
because I you know, I'm sure you're the same, but
you've come across a lot of sortof younger people, particularly
at the beginning of theircareers, and I always feel
really sorry, in the nicestpossible way, for the people who
don't know what they want to do.
I mean, I think I was verysimilar to you.
I knew from the age of 12 thatI wanted to get into television,
which is what I used to dobefore this and before getting
into events, and that guided meevery step of the way.
(02:37):
But I know, for example, youknow, my friends' kids.
They have no idea what theywant to do.
Amy Morris (02:43):
And I think that is most people, to be honest.
And you know my friends' kids.
They've no idea what they wantto do, and I think that is most
people.
To be honest, I think mostpeople don't really know,
because they might be good at afew different things, but it's
about turning your passion intothe career.
But you've got to know thatearly on.
And don't get me wrong when Iwas six, I wanted to be a pop
star.
So it got more realistic as theyears went on and I wanted to
be Britney Spears, obviously,but it was always that that I
(03:04):
wanted to do so and youmentioned cruise ships, so that
was your, that was.
Ian Carless (03:07):
Was that your first role in terms of professional
being professionally within theentertainment?
Amy Morris (03:12):
industry.
Yeah, we'd always cruised as afamily, right.
So when I saw the shows onboard, I thought that's a great
job.
And we're in the Caribbean andI thought, well, they're
traveling around the Caribbeanand performing.
So I knew from and I rememberwe'd be on holiday and my mum
would like get the cruisedirector over.
She's only 14, but she'd loveto work on ships and at the time
I was mortified that she'd donethat, but it was always, yeah,
(03:36):
something that I thought thatlooks like a great job the
travelling and the performing atthe same time.
Ian Carless (03:40):
So how did that transition come about?
So you were on board the cruiseships working for yourself and
then you go to setting up yourown business.
Can you talk me through thattransitional period?
Amy Morris (03:49):
So, without getting too deep, I was actually going
to go do a third contract andthen my dad got really poorly
and ended up in hospital, and soI had to be his primary carer
for a while, which kept me athome.
So I had to start figuring out.
Okay, well, what am?
I had to be his primary carerfor a while, which kept me at
home, so I had to start figuringout.
Okay, well, what am I going todo instead?
(04:09):
And a girl asked me if I wouldplay Elsa at some event in
Preston town centre, and I'dnever watched Frozen because I'd
been away for so long.
I didn't even know what Frozenwas.
I know I did.
I had to google it and I waslike, oh yeah, I could look like
her because I had really blondehair at the time.
And I went and did this eventand I got mobbed.
I swear to God, it was likeHarry Styles being in Preston
(04:32):
Town Centre and I thoughtthere's something in this.
So I went home to my parents andI was like, listen, these kids,
for Elsa I'm gonna go get adress.
And I had a dress made and Istarted doing that.
Um, at birthday parties, thenevents, and then somebody wanted
Anna, then someone wanted Belle, and then someone wanted
Cinderella and before you knewit, I had this business and it
(04:53):
was called pop-up princesses.
Back then right 10 years ago,nearly 11 years ago, and it kind
of started from there veryorganically okay, and it wasn't
all plain sailing, though was itBecause I have read?
Ian Carless (05:06):
I think I've read you talking about this somewhere
, probably on LinkedIn.
Amy Morris (05:09):
You had a bit of a run-in with Disney, didn't you?
Yeah, I did, and it's fairenough.
It wasn't.
Do you want?
Ian Carless (05:13):
to tell us a little bit about that.
Amy Morris (05:14):
I got a cease and desist letter, oh nice yeah.
And they came of everycharacter that I was doing.
And do you know what?
I wasn't sat doing thatbusiness with that in mind.
I wasn't thinking, oh, I'm justgoing to see.
I just didn't, I was 25.
I didn't think Disney wouldfind out about me in Blackburn
(05:34):
Town Centre doing these birthdayparties and events.
Ian Carless (05:37):
Miami, Blackburn yeah.
Amy Morris (05:39):
But we'd got into like Hello Magazine, OK Magazine
.
We'd been booked by like taoistars so so we'd start being
shared on bigger pages and thepress got would be in the
newspaper all the time.
So I think that's where theygot a hold on us and it was
frightening.
I'd built up the business formaybe two and a half to three
years by this point and theywere like if you don't
(06:01):
immediately cease doing all ofthis, we will take you for
millions which I didn't have.
If you don't immediately ceasedoing all of this, we will take
you for millions which I didn'thave.
So I don't know how they weregoing to do that, but it was
definitely me being like right,let's pivot on this.
And so we did.
Ian Carless (06:13):
Right Now, many young businesses have a bit of
an aha moment, don't they?
Sometimes it's a revelationabout what their business
actually is, and sometimes youland a big deal.
What was your aha moment?
Where did you actually sort ofthink, okay, now this is a bona
fide business.
Amy Morris (06:31):
On the back of that, us having to pivot, we then
started creating our ownconcepts that were ours, that we
were creating.
And then I'd heard on thegrapevine because we'd got a lot
of you know, contacts in theindustry that the last cruise
ship I had worked on, which wasfred olsen cruise lines, was
(06:52):
going out to tender, and thiswas 2019.
Really, we were nowhere nearthat, but I thought, what if we
got to lose?
It'll be the first pitch thatwe've done.
Let's put it together.
And we won it out Out of 25companies.
We won that contract and westill deliver that contract
today.
And that was when, even just inthat tender process, I was
(07:12):
learning so much and I realisedhow good we were.
That that's when I thought thiscould be huge.
That was definitely the momentwinning that.
Ian Carless (07:21):
And what about the business side of that period of
time?
I mean, how daunting was thatfor you.
I mean, there's always thattransitional period with a small
business, isn't it, when youkind of go from it just being
actually a business owner?
Amy Morris (07:33):
freelance Me my else address Correct?
Ian Carless (07:36):
Yeah To actually then being an employer and
having a business that youactively manage.
What was your thought processwith that at the time and how
daunting was it perhaps?
Amy Morris (07:47):
So I took on my first employee in 2017 and she
still works for me today, infact, out here in Dubai, and I
think that was fine.
But then, by the time thecruise ship opportunity came
around, there was threeemployees in the business.
And you are then starting tothink, right, well, we need that
contract to be able to sustainwhere we are as the business.
And you are then starting tothink, right, well, we need that
contract to be able to sustainwhere we are as a business.
(08:08):
And that's when, I would say,it became serious and I felt
like I had responsibility and ittransitioned from, yes, maybe a
lifestyle business to a seriousbusiness where I had
responsibilities, but I alwaysenjoyed that.
Ian Carless (08:23):
Where did you turn to for your business advice?
Amy Morris (08:25):
then I mean family, friends, parents so my parents
have had their own businessesbefore I was born right and
they're in manufacturing okay,so they could help me up to a
certain point.
But I've had many differentbusiness mentors over over the
years that have helped me indifferent chapters and I'll
never forget the business mentorI had at the time when I won
the first cruise ship contract.
(08:45):
She's called Katie and she'samazing.
She was like bottle this,feeling up because you'll never
feel that again.
And she was right.
That was our first big win andwe've won bigger opportunities
since, but I've never felt likethat in that moment.
Ian Carless (08:59):
Elation.
Amy Morris (09:00):
It was just that feeling of this is it?
People are seeing us for who weare and what we're doing in
this industry, whereas the winsafter that are on the back of
that, whereas that first one, itwas just a game changer.
And I will never, ever forgetthat feeling and we still talk
about it.
Now we have a video of ustelling the rest of the team
(09:21):
that we'd won it and we're likecrying and it was just amazing.
Ian Carless (09:24):
So that was 2019, right?
So this is your first bigcontract that you've won.
You're all excited, you'reraring to go.
And then COVID hits.
Amy Morris (09:32):
And then COVID hits.
Ian Carless (09:33):
How did you manage that period then?
Amy Morris (09:35):
So the first few weeks depression, then I can't
sit still for too long, andbecause we can get on this, get
onto this in a while.
But culture is incrediblyimportant to me and because we
built up this amazing culture atPopUp.
By the time COVID hit, we hadso many people supporting us
performers, creatives, my staffso we actually took all of our
(09:58):
expertise and our talent onlineand we had 25,000 Facebook
followers by this point.
So we were doing showsindividually in our living rooms
for our audiences and we grewin a big way.
In COVID we won a second cruiseship contract during.
Ian Carless (10:12):
COVID.
Amy Morris (10:14):
Because we were one of the only entertainment
companies that didn't sit.
Still, we were every single daygoing live on Facebook doing
shows, and so we were actuallyreally busy.
It was once things had lifted alittle bit and we grew and we
were using LinkedIn and we wereusing social media.
So by the time we came out, wewere actually more on the map
(10:37):
than before.
Ian Carless (10:38):
Right.
How much did your businessmodel play into navigating that
period?
Because I think we were justchatting before we started this
podcast about that.
You're not an entertainmentcompany, for example, that um
event organizers would comethrough for for individual acts.
You, you design showsspecifically for events or for
malls or for entertainmentvenues.
(10:59):
Um, so how much of that helpedyou during that covid period?
Because am I right withthinking that obviously you rely
a lot on freelance staff and soyou know, obviously these
aren't people that are salariedfull-time members, and whilst
I'm sure you wanted to supporteverybody as much as you could,
there's perhaps not theobligation in the same way that
there would be if they werefull-time salaried employees
(11:24):
salaried employees.
Amy Morris (11:24):
Yeah, I tried to look after as many people as I
could during that time, becauseI remember we were halfway
through a rehearsal period whenCOVID hit and we all got told we
had to go home and lockourselves in and the client said
we're not paying you, but myperformers had worked all week,
so I paid them anyway yeah.
I could not turn my back on thepeople they'd just been
rehearsing.
I couldn't do that.
But what I will say is I had asmall team during COVID and the
(11:48):
reason why I still have a smallteam now is because of that
period.
I was so grateful that I didn'thave 10, 15, 20, 25 people on
our payroll to support, and Ithink if you'd have asked me
2019, even 2020, what the visionof PopUp would have been, I
would have said a massive office, 20, 30 of us?
(12:08):
Absolutely not.
I will keep this business assmall and as agile as possible
for as long as possible.
I don't have a vision to haveeven more than 10 members of
staff.
There's five of us now of staff.
There's five of us now.
Yeah, and because we don'twe're not a volume business we
(12:29):
take on long-term projects that,up until now, go live at
different periods throughout theyear.
We are in a position to be ableto keep ourselves small and
then, obviously, per project, wemight bring in five, six, seven
freelancers that we contract tosix months or whatever.
Yeah, and then they move on.
I always want to keep it assmall as possible.
Ian Carless (12:47):
Would you say that's a typical business model
for your type of company?
Amy Morris (12:51):
No, I think we are probably one of the smallest
teams of all of the otherentertainment companies that I
know of here at the UK, but wemake it work and the good thing
about it is as well.
It's very cliche, but we'regenuinely best friends about.
Ian Carless (13:05):
It is as well.
It's very cliche, but we'regenuinely best friends.
I was going to come to thatbecause I did read, because
you're very active on linkedinand we'll talk about that also a
little bit later.
But people will often give youadvice about you know who not to
work with.
I mean, certainly in thetelevision industry, it was.
You know, don't work with kidsand animals, yeah, and the other
one is your mates, yeah.
So how do you manage that?
How do you manage to keep that,um, that those relationships,
non-problematic?
Amy Morris (13:25):
um, so, first and foremost, they're not employed
because they're my friends,right?
I have a lot of friends that Idon't employ because they
wouldn't be right for you know,certain roles they are at pop-up
because of the skill set thatthey have, so I think that's
really important.
Um, but there's just a level ofrespect there.
But we they're not working forme, they're working with me on
(13:47):
this business, and they'veworked with PopUp for so long
now that it's ours together, andso we're so invested in it that
there's not really any issues.
Ian Carless (14:01):
So, moving on, you flourished during COVID.
How did you make the transitionto Dubai?
Amy Morris (14:06):
So LinkedIn the beauty of LinkedIn it was always
on my radar.
I felt like the opportunitiesin the Middle East were greater
than those in the UK.
Things in the UK didn't bounceback after COVID the way perhaps
other places in the world had,and I'd been coming to Dubai
since 2014, anyway, I like.
So we did a bit of LinkedInresearch and we ended up
(14:33):
chatting to the director ofentertainment at Majid Al-Fatim,
who was like OK, we actually dohave a really big project that
we want to speak to you about,nda contracts, all of that.
They sent over all theinformation and we created this
365 day of the year program forthem and we won it.
And it took a few trips comingout, pitching etc.
(14:54):
And we won that contract inclassic Dubai fashion.
It's not gone live yet, but itis this year and um, that was
kind of the catalyst then forexploring more opportunity out
here, and the more I came, themore I was like the life out
here feels much better thanLancashire so I can attest to
that.
Ian Carless (15:14):
I spent a lot of time in Manchester.
It does rain a lot, a lot.
Amy Morris (15:17):
And me and my husband just said let's do it.
And that was 2023, where wemade the move.
We won the contract in 2022.
We made the move in 23.
Ian Carless (15:27):
So talk to me about that transition from a business
perspective.
How difficult was it, what wereyour biggest challenges and how
did you overcome them?
Amy Morris (15:34):
what I always say and I said this to you before is
I still have my business in theuk, um, so I'm still speaking
to the uk team, uk clients, ukfinance hr.
Every day at the same time I'mdoing that here.
So I have a direct comparisonevery day of that life and this
life.
The opportunities out here arefantastic and you're in the mix
(15:58):
for opportunities that you mightnot have been in the uk because
there's bigger players or, youknow, there's long-standing
relationships, whatever thereason.
But there has been a lot ofchallenges in just just
operating out here in theday-to-day.
The obstacles that you have toget over to get anything done,
the, the levels of sign-off, allof those things I came out here
(16:20):
extremely naive about because Ithought, well, I've made it
work over there for eight years.
At the time, what's, what's,you know, going to be the
difference?
A lot is the answer to that.
Yes, it's things like thecompany stamp, the checkbooks,
the, the, the levels ofmanagement that have to sign off
(16:40):
on something so small.
That slows down processes thatcould be much quicker.
And because I see it done somuch quicker on the other side,
I'm like why?
I don't understand, but it'sobviously.
You know, it's a system I'mnever going to change, so I've
had to practice patience, whichI'm not good at I want it all
(17:00):
and I want it now.
Here you can have it all, butyou've got to wait three years,
so it's it's been a challenge inthat.
In that aspect I would say it'sinteresting, isn't it?
Ian Carless (17:12):
I mean, I've been out here over 20 years now and I
find that, unfortunately, a lotof the workforce isn't
empowered here, so there's abottleneck at the top, and I
find that quite frustrating andquite limiting, especially in
our line of work as well,because obviously what happens
is, I think, where thattranslates is that failure isn't
welcomed.
In fact, you're chastised forand punished for, and I think
(17:35):
the end result, unfortunately,is that a lot of middle
management are afraid of makingdecisions and not empowered, and
then when they do finally makea decision A it's at the very
last minute.
B it's the smallest decisionthat they can make, which will
have the least impact if itcomes back to bite them in the
butt, and what that means forpeople like you and I, who are
(17:59):
at the end of that is, that wesort of get this tiny little
brief to work with.
you know, at the very lastminute, for the smallest amount
of money, everybody still wantsthe sun, the moon, the earth and
the stars.
How do you navigate that?
Amy Morris (18:09):
Well, you know, we haven't been here that long for
me to even tell you this is howI navigate it, because I
obviously I'm just taking everysituation as it comes.
But down to smaller projects,open to the big projects, it's
the exact same.
We had to deliver a substantialproject last year with three
(18:30):
weeks notice.
In the UK I'd have six or sevenmonths yeah so it's a stress
that I am putting on my staffthat I've never had to do before
, and so I can't tell youexactly this is what I do,
because I'm still figuring thatout myself.
We are trying our best thisyear to really get ahead, but,
(18:53):
like you said, the top person,sometimes the ceo of these
massive companies, has to signit off and I'm like but how many
decisions are they having tomake a day on things that, in
the grand scheme of it, are sosmall?
So I think our, our strategy isvery much long-term contracts,
(19:13):
and so we are very much nowpositioning ourselves where we
will have time to execute onthese, because we're not picking
up the smaller quick win jobs.
So, we've stepped away from thatmarket.
It was never the market we werein anyway.
So, in terms of how am Inavigating?
It is if you want us to deliverin November we need to start
now and making them try andunderstand that.
Ian Carless (19:36):
So how important is the power of saying no?
Do you get tender sometimesthat you look at and, for
whatever reason, whether it'stoo short notice or otherwise,
do you say no.
Amy Morris (19:46):
Yeah, and we've gotten much better at that.
In our growth stages,especially back in the UK, we
did say yes to everythingbecause we wanted to.
You know we needed cash, yeah,to grow, but we also wanted our
performers repeatedly comingback for rehearsals and
opportunities to grow ourreputation as well.
Now and we are fortunate, butwe've worked hard for that we're
(20:06):
in a position where we say no alot because we have a tick box
of do you fit into this criteriathat is aligned with our vision
as a company.
We want to be the company thatclients are desperate to work
with and performers aredesperate to work for, and you
know we're getting there.
We are, we are absolutelygetting there.
There'll be a lot less jobswith us in the year because
(20:28):
we're being more strategic onwho we work with, but you will
definitely want one of thosejobs and it will be the place to
work.
Ian Carless (20:38):
Now you've obviously grown as a business
tremendously.
How have you managed scalingthe business?
I mean, it's a perennialproblem for some businesses,
isn't it, I mean, and not onethat everybody always manages
well.
So how have you managed thewhole scaling of your business?
Amy Morris (20:52):
I've done it all organically.
I've never had any investment,I've never had any help in that
department.
We've done it well, slowly andquickly.
I guess I don't bite off morethan I can chew, and that means
I listened to a podcast theother day that said focus will
always leave money and deals onthe table, and we've left money
and deals on the table a lot Inthe past two years.
(21:15):
We've turned down three millionmulti-million contracts One
because it's not the rightopportunity for our vision, but
two, it would kill us inactually doing it, and so we've
scaled in a way that's allowedall of us to lead the lives that
we want and just keep our egoout of it.
Ian Carless (21:34):
To be honest, let's just dig a little bit into the
nitty-gritty of your business.
Obviously, in the UK you have ahuge freelance pool with which
to choose from.
You don't employ performershere, and the people that work
for you on full-time contracts.
So how do you navigate findingtalent in this market?
Amy Morris (21:53):
If I'm being really honest, we've flown most people
over.
We have found, so far, a realdifference in the talent, and
it's not just in the talent,it's in the attitude towards the
projects.
And maybe it's because in theUK there's so many jobs and
everybody wants to be on thewest end, everybody wants to
(22:14):
cruise ships there's.
There's a lot of uh sorry,there's a lot of performers,
yeah, and not that many jobs,yeah.
So you have to hustle and youhave to be kind, hard working,
you have to turn up on time, allof those things.
Here there's less performersand more work, so there's a
disconnect in that.
And in the times that we'veworked with local talent,
(22:37):
they've not turned up on time.
They've texted that day andsaid, oh, I can't actually do
today.
Can I just do rehearsalstomorrow?
They've come not knowing thelyrics, they've come not knowing
the harmonies, and it's beenreally, really hard work.
On top of that, the clients thatwe're working with have
specifically requested we bringin UK talent or international
talent, which has helped.
(22:58):
But that's not what we wantthis to be.
We want to build up a pool oftalent here, and I think there's
a much bigger game at play here, because if you have spent your
entire life training in the UK,dubai is not necessarily on
your radar to move out here forwork.
It's going to London, it'sgoing to New York, it's working
on the cruise ships where thebig shows are.
(23:20):
The reputation isn't here yetfor a performer to train at Lane
for three years and go.
My dream is to work in Dubai.
It's just not there yet anduntil it is, we're going to be
in this cycle all of the time.
How?
Ian Carless (23:34):
much do demographics play a part in that
, because obviously there's justmore people in the uk.
For example, is the environmentthat you have in the uk
actually attainable here in,here in the uae, or are we just
as a, as a country and as apopulace, just too small?
Amy Morris (23:50):
I don't think the culture within the entertainment
world is there yet, and sothere isn't the discipline and
the hunger, and it's because thepool is so small but there's so
many opportunities.
For example, the dancers inDubai a few years ago were
dancing with Beyonce.
Imagine that that wouldn'thappen in the UK to just get
(24:10):
that opportunity.
And so because theopportunities are like that here
, the discipline I have seenfrom my experience isn't the
same, because it's easier to getthose kind of jobs here, and so
for a company like us thatreally holds high standards with
regards to talent, it's made itquite difficult.
Ian Carless (24:32):
Moving on a little bit.
You're very active on LinkedInand you talk a lot about being
noticed and self-promotion andbeing your own brand.
Would I be right in readinginto some of your posts that
I've read that you've perhapsreceived some kickback from that
(24:52):
, and how much of that would yousay is just perhaps because
you're not afraid to putyourself out there, and how much
of it is down to gender as well?
Amy Morris (25:02):
Very, very interesting question.
So I'd say I've faced criticismfor maybe the past five years.
Now, five years ago it used tofloor me.
Now I honestly could not careless.
I could not care less and Ithink, which is a lovely place
to be yeah, it is, and I thinkI've just learned so much as
well from seeing other people inother industries who are the
(25:25):
voice of their industry, talkingabout things that really matter
, and a topic that I discuss alot.
Well, there's two topics One isbeing a female in business
being a female in this industry,in business and two is company
culture.
When I worked on ships, men gotpaid more than women.
Singers got paid more thandancers.
Men did way less than women butgot paid because us females had
(25:50):
to do the singing and thedancing whilst the males were
playing Candy Crush on thephones.
When I started openly speakingabout that on social media, I
got a lot of backlash from otherentertainment companies saying
you shouldn't be speaking aboutthat.
You know we should standtogether and I think a lot of
people thought I was speakingabout them.
(26:11):
But I got to the point where Ithought, if you think I'm
talking about you, that's a youproblem, not a me problem,
because if someone was speakingabout I don't know bullying in
the workplace on LinkedIn, Iwouldn't think is that about me?
Unless I was bullying people inthe workplace.
Ian Carless (26:28):
Which clearly you're not Exactly.
Amy Morris (26:30):
So that's when I really stopped caring in the
workplace, which clearly you'renot Exactly so that's when I
really stopped caring and I havehad a couple of incidents where
people have really gone in onme.
Who does she think she is onLinkedIn, posting like she's on
social media, taking otherentertainment companies down?
Never mentioned any otherentertainment companies.
I also speak about my ownexperiences, which weren't
pleasant.
When I was, you know, like Iwas being paid less, I was fat
(26:52):
shamed.
I was, I was a lot of things.
I'm allowed to speak about mypersonal experiences and
somebody needs to speak about it, because if we're going to make
a change in this industry, wecan't all just bury our heads in
the sand, and performers aregrateful that somebody's
actually talking about this andwhat I have seen, and whether
these entertainment companieswant to admit it or not, there
(27:14):
has been a shift in and, even ifit's just for face value,
companies are now starting tolook after performers, and very
publicly as well, which is fine.
At least you're doing it andthere has been a shift.
I've seen it myself.
So I'm glad that I've spoke outand I will continue to do that.
Ian Carless (27:38):
Talk to me a little bit more about, just on the
same topic, about being, youknow, a female in the
entertainment industry, andspecifically because I mean
you've got a company functioningin the UK and you've been here
now for the last 18 months, whatare some of the differences
that you've noticed, perhapswithin the attitude towards
women in the sector in the UKversus Dubai and the UAE?
Amy Morris (27:53):
Someone asked me this the other day because they
had a friend that said I'llnever go to the middle east
because women aren't respected.
I've faced more adversity inthe uk for being a woman than I
have here in the entertainmentindustry, and it might have been
similar in tv.
There's a boys club, yes, andif you're a woman and especially
and I still cling on to theword young a young woman.
(28:13):
I've been doing this 10 years.
So even when I was 30, I wasyoung and I was classed as too
young and female Young girldoesn't know what she's doing
and I ago that.
I've climbed the ranks acrossdifferent industries together
and now all the main contractsget circulated around the same
(28:37):
people and it's a lot harder toget in Over here.
So far and again, I've onlybeen here 18 months.
I face nothing but respect andI think it's because there's
people from all around the world.
A lot of the key decisionmakers that I've been working
with are female, that I haven'tactually faced any issues with
(28:58):
being female and we spent a lotof time out in Saudi, and, other
than one taxi man who wanted meto sit in the back because I
get travel sick at the front,Didn't like me sitting in the
front.
Other than that, from abusiness perspective it's been
the same.
It's been incredibly positive.
How refreshing is that yeah, ithas been, because even now, when
I go back to the uk and it'sthe same big players back there,
(29:18):
all male middle-aged men whodon't, who want I want me to
shut up on linkedin and don'twant me to speak out.
And you know I've taken acompletely different route to
any of my competitors in thepersonal branding.
I'm doing the podcast, I'mdoing the LinkedIn, I'm doing
the social media.
I enjoy that as well, probablythe performer in me, and I know
it's not well received amongstthose certain people.
(29:40):
But I had a.
I had a client who middle-agedman, very condescending to me I
don't work with him anymore toldme to put my big girl knickers
on in 2024 and I just thoughtthat that is, that's where we're
at.
But no one would say that to mehere or I haven't experienced
anything ever close to that yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
Ian Carless (30:02):
we were talking about entertainers and the work
opportunities that exist forthem here.
You were saying also thatperhaps you know at the moment
you know it's not onentertainers minds in the UK.
Oh, I want to end up in Dubai.
However, obviously in the last18 months so we've heard a lot
of talk and there are a lot ofplans for some of the big casino
(30:22):
operators to open in Dubai RasAl Khaimah.
Obviously, with those entitiescome huge opportunities for the
entertainment industry, becausethey put on more shows than
perhaps any other sector.
How do you think that willaffect the industry moving
forward here, and whatopportunities does that present
for you?
Amy Morris (30:42):
I think if the shows that are delivered are of the
standards that you would find inVegas, in London, in New York,
it could be a game changer.
But if you know, entertainmentcompanies are given three
minutes to put it together and50 quid.
We're in the same situation.
So it's got to be aboutrivaling these other parts of
(31:04):
the world and doing it to thatstandard.
It's got to be for that shiftto happen and I think there is
huge opportunity for that.
I want performers to graduateand go.
I hope I get a job in Dubai,but as it stands we have
performers that will do twomonths and that's it, because
it's just a very, very differentdynamic.
Ian Carless (31:26):
And what about Saudi Arabia?
I know I saw again on LinkedInthat you'd had.
Was it your first trip up there?
Amy Morris (31:31):
just recently no a third trip.
Ian Carless (31:33):
How important do you see that as a market for you
?
Amy Morris (31:36):
So Saudi actually really excites me because
obviously, in their strategy ofgrowth, entertainment plays a
huge part in that.
Entertainment and sport is likethe key driver for their growth
, and so it's refreshing to bepart of a strategy that is well
thought out, as opposed to let'sjust throw enough shit at the
(31:58):
wall and see what sticks.
That's not what they're doing,and every time we have these
meetings out there we had areally good meeting a couple of
weeks ago you feel like you're apart of a real plan yeah, now,
before we wrap up, there'sperhaps one other topic that I
want to bring up with you, andthat's mental health and
well-being.
Ian Carless (32:18):
Obviously, it's a big topic in just about every
industry and every walk of lifeat the moment.
What's been your experiencewith this and what have you done
differently with PopUp Globalthat perhaps you haven't seen
with other companies?
Amy Morris (32:36):
you haven't seen with other companies.
I've always suffered withanxiety, since I was a child.
I actually think now.
I see it as a bit of asuperpower because it drives me
to be the person that I am todayand I've got a really good
handle on it and I know how tokeep any severe anxiety at bay.
But when I worked on cruiseships so I was 22 when I first
went away I don't even think Iknew what anxiety was.
I obviously know now, Irecognize now what I was going
through.
I couldn't put a label on itbecause people didn't really
(32:58):
talk about it.
I used to just say I wasstruggling.
I used to call my mom every dayand I was struggling, but you
couldn't tell your boss oranyone on the ship oh, I've got
anxiety and I will alwaysremember that.
And that's a huge reason to whyI wanted the culture at pop-up
(33:19):
to be different.
If you came to the dance studioand you sprained your ankle,
you could say to thechoreographer I've sprained my
ankle, but why can't we say,feeling super anxious today?
So if I'm not myself?
That's why, yeah, we also haveum, an anonymous and completely
free to the user therapist.
So everybody that comes to workfor pop-up gets their number.
I never know who's used it.
I just get an invoice if I have, and it's completely anonymous
(33:40):
and free for them if they'reworking with us at the time I
don't know enough out here yetabout what uh culture is like.
Because it's been so early daysand, like I said, because we
bring so many people over, we'vejust kind of carried that with
us.
What I do know is in a lot ofour contracts we always have a
line for our happiness program.
(34:01):
99% of our clients are reallyon board with that here.
They ask us to take it out.
Ian Carless (34:07):
Interesting.
Amy Morris (34:07):
Yeah, which has been interesting.
So a lot of our clients knowthat that happiness budget goes
towards the welfare of thepeople.
Here they're like what's that?
And we explain that, no, don'tdo that.
So then we just take it out ofour bottom line because it's I
think that's what people miss isyou look after the people?
Ian Carless (34:26):
Yeah.
Amy Morris (34:27):
From a commercial standpoint it's saving you so
much money.
We have done five years nowwith the cruise line.
Never had a person leave.
You see people three, three,four show team members leave.
That's costing you thousands.
You invest in them from day dot, they'll stay.
Ian Carless (34:42):
Yeah, now, before we wrap up, there's one question
I've been asking everybody I'ma huge music lover, my vinyl
collection is uh expanding onceagain right um, what do you
listen to?
What's on your playlist?
I was gonna say turntable, butyou probably don't have a
turntable.
It's showing my age there,isn't it?
What's on your playlist?
Amy Morris (35:01):
Music is massive in our household.
Me and my husband both lovemusic.
You could stick on a 50splaylist.
We'd know every word 80s, 90s,house music.
My husband loves rap, R&B it'sreally eclectic and anyone that
listens to my playlist sayyou've got no thread.
We're going from LutherVandross to Shakira, just all
(35:23):
over the place.
Ian Carless (35:24):
What's the one that you think you keep coming back
to Mariah Carey?
Amy Morris (35:28):
MTV Unplugged Wow, I think it's a 1991 album.
Nothing hits like Mariah Careywhen you're getting ready in the
morning.
Ian Carless (35:35):
Yeah, that's interesting.
I to work for mtv and one of mygo-tos is actually also an mtv
unplugged, but it's nirvana, ohreally, yeah, I just I don't
know why.
Amy Morris (35:45):
I think it was so iconic, I think it reminds me of
being in the car on the way toschool with my mum who was
blasting out mariah carey, andnow me and my sister know every
word and the minute that introcomes in of emotions.
That's it.
Ian Carless (35:58):
Yeah, and then finally, amy, we're Q1 now of
2025.
What are you looking forward to?
Amy Morris (36:04):
We have some pretty big projects coming in this year
.
We've got one that we're justsigning off on.
We also have a massive Cirqueshow that we're delivering at
Ferrari Worlds this summer,which is going to be huge, and
then we're already planning forQ4.
And we are hoping that itdoesn't nearly kill me like last
year.
But, like I said earlier, we'rebeing far more selective.
(36:26):
We're probably doing four orfive big projects and then
that's it.
Ian Carless (36:30):
Fantastic.
Well, amy, I wished you all thebest for the future.
Thank you, and thank you forjoining me on the podcast.
Thank you, and thank you forjoining me on the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
Event News DXB was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast is a co-production
between Warehouse 4 and W4Podcast Studio Dubai, and if you
(36:54):
haven't done so already, pleasedo click that follow or
subscribe button.
See you next time.
Welcome to Event News DXB.
Before we begin, I've got aquick favour to ask.
There's one simple way you cansupport our show, and that's by
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(00:37):
give us a hand and click thatbutton now.
Thanks a bunch.
Look into the world of events inDubai, the UAE and the MENA
region.
I'm Ian Carlos and each weekI'll bring you the latest news,
industry trends and insiderstories from the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets.
This week, we're talking toPopUp Global's founder and CEO,
(00:58):
amy Morris.
After cutting her teeth as aperformer in the entertainment
industry, both on land and atsea, amy began to focus her
talents on creatingentertainment shows and programs
.
However, a cease and desistletter from none other than the
Walt Disney Company forced herto rethink her business strategy
.
Despite this temporary setback,her business in the UK has
(01:19):
flourished, but it was theopportunity of a big contract in
Dubai that saw Amy move to theEmirates 80 months ago and, safe
to say from this point, she'snever looked back, amy.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hello, now, I usually start bysaying how did you end up in
Dubai, but I'm going to take youa little bit further back than
that.
How did you end up inentertainment?
Amy Morris (01:40):
Wow, that's a big, big question.
It's all I've ever known, sinceI was two years old.
No-transcript to where I amtoday yeah, it's interesting,
(02:13):
that isn't it?
Ian Carless (02:14):
because I you know, I'm sure you're the same, but
you've come across a lot of sortof younger people, particularly
at the beginning of theircareers, and I always feel
really sorry, in the nicestpossible way, for the people who
don't know what they want to do.
I mean, I think I was verysimilar to you.
I knew from the age of 12 thatI wanted to get into television,
which is what I used to dobefore this and before getting
into events, and that guided meevery step of the way.
(02:37):
But I know, for example, youknow, my friends' kids.
They have no idea what theywant to do.
Amy Morris (02:43):
And I think that is most people, to be honest.
And you know my friends' kids.
They've no idea what they wantto do, and I think that is most
people.
To be honest, I think mostpeople don't really know,
because they might be good at afew different things, but it's
about turning your passion intothe career.
But you've got to know thatearly on.
And don't get me wrong when Iwas six, I wanted to be a pop
star.
So it got more realistic as theyears went on and I wanted to
be Britney Spears, obviously,but it was always that that I
(03:04):
wanted to do so and youmentioned cruise ships, so that
was your, that was.
Ian Carless (03:07):
Was that your first role in terms of professional
being professionally within theentertainment?
Amy Morris (03:12):
industry.
Yeah, we'd always cruised as afamily, right.
So when I saw the shows onboard, I thought that's a great
job.
And we're in the Caribbean andI thought, well, they're
traveling around the Caribbeanand performing.
So I knew from and I rememberwe'd be on holiday and my mum
would like get the cruisedirector over.
She's only 14, but she'd loveto work on ships and at the time
I was mortified that she'd donethat, but it was always, yeah,
(03:36):
something that I thought thatlooks like a great job the
travelling and the performing atthe same time.
Ian Carless (03:40):
So how did that transition come about?
So you were on board the cruiseships working for yourself and
then you go to setting up yourown business.
Can you talk me through thattransitional period?
Amy Morris (03:49):
So, without getting too deep, I was actually going
to go do a third contract andthen my dad got really poorly
and ended up in hospital, and soI had to be his primary carer
for a while, which kept me athome.
So I had to start figuring out.
Okay, well, what am?
I had to be his primary carerfor a while, which kept me at
home, so I had to start figuringout.
Okay, well, what am I going todo instead?
(04:09):
And a girl asked me if I wouldplay Elsa at some event in
Preston town centre, and I'dnever watched Frozen because I'd
been away for so long.
I didn't even know what Frozenwas.
I know I did.
I had to google it and I waslike, oh yeah, I could look like
her because I had really blondehair at the time.
And I went and did this eventand I got mobbed.
I swear to God, it was likeHarry Styles being in Preston
(04:32):
Town Centre and I thoughtthere's something in this.
So I went home to my parents andI was like, listen, these kids,
for Elsa I'm gonna go get adress.
And I had a dress made and Istarted doing that.
Um, at birthday parties, thenevents, and then somebody wanted
Anna, then someone wanted Belle, and then someone wanted
Cinderella and before you knewit, I had this business and it
(04:53):
was called pop-up princesses.
Back then right 10 years ago,nearly 11 years ago, and it kind
of started from there veryorganically okay, and it wasn't
all plain sailing, though was itBecause I have read?
Ian Carless (05:06):
I think I've read you talking about this somewhere
, probably on LinkedIn.
Amy Morris (05:09):
You had a bit of a run-in with Disney, didn't you?
Yeah, I did, and it's fairenough.
It wasn't.
Do you want?
Ian Carless (05:13):
to tell us a little bit about that.
Amy Morris (05:14):
I got a cease and desist letter, oh nice yeah.
And they came of everycharacter that I was doing.
And do you know what?
I wasn't sat doing thatbusiness with that in mind.
I wasn't thinking, oh, I'm justgoing to see.
I just didn't, I was 25.
I didn't think Disney wouldfind out about me in Blackburn
(05:34):
Town Centre doing these birthdayparties and events.
Ian Carless (05:37):
Miami, Blackburn yeah.
Amy Morris (05:39):
But we'd got into like Hello Magazine, OK Magazine
.
We'd been booked by like taoistars so so we'd start being
shared on bigger pages and thepress got would be in the
newspaper all the time.
So I think that's where theygot a hold on us and it was
frightening.
I'd built up the business formaybe two and a half to three
years by this point and theywere like if you don't
(06:01):
immediately cease doing all ofthis, we will take you for
millions which I didn't have.
If you don't immediately ceasedoing all of this, we will take
you for millions which I didn'thave.
So I don't know how they weregoing to do that, but it was
definitely me being like right,let's pivot on this.
And so we did.
Ian Carless (06:13):
Right Now, many young businesses have a bit of
an aha moment, don't they?
Sometimes it's a revelationabout what their business
actually is, and sometimes youland a big deal.
What was your aha moment?
Where did you actually sort ofthink, okay, now this is a bona
fide business.
Amy Morris (06:31):
On the back of that, us having to pivot, we then
started creating our ownconcepts that were ours, that we
were creating.
And then I'd heard on thegrapevine because we'd got a lot
of you know, contacts in theindustry that the last cruise
ship I had worked on, which wasfred olsen cruise lines, was
(06:52):
going out to tender, and thiswas 2019.
Really, we were nowhere nearthat, but I thought, what if we
got to lose?
It'll be the first pitch thatwe've done.
Let's put it together.
And we won it out Out of 25companies.
We won that contract and westill deliver that contract
today.
And that was when, even just inthat tender process, I was
(07:12):
learning so much and I realisedhow good we were.
That that's when I thought thiscould be huge.
That was definitely the momentwinning that.
Ian Carless (07:21):
And what about the business side of that period of
time?
I mean, how daunting was thatfor you.
I mean, there's always thattransitional period with a small
business, isn't it, when youkind of go from it just being
actually a business owner?
Amy Morris (07:33):
freelance Me my else address Correct?
Ian Carless (07:36):
Yeah To actually then being an employer and
having a business that youactively manage.
What was your thought processwith that at the time and how
daunting was it perhaps?
Amy Morris (07:47):
So I took on my first employee in 2017 and she
still works for me today, infact, out here in Dubai, and I
think that was fine.
But then, by the time thecruise ship opportunity came
around, there was threeemployees in the business.
And you are then starting tothink, right, well, we need that
contract to be able to sustainwhere we are as the business.
And you are then starting tothink, right, well, we need that
contract to be able to sustainwhere we are as a business.
(08:08):
And that's when, I would say,it became serious and I felt
like I had responsibility and ittransitioned from, yes, maybe a
lifestyle business to a seriousbusiness where I had
responsibilities, but I alwaysenjoyed that.
Ian Carless (08:23):
Where did you turn to for your business advice?
Amy Morris (08:25):
then I mean family, friends, parents so my parents
have had their own businessesbefore I was born right and
they're in manufacturing okay,so they could help me up to a
certain point.
But I've had many differentbusiness mentors over over the
years that have helped me indifferent chapters and I'll
never forget the business mentorI had at the time when I won
the first cruise ship contract.
(08:45):
She's called Katie and she'samazing.
She was like bottle this,feeling up because you'll never
feel that again.
And she was right.
That was our first big win andwe've won bigger opportunities
since, but I've never felt likethat in that moment.
Ian Carless (08:59):
Elation.
Amy Morris (09:00):
It was just that feeling of this is it?
People are seeing us for who weare and what we're doing in
this industry, whereas the winsafter that are on the back of
that, whereas that first one, itwas just a game changer.
And I will never, ever forgetthat feeling and we still talk
about it.
Now we have a video of ustelling the rest of the team
(09:21):
that we'd won it and we're likecrying and it was just amazing.
Ian Carless (09:24):
So that was 2019, right?
So this is your first bigcontract that you've won.
You're all excited, you'reraring to go.
And then COVID hits.
Amy Morris (09:32):
And then COVID hits.
Ian Carless (09:33):
How did you manage that period then?
Amy Morris (09:35):
So the first few weeks depression, then I can't
sit still for too long, andbecause we can get on this, get
onto this in a while.
But culture is incrediblyimportant to me and because we
built up this amazing culture atPopUp.
By the time COVID hit, we hadso many people supporting us
performers, creatives, my staffso we actually took all of our
(09:58):
expertise and our talent onlineand we had 25,000 Facebook
followers by this point.
So we were doing showsindividually in our living rooms
for our audiences and we grewin a big way.
In COVID we won a second cruiseship contract during.
Ian Carless (10:12):
COVID.
Amy Morris (10:14):
Because we were one of the only entertainment
companies that didn't sit.
Still, we were every single daygoing live on Facebook doing
shows, and so we were actuallyreally busy.
It was once things had lifted alittle bit and we grew and we
were using LinkedIn and we wereusing social media.
So by the time we came out, wewere actually more on the map
(10:37):
than before.
Ian Carless (10:38):
Right.
How much did your businessmodel play into navigating that
period?
Because I think we were justchatting before we started this
podcast about that.
You're not an entertainmentcompany, for example, that um
event organizers would comethrough for for individual acts.
You, you design showsspecifically for events or for
malls or for entertainmentvenues.
(10:59):
Um, so how much of that helpedyou during that covid period?
Because am I right withthinking that obviously you rely
a lot on freelance staff and soyou know, obviously these
aren't people that are salariedfull-time members, and whilst
I'm sure you wanted to supporteverybody as much as you could,
there's perhaps not theobligation in the same way that
there would be if they werefull-time salaried employees
(11:24):
salaried employees.
Amy Morris (11:24):
Yeah, I tried to look after as many people as I
could during that time, becauseI remember we were halfway
through a rehearsal period whenCOVID hit and we all got told we
had to go home and lockourselves in and the client said
we're not paying you, but myperformers had worked all week,
so I paid them anyway yeah.
I could not turn my back on thepeople they'd just been
rehearsing.
I couldn't do that.
But what I will say is I had asmall team during COVID and the
(11:48):
reason why I still have a smallteam now is because of that
period.
I was so grateful that I didn'thave 10, 15, 20, 25 people on
our payroll to support, and Ithink if you'd have asked me
2019, even 2020, what the visionof PopUp would have been, I
would have said a massive office, 20, 30 of us?
(12:08):
Absolutely not.
I will keep this business assmall and as agile as possible
for as long as possible.
I don't have a vision to haveeven more than 10 members of
staff.
There's five of us now of staff.
There's five of us now.
Yeah, and because we don'twe're not a volume business we
(12:29):
take on long-term projects that,up until now, go live at
different periods throughout theyear.
We are in a position to be ableto keep ourselves small and
then, obviously, per project, wemight bring in five, six, seven
freelancers that we contract tosix months or whatever.
Yeah, and then they move on.
I always want to keep it assmall as possible.
Ian Carless (12:47):
Would you say that's a typical business model
for your type of company?
Amy Morris (12:51):
No, I think we are probably one of the smallest
teams of all of the otherentertainment companies that I
know of here at the UK, but wemake it work and the good thing
about it is as well.
It's very cliche, but we'regenuinely best friends about.
Ian Carless (13:05):
It is as well.
It's very cliche, but we'regenuinely best friends.
I was going to come to thatbecause I did read, because
you're very active on linkedinand we'll talk about that also a
little bit later.
But people will often give youadvice about you know who not to
work with.
I mean, certainly in thetelevision industry, it was.
You know, don't work with kidsand animals, yeah, and the other
one is your mates, yeah.
So how do you manage that?
How do you manage to keep that,um, that those relationships,
non-problematic?
Amy Morris (13:25):
um, so, first and foremost, they're not employed
because they're my friends,right?
I have a lot of friends that Idon't employ because they
wouldn't be right for you know,certain roles they are at pop-up
because of the skill set thatthey have, so I think that's
really important.
Um, but there's just a level ofrespect there.
But we they're not working forme, they're working with me on
(13:47):
this business, and they'veworked with PopUp for so long
now that it's ours together, andso we're so invested in it that
there's not really any issues.
Ian Carless (14:01):
So, moving on, you flourished during COVID.
How did you make the transitionto Dubai?
Amy Morris (14:06):
So LinkedIn the beauty of LinkedIn it was always
on my radar.
I felt like the opportunitiesin the Middle East were greater
than those in the UK.
Things in the UK didn't bounceback after COVID the way perhaps
other places in the world had,and I'd been coming to Dubai
since 2014, anyway, I like.
So we did a bit of LinkedInresearch and we ended up
(14:33):
chatting to the director ofentertainment at Majid Al-Fatim,
who was like OK, we actually dohave a really big project that
we want to speak to you about,nda contracts, all of that.
They sent over all theinformation and we created this
365 day of the year program forthem and we won it.
And it took a few trips comingout, pitching etc.
(14:54):
And we won that contract inclassic Dubai fashion.
It's not gone live yet, but itis this year and um, that was
kind of the catalyst then forexploring more opportunity out
here, and the more I came, themore I was like the life out
here feels much better thanLancashire so I can attest to
that.
Ian Carless (15:14):
I spent a lot of time in Manchester.
It does rain a lot, a lot.
Amy Morris (15:17):
And me and my husband just said let's do it.
And that was 2023, where wemade the move.
We won the contract in 2022.
We made the move in 23.
Ian Carless (15:27):
So talk to me about that transition from a business
perspective.
How difficult was it, what wereyour biggest challenges and how
did you overcome them?
Amy Morris (15:34):
what I always say and I said this to you before is
I still have my business in theuk, um, so I'm still speaking
to the uk team, uk clients, ukfinance hr.
Every day at the same time I'mdoing that here.
So I have a direct comparisonevery day of that life and this
life.
The opportunities out here arefantastic and you're in the mix
(15:58):
for opportunities that you mightnot have been in the uk because
there's bigger players or, youknow, there's long-standing
relationships, whatever thereason.
But there has been a lot ofchallenges in just just
operating out here in theday-to-day.
The obstacles that you have toget over to get anything done,
the, the levels of sign-off, allof those things I came out here
(16:20):
extremely naive about because Ithought, well, I've made it
work over there for eight years.
At the time, what's, what's,you know, going to be the
difference?
A lot is the answer to that.
Yes, it's things like thecompany stamp, the checkbooks,
the, the, the levels ofmanagement that have to sign off
(16:40):
on something so small.
That slows down processes thatcould be much quicker.
And because I see it done somuch quicker on the other side,
I'm like why?
I don't understand, but it'sobviously.
You know, it's a system I'mnever going to change, so I've
had to practice patience, whichI'm not good at I want it all
(17:00):
and I want it now.
Here you can have it all, butyou've got to wait three years,
so it's it's been a challenge inthat.
In that aspect I would say it'sinteresting, isn't it?
Ian Carless (17:12):
I mean, I've been out here over 20 years now and I
find that, unfortunately, a lotof the workforce isn't
empowered here, so there's abottleneck at the top, and I
find that quite frustrating andquite limiting, especially in
our line of work as well,because obviously what happens
is, I think, where thattranslates is that failure isn't
welcomed.
In fact, you're chastised forand punished for, and I think
(17:35):
the end result, unfortunately,is that a lot of middle
management are afraid of makingdecisions and not empowered, and
then when they do finally makea decision A it's at the very
last minute.
B it's the smallest decisionthat they can make, which will
have the least impact if itcomes back to bite them in the
butt, and what that means forpeople like you and I, who are
(17:59):
at the end of that is, that wesort of get this tiny little
brief to work with.
you know, at the very lastminute, for the smallest amount
of money, everybody still wantsthe sun, the moon, the earth and
the stars.
How do you navigate that?
Amy Morris (18:09):
Well, you know, we haven't been here that long for
me to even tell you this is howI navigate it, because I
obviously I'm just taking everysituation as it comes.
But down to smaller projects,open to the big projects, it's
the exact same.
We had to deliver a substantialproject last year with three
(18:30):
weeks notice.
In the UK I'd have six or sevenmonths yeah so it's a stress
that I am putting on my staffthat I've never had to do before
, and so I can't tell youexactly this is what I do,
because I'm still figuring thatout myself.
We are trying our best thisyear to really get ahead, but,
(18:53):
like you said, the top person,sometimes the ceo of these
massive companies, has to signit off and I'm like but how many
decisions are they having tomake a day on things that, in
the grand scheme of it, are sosmall?
So I think our, our strategy isvery much long-term contracts,
(19:13):
and so we are very much nowpositioning ourselves where we
will have time to execute onthese, because we're not picking
up the smaller quick win jobs.
So, we've stepped away from thatmarket.
It was never the market we werein anyway.
So, in terms of how am Inavigating?
It is if you want us to deliverin November we need to start
now and making them try andunderstand that.
Ian Carless (19:36):
So how important is the power of saying no?
Do you get tender sometimesthat you look at and, for
whatever reason, whether it'stoo short notice or otherwise,
do you say no.
Amy Morris (19:46):
Yeah, and we've gotten much better at that.
In our growth stages,especially back in the UK, we
did say yes to everythingbecause we wanted to.
You know we needed cash, yeah,to grow, but we also wanted our
performers repeatedly comingback for rehearsals and
opportunities to grow ourreputation as well.
Now and we are fortunate, butwe've worked hard for that we're
(20:06):
in a position where we say no alot because we have a tick box
of do you fit into this criteriathat is aligned with our vision
as a company.
We want to be the company thatclients are desperate to work
with and performers aredesperate to work for, and you
know we're getting there.
We are, we are absolutelygetting there.
There'll be a lot less jobswith us in the year because
(20:28):
we're being more strategic onwho we work with, but you will
definitely want one of thosejobs and it will be the place to
work.
Ian Carless (20:38):
Now you've obviously grown as a business
tremendously.
How have you managed scalingthe business?
I mean, it's a perennialproblem for some businesses,
isn't it, I mean, and not onethat everybody always manages
well.
So how have you managed thewhole scaling of your business?
Amy Morris (20:52):
I've done it all organically.
I've never had any investment,I've never had any help in that
department.
We've done it well, slowly andquickly.
I guess I don't bite off morethan I can chew, and that means
I listened to a podcast theother day that said focus will
always leave money and deals onthe table, and we've left money
and deals on the table a lot Inthe past two years.
(21:15):
We've turned down three millionmulti-million contracts One
because it's not the rightopportunity for our vision, but
two, it would kill us inactually doing it, and so we've
scaled in a way that's allowedall of us to lead the lives that
we want and just keep our egoout of it.
Ian Carless (21:34):
To be honest, let's just dig a little bit into the
nitty-gritty of your business.
Obviously, in the UK you have ahuge freelance pool with which
to choose from.
You don't employ performershere, and the people that work
for you on full-time contracts.
So how do you navigate findingtalent in this market?
Amy Morris (21:53):
If I'm being really honest, we've flown most people
over.
We have found, so far, a realdifference in the talent, and
it's not just in the talent,it's in the attitude towards the
projects.
And maybe it's because in theUK there's so many jobs and
everybody wants to be on thewest end, everybody wants to
(22:14):
cruise ships there's.
There's a lot of uh sorry,there's a lot of performers,
yeah, and not that many jobs,yeah.
So you have to hustle and youhave to be kind, hard working,
you have to turn up on time, allof those things.
Here there's less performersand more work, so there's a
disconnect in that.
And in the times that we'veworked with local talent,
(22:37):
they've not turned up on time.
They've texted that day andsaid, oh, I can't actually do
today.
Can I just do rehearsalstomorrow?
They've come not knowing thelyrics, they've come not knowing
the harmonies, and it's beenreally, really hard work.
On top of that, the clients thatwe're working with have
specifically requested we bringin UK talent or international
talent, which has helped.
(22:58):
But that's not what we wantthis to be.
We want to build up a pool oftalent here, and I think there's
a much bigger game at play here, because if you have spent your
entire life training in the UK,dubai is not necessarily on
your radar to move out here forwork.
It's going to London, it'sgoing to New York, it's working
on the cruise ships where thebig shows are.
(23:20):
The reputation isn't here yetfor a performer to train at Lane
for three years and go.
My dream is to work in Dubai.
It's just not there yet anduntil it is, we're going to be
in this cycle all of the time.
How?
Ian Carless (23:34):
much do demographics play a part in that
, because obviously there's justmore people in the uk.
For example, is the environmentthat you have in the uk
actually attainable here in,here in the uae, or are we just
as a, as a country and as apopulace, just too small?
Amy Morris (23:50):
I don't think the culture within the entertainment
world is there yet, and sothere isn't the discipline and
the hunger, and it's because thepool is so small but there's so
many opportunities.
For example, the dancers inDubai a few years ago were
dancing with Beyonce.
Imagine that that wouldn'thappen in the UK to just get
(24:10):
that opportunity.
And so because theopportunities are like that here
, the discipline I have seenfrom my experience isn't the
same, because it's easier to getthose kind of jobs here, and so
for a company like us thatreally holds high standards with
regards to talent, it's made itquite difficult.
Ian Carless (24:32):
Moving on a little bit.
You're very active on LinkedInand you talk a lot about being
noticed and self-promotion andbeing your own brand.
Would I be right in readinginto some of your posts that
I've read that you've perhapsreceived some kickback from that
(24:52):
, and how much of that would yousay is just perhaps because
you're not afraid to putyourself out there, and how much
of it is down to gender as well?
Amy Morris (25:02):
Very, very interesting question.
So I'd say I've faced criticismfor maybe the past five years.
Now, five years ago it used tofloor me.
Now I honestly could not careless.
I could not care less and Ithink, which is a lovely place
to be yeah, it is, and I thinkI've just learned so much as
well from seeing other people inother industries who are the
(25:25):
voice of their industry, talkingabout things that really matter
, and a topic that I discuss alot.
Well, there's two topics One isbeing a female in business
being a female in this industry,in business and two is company
culture.
When I worked on ships, men gotpaid more than women.
Singers got paid more thandancers.
Men did way less than women butgot paid because us females had
(25:50):
to do the singing and thedancing whilst the males were
playing Candy Crush on thephones.
When I started openly speakingabout that on social media, I
got a lot of backlash from otherentertainment companies saying
you shouldn't be speaking aboutthat.
You know we should standtogether and I think a lot of
people thought I was speakingabout them.
(26:11):
But I got to the point where Ithought, if you think I'm
talking about you, that's a youproblem, not a me problem,
because if someone was speakingabout I don't know bullying in
the workplace on LinkedIn, Iwouldn't think is that about me?
Unless I was bullying people inthe workplace.
Ian Carless (26:28):
Which clearly you're not Exactly.
Amy Morris (26:30):
So that's when I really stopped caring in the
workplace, which clearly you'renot Exactly so that's when I
really stopped caring and I havehad a couple of incidents where
people have really gone in onme.
Who does she think she is onLinkedIn, posting like she's on
social media, taking otherentertainment companies down?
Never mentioned any otherentertainment companies.
I also speak about my ownexperiences, which weren't
pleasant.
When I was, you know, like Iwas being paid less, I was fat
(26:52):
shamed.
I was, I was a lot of things.
I'm allowed to speak about mypersonal experiences and
somebody needs to speak about it, because if we're going to make
a change in this industry, wecan't all just bury our heads in
the sand, and performers aregrateful that somebody's
actually talking about this andwhat I have seen, and whether
these entertainment companieswant to admit it or not, there
(27:14):
has been a shift in and, even ifit's just for face value,
companies are now starting tolook after performers, and very
publicly as well, which is fine.
At least you're doing it andthere has been a shift.
I've seen it myself.
So I'm glad that I've spoke outand I will continue to do that.
Ian Carless (27:38):
Talk to me a little bit more about, just on the
same topic, about being, youknow, a female in the
entertainment industry, andspecifically because I mean
you've got a company functioningin the UK and you've been here
now for the last 18 months, whatare some of the differences
that you've noticed, perhapswithin the attitude towards
women in the sector in the UKversus Dubai and the UAE?
Amy Morris (27:53):
Someone asked me this the other day because they
had a friend that said I'llnever go to the middle east
because women aren't respected.
I've faced more adversity inthe uk for being a woman than I
have here in the entertainmentindustry, and it might have been
similar in tv.
There's a boys club, yes, andif you're a woman and especially
and I still cling on to theword young a young woman.
(28:13):
I've been doing this 10 years.
So even when I was 30, I wasyoung and I was classed as too
young and female Young girldoesn't know what she's doing
and I ago that.
I've climbed the ranks acrossdifferent industries together
and now all the main contractsget circulated around the same
(28:37):
people and it's a lot harder toget in Over here.
So far and again, I've onlybeen here 18 months.
I face nothing but respect andI think it's because there's
people from all around the world.
A lot of the key decisionmakers that I've been working
with are female, that I haven'tactually faced any issues with
(28:58):
being female and we spent a lotof time out in Saudi, and, other
than one taxi man who wanted meto sit in the back because I
get travel sick at the front,Didn't like me sitting in the
front.
Other than that, from abusiness perspective it's been
the same.
It's been incredibly positive.
How refreshing is that yeah, ithas been, because even now, when
I go back to the uk and it'sthe same big players back there,
(29:18):
all male middle-aged men whodon't, who want I want me to
shut up on linkedin and don'twant me to speak out.
And you know I've taken acompletely different route to
any of my competitors in thepersonal branding.
I'm doing the podcast, I'mdoing the LinkedIn, I'm doing
the social media.
I enjoy that as well, probablythe performer in me, and I know
it's not well received amongstthose certain people.
(29:40):
But I had a.
I had a client who middle-agedman, very condescending to me I
don't work with him anymore toldme to put my big girl knickers
on in 2024 and I just thoughtthat that is, that's where we're
at.
But no one would say that to mehere or I haven't experienced
anything ever close to that yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
Ian Carless (30:02):
we were talking about entertainers and the work
opportunities that exist forthem here.
You were saying also thatperhaps you know at the moment
you know it's not onentertainers minds in the UK.
Oh, I want to end up in Dubai.
However, obviously in the last18 months so we've heard a lot
of talk and there are a lot ofplans for some of the big casino
(30:22):
operators to open in Dubai RasAl Khaimah.
Obviously, with those entitiescome huge opportunities for the
entertainment industry, becausethey put on more shows than
perhaps any other sector.
How do you think that willaffect the industry moving
forward here, and whatopportunities does that present
for you?
Amy Morris (30:42):
I think if the shows that are delivered are of the
standards that you would find inVegas, in London, in New York,
it could be a game changer.
But if you know, entertainmentcompanies are given three
minutes to put it together and50 quid.
We're in the same situation.
So it's got to be aboutrivaling these other parts of
(31:04):
the world and doing it to thatstandard.
It's got to be for that shiftto happen and I think there is
huge opportunity for that.
I want performers to graduateand go.
I hope I get a job in Dubai,but as it stands we have
performers that will do twomonths and that's it, because
it's just a very, very differentdynamic.
Ian Carless (31:26):
And what about Saudi Arabia?
I know I saw again on LinkedInthat you'd had.
Was it your first trip up there?
Amy Morris (31:31):
just recently no a third trip.
Ian Carless (31:33):
How important do you see that as a market for you
?
Amy Morris (31:36):
So Saudi actually really excites me because
obviously, in their strategy ofgrowth, entertainment plays a
huge part in that.
Entertainment and sport is likethe key driver for their growth
, and so it's refreshing to bepart of a strategy that is well
thought out, as opposed to let'sjust throw enough shit at the
(31:58):
wall and see what sticks.
That's not what they're doing,and every time we have these
meetings out there we had areally good meeting a couple of
weeks ago you feel like you're apart of a real plan yeah, now,
before we wrap up, there'sperhaps one other topic that I
want to bring up with you, andthat's mental health and
well-being.
Ian Carless (32:18):
Obviously, it's a big topic in just about every
industry and every walk of lifeat the moment.
What's been your experiencewith this and what have you done
differently with PopUp Globalthat perhaps you haven't seen
with other companies?
Amy Morris (32:36):
you haven't seen with other companies.
I've always suffered withanxiety, since I was a child.
I actually think now.
I see it as a bit of asuperpower because it drives me
to be the person that I am todayand I've got a really good
handle on it and I know how tokeep any severe anxiety at bay.
But when I worked on cruiseships so I was 22 when I first
went away I don't even think Iknew what anxiety was.
I obviously know now, Irecognize now what I was going
through.
I couldn't put a label on itbecause people didn't really
(32:58):
talk about it.
I used to just say I wasstruggling.
I used to call my mom every dayand I was struggling, but you
couldn't tell your boss oranyone on the ship oh, I've got
anxiety and I will alwaysremember that.
And that's a huge reason to whyI wanted the culture at pop-up
(33:19):
to be different.
If you came to the dance studioand you sprained your ankle,
you could say to thechoreographer I've sprained my
ankle, but why can't we say,feeling super anxious today?
So if I'm not myself?
That's why, yeah, we also haveum, an anonymous and completely
free to the user therapist.
So everybody that comes to workfor pop-up gets their number.
I never know who's used it.
I just get an invoice if I have, and it's completely anonymous
(33:40):
and free for them if they'reworking with us at the time I
don't know enough out here yetabout what uh culture is like.
Because it's been so early daysand, like I said, because we
bring so many people over, we'vejust kind of carried that with
us.
What I do know is in a lot ofour contracts we always have a
line for our happiness program.
(34:01):
99% of our clients are reallyon board with that here.
They ask us to take it out.
Ian Carless (34:07):
Interesting.
Amy Morris (34:07):
Yeah, which has been interesting.
So a lot of our clients knowthat that happiness budget goes
towards the welfare of thepeople.
Here they're like what's that?
And we explain that, no, don'tdo that.
So then we just take it out ofour bottom line because it's I
think that's what people miss isyou look after the people?
Ian Carless (34:26):
Yeah.
Amy Morris (34:27):
From a commercial standpoint it's saving you so
much money.
We have done five years nowwith the cruise line.
Never had a person leave.
You see people three, three,four show team members leave.
That's costing you thousands.
You invest in them from day dot, they'll stay.
Ian Carless (34:42):
Yeah, now, before we wrap up, there's one question
I've been asking everybody I'ma huge music lover, my vinyl
collection is uh expanding onceagain right um, what do you
listen to?
What's on your playlist?
I was gonna say turntable, butyou probably don't have a
turntable.
It's showing my age there,isn't it?
What's on your playlist?
Amy Morris (35:01):
Music is massive in our household.
Me and my husband both lovemusic.
You could stick on a 50splaylist.
We'd know every word 80s, 90s,house music.
My husband loves rap, R&B it'sreally eclectic and anyone that
listens to my playlist sayyou've got no thread.
We're going from LutherVandross to Shakira, just all
(35:23):
over the place.
Ian Carless (35:24):
What's the one that you think you keep coming back
to Mariah Carey?
Amy Morris (35:28):
MTV Unplugged Wow, I think it's a 1991 album.
Nothing hits like Mariah Careywhen you're getting ready in the
morning.
Ian Carless (35:35):
Yeah, that's interesting.
I to work for mtv and one of mygo-tos is actually also an mtv
unplugged, but it's nirvana, ohreally, yeah, I just I don't
know why.
Amy Morris (35:45):
I think it was so iconic, I think it reminds me of
being in the car on the way toschool with my mum who was
blasting out mariah carey, andnow me and my sister know every
word and the minute that introcomes in of emotions.
That's it.
Ian Carless (35:58):
Yeah, and then finally, amy, we're Q1 now of
2025.
What are you looking forward to?
Amy Morris (36:04):
We have some pretty big projects coming in this year
.
We've got one that we're justsigning off on.
We also have a massive Cirqueshow that we're delivering at
Ferrari Worlds this summer,which is going to be huge, and
then we're already planning forQ4.
And we are hoping that itdoesn't nearly kill me like last
year.
But, like I said earlier, we'rebeing far more selective.
(36:26):
We're probably doing four orfive big projects and then
that's it.
Ian Carless (36:30):
Fantastic.
Well, amy, I wished you all thebest for the future.
Thank you, and thank you forjoining me on the podcast.
Thank you, and thank you forjoining me on the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
Event News DXB was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast is a co-production
between Warehouse 4 and W4Podcast Studio Dubai, and if you
(36:54):
haven't done so already, pleasedo click that follow or
subscribe button.
See you next time.
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