A Creative Career Can Start With One Bold Pivot

A creative career rarely starts with a perfect plan, and Deena Abdul proves it. What begins as a handbag line and a love of fashion turns into a bigger mission: learn people’s stories, shape them into powerful media, and help brands (and humans) show up with clarity.

We talk with Deena, founder of Amunet Collective, about the real mechanics behind brand strategy and creative direction. She shares how marketing campaigns work best when they’re built on identity and psychology, not just aesthetics, and why the way we present ourselves is often a form of self-expression we don’t fully name. We also get personal about drive: growing up independent, competing in sports, and developing the “we’ll figure it out” mindset that keeps entrepreneurs moving when the path is unclear.

Then the conversation expands into travel, culture, and a unique niche: sports tourism. Deena explains how bringing work “back home” to Egypt becomes both a business pillar and a way to create personalized, behind-the-scenes experiences that go far beyond the typical tourist checklist. We close with a mindset shift you can use immediately: nervousness and excitement feel the same, so you get to choose the label and the outcome.

If you care about storytelling, brand positioning, mindset, and building a life that stays connected to your roots, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a spark, and leave a review with the biggest idea you’re taking from the conversation.

Transcript

Welcome And Big Purpose

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Who's Your Mama, a podcast focusing on tomorrow's future, which are our kids, educators, teachers, parents, all-encompassing with the goal of understanding that our brain is a muscle that we can exercise to control the speed in the direction that we want. Let's go, y'all. The time is now. Dina Abdul of Ammunit Collective, welcome to Who's Your Mama? Thank you. Thank you so much. So happy to be here. We're happy to have you. Um, there are so many different areas we can dive into. Um, but let's just start out with um you are you work in many creative spaces within your brand. But if we can go back to the beginning for people that don't know, um, what motivated you, what inspired you to start this company? And let's start there.

From Handbags To Storytelling

SPEAKER_00 0:58

No, awesome. Thank you. So Amunet Collective is a creative and brand media strat like agency. So it's it's a lot. So when we think of media, there has to be a positioning that we're able to present to the world, right? So it was a lot of different factors. Um, I got into media and production. Actually, this is funny. Um, I had launched a handbag line back in 2011. And um at that time, my husband was playing in the NBA, and I would, and I had always this creative force. Like I wanted to make stuff, right? I enjoyed envisioning something and then making it come to life. It was like poof, you know, right? Um, so I just saw such a huge opportunity in the fashion space with uh designing handbags, especially manufacturing them back home in Egypt where I was from and all that. So we did that, right? I designed, I manufactured, I showcased, I sold, and then I got to a place where I was like, okay, I need to market. I need to run campaigns, I need to tell stories. And this is where the shift began to happen. Um, I ran a really successful campaign like in 2013, and it was capturing the stories of like the NBA wives and anyone in the women in the sports space. Um, and it was like this fun campaign of like describe your purse based on your personality, like what's in your purse, right? And the bags, of course, were beautiful anyway, but it was just so much fun to hear the psychology behind purchasing a purse when it comes to women.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

And that's that's part of the reason of the hats behind, like what's behind the hat? Who do we become? What what are we trying to express? Sometimes it could just be, I like the hat, nothing more. But there was, I started there was a there is psychology behind what we carry internally, externally, how we present ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

And express, yeah, it's expression. Like what we're expressing is it can be like how you feel. Um, and I'm very much in like I love just the fashion world. So I used to dress and um like it would people didn't understand my style, but it was like this is something Dina would my friends would call me, like, I just saw something you would wear. This is just so Dina, right? So I started realizing that's how people like branded me.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Um, my afro is my brand. Um, my curls, my the shape of my body. So anyway, like all of these things just kind of began to build like like Lego, you know, pieces, right? So I ran that campaign, it was wonderful, but then I just I hit a point where I was like, I actually really enjoyed learning stories. And I realized when I was younger and I would go home to Egypt, I would like go sit on the curb or the business next door, or just and I was, you know, Egypt is a very friendly place, right? So I just liked to in talk to people and listen to their stories, and every person had a very fascinating story, okay. Um, and then I remember I had this huge love of commercials, like when a new commercial came out, and you know, our ancient times of like 1997 or whatever. Yeah, I would the time before the 2000s, right? Those black our kids are like, You're so ancient. You were born in the 1900s. I'm like, bro, don't do that. Um, I I remember getting excited about new commercials that would drop, like during basketball games. I remember getting excited about new movies. I would watch, like, one of my favorite shows was like Quantum Leap. Yes. I don't know if you ever used it. Yes, no, no, 100%. Yes. I love, I love all of that stuff. And so I I realized I had a very specific genre, like law and order. Um, I just learned a lot about myself over the years. So it was very interesting. And then fast forward, I went to college for medicine. I went into sports there, like physical therapy. I wanted to work for professional athletes. I loved sports, I played basketball, all that great stuff. And that's where I met my husband. So um apparently, apparently, he was like one of the biggest basketball players I didn't know. So, so I will never forget. Like, he he invited me to like opening night, our freshman year. I didn't know what was going on. You gotta understand, I was like, you know, I'm an immigrant from Egypt. I is a first generation immigrant. I didn't know the rules of sports, I just played sports, right? Um, I didn't know how far it could take you, and so slowly that started to unravel to opportunities. And, you know, I remember in college, even though I was in like pre-med, I ran and produced fashion shows. And I don't know, I remember my partner, Jasmine Jones. Uh I don't know how we managed to, but we used to run the biggest fashion shows on campus, and we had like deals with like Victoria's Secret and the mall, like, and I would when we talk about it now, I'd be like, Well, how did we do that, Jazz? And she's like, I have no idea. But again, it kept leading me to the next step and the next step. So it was literally like a building, it was like building blocks.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Would you say because I think there's a but I moved to, I mean, I've lived in London as London, New York. I'm originally from Dallas and been in LA for 13 years. I think about when I was young and I moved to London, there is some beauty of you don't know what you don't know.

unknown 7:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

And I believe there's a lot of that that then goes back to nature versus nurture. Yes. And so there is, even though you didn't know, there was something innately in you and and your partner and what you were attracting in that of um wanting curiosity, like you said, exploration and determination to grow and build and push yourself. What would you say if you could describe in maybe a couple words what is in you that

Drive Built Through Family And Sports

SPEAKER_01 7:55

has created that drive and how have you supported that as you've gotten older?

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Um I'll say this I have five brothers, so I was the only girl. Yeah, I was kind of always solo. I read a lot. Um, I always was very independent. So there were things I would handle for my parents before they got home from work. Um, my dad got sick at a really young age, so we kind of took on the responsibility of figuring things out. Um, and we say I to this day, even our business partners, like, well, we gotta figure it out. We just we got there's always a solution we have to look for. And I've never been afraid taking literally the unbeaten path. Like it's I just we I be but that comes in from the creative side. Like, how creative can we get to find another avenue?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

And the athletic side too, the fire in the belly, because I played volleyball, and so that is something where competitive, yeah. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

You're right, you're right. And playing all sports, I would say the only sport I didn't play is volleyball. I played everything else. That competitive sports produces an infrastructure of discipline, competitiveness, eagerness, and then that nervous feeling you used to get before you go on the court or on the track or on the field.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

A good part of fear because the flip of the coin, like one that drives you if it doesn't ignite, I call it spark versus trigger. If it doesn't spark something you a little bit, you're not pushing yourself, but under no knowing how to manage that and in a positive manner.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

And being on stage, I used to like produce the shows on campus and actually get on. I used to belly dance. So that feeling, that nervousness, which once I found out the feeling of nervousness and excitement are the same, like uh hormone and chemical in your body. I always I share this with my children now. Nervousness and excitement are the same thing. You just say, I'm excited to be here, I'm excited to do this, I'm excited to find out, I'm excited. It's you we do sometimes face situations where we form this fear that can hold us back. Um, just like I was telling you earlier, you're inspiring me to get back into the podcast world, even though we produce podcasts for clients, but there's the there was a fear that I was pushing, you know. I keep putting it aside, putting it aside, but it's it's coming from something, right? Um, what I learned over the years is I look back and I'll be like, well, I did that. Look at what we created, look at what I used to do, or there's nothing I feel can't be done. So I we've I think really, really big and start out small. And then our big picture is what we're aiming for. So I remember when I graduated college, I went to Egypt for like a family visit. And I remember standing on the balcony in Alexandria and just looking over the water, and I was just like, anything I do moving forward, I want to make sure I bring it home. Anything, whether it's designing the bags, anything with sports, whatever I figure out that I'm gonna do in my life, I'm bringing it home. And that's exactly what I did. And to think like a like what we're 21, you're young. Like, how do you where does this come from? Where does this fire come from? Is just I made it a point, and it was just something I stayed on the path on to like forever. Um, bringing it home also allowed my children to be able to go home, right? To go visit Egypt constantly, meet meet new people, see their families on a regular basis. So I remember when I first moved to the US, I hadn't visited home in like 20 years. So the one opportunity after I graduated college, I was like, I'm going to Egypt. That's like what I want to gift myself, right? Um, and from then on, I was like, I'm never not gonna be able to access the world. Whatever I do is gonna have to allow me to do that travel.

Bringing It Home Through Sports Tourism

SPEAKER_00 12:18

And this were even a third pillar in our company is the sports tourism. I had to implement that travel sector where I'm able to escape.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

So can you expand on that? What do you mean by sports tourism so that people know listening? They don't assume because it it could there's different avenues that people's minds can go down.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

So this is funny. Um, sports tourism. So I love travel, I love fashion. Um, and I I felt when I moved to the States I got stuck for a very long time because our parents couldn't just afford six kids to travel back and forth, right? Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I mean, when I lived in London, I would say to people that in some ways, you know, I growing up in Texas, I could travel uh Europe, like you could travel Texas. I mean, there's 50 countries within one, and in terms of size, geography, and and then there's other components.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

So it's you just have to get out of the US. It's like so, even in Egypt, like you're able to travel everywhere in the region. Um, and that's what I did. So I'd go visit Egypt and I would like, hey, I'm gonna take a five-day trip to Turkey. I'll see you guys in a few days, right? And it's a two-hour flight. And then I started doing that more and more. Um, of course, my family thought I was insane. They're like, You can't, you're a woman, you can't travel by yourself. Like, but I was just like, no, I'm good. So with that, I just I saw the world differently, and I wanted to make sure that was part of um something we were able to provide. So when like as time went by, you know, I have friends, they'd be like, Hey, I'm going to Egypt. Anything you recommend? Hey, I'm trying, like, our family's considering a summer trip to Egypt. So I started realizing that, you know, you initially, as friends, used to help people out, right? And then I started to realize, like, you know, anything we do with sports, when my husband playing was in like when he was playing in the MBM was like, hey, you know, you could do go do something in Egypt with basketball. The add-on is that, okay, now you're here, explore. Explore. Exactly. Like, so that became I turned that into a program where you can go do a three-day camp. Um, a three day like coaches and trainers want to go and do activations in Egypt. Professional athletes want to go, and that's what's happening now. There's a lot of professional athletes that actually travel to Egypt, they go hang out for a couple weeks um in the North Coast, they travel to like Italy, to Turkey. It's a hub, but it's there's also the culture and the history. Who doesn't want to go see the world, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:59

So some people don't, and you don't know what you don't know until you do, but having something and creating a a place where somebody's done a lot of times, I think that we're all hold ourselves back based upon the things we tell ourselves of, well, I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go, I don't know, and and so we create restrictions. But you opened up and expanded that to present a platform, it sounds like, where if this is what you say you want, here here's what you can here's what you can do. Now you can absolutely do it.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

And then come to find out, it was already being done, but it wasn't, it's not personalized, right? So when when friends and families wanted to travel to Egypt, um I want to go with you. I want you to come with us, you know, and I'm not gonna say no. I want to go to Egypt, I want to go home, I want to go see my family, right? I want to show you the places that people don't see. I want you to go to restaurants that I enjoy going to, not to give you those always that tourist space, but I want you to go to the city.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

You're getting it as if you you grew up there, you it it is behind the scenes, but personalized, like you said, for your experience to see things in through somebody else's eyes, but through what they're searching for.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Exactly. And uh mind you, don't forget, I I didn't get to visit home for a long time. So when I started going, it was like I was exploring my own country, and the moments that I enjoyed, I wanted to share it. And you can do this, and you can like it, it just became part of my identity and my brand. And if you talk to me, if if I meet someone new today, you gotta visit Egypt. Like, literally, it just became part of me.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

So well, it's inspiring me to want to go. It's actually been on my list, and I through life and all of that. This is the longest I've gone without traveling, and it has been top five places. So truly, and I I will and I'll ask you about some other places. I I would love to have you come back on because there's so many other questions I would have for you, and I know people listening would too, because there's so many different layers and facets to you as as a as a strong woman, business creator, uh, and also your brand.

Advice To Her Younger Self

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Um but before we go, I I I would like to ask you what if you could tell right now your younger self something, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Imagination is key, like whatever you can imagine, you can really create. There's literally no limit to it.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

So which kind of goes full circle to the fear of like our limitations so often, regardless of where you come from, a lot of that is us holding ourselves back. But that's why a huge part of why I did I started Who's Your Mama is is sharing. I think after the pandemic, people are much more open to share. They're like, what the fly and flip happened, but let let us water the grass where we're standing. I said this to you before spread the fertilizer and water it beyond, because this is how we grow.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Yeah, no, absolutely. It's all about connecting and uniting and sharing. Um, when you relate to your community, to the world, you realize we're all dealing with the same thing. And we're not very different.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

We're much more similar than we are different. Very much very and that is the beauty. And thank you so much for coming on Who's Your Mama. I would I would be honored if you came on again. And this has been a beautiful exchange. You you've inspired me in in ways that uh uh that I will talk next time about. But uh thank you for your time. And as we always say on Who's Your Mama, let's go, y'all. The time is now.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yes, let's go, y'all. The time is now.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Thank you for tuning into Who's Your Mama? And I look forward to collaborating from a community standpoint for the next episodes.