Joanah Mozo is the owner of Edutech Training Services and Joanah FZ LLC. JONATHAN YBERA/EXPAT MEDIA

The burgeoning megacity of Dubai is a treasure trove of multi-million facilities management projects, and a long-time Filipina resident and entrepreneur says she has cracked the code to efficient facilities management and how to boost one’s chances of getting shortlisted for tenders or bids in this specialized business. Joanah Mozo, the owner of Edutech Training Services and Joanah FZ LLC where she is also senior FM consultant, has found a niche in training professionals in the facilities management industry. The Filipino entrepreneur and mechanical engineer extraordinaire, who has lived in Dubai in the last 16 years, opened her own training and consultancy firm after clients in big firms and multinational companies inspired her. Joanah found a distinct advantage after moving to Dubai in 2007. In no-time, she developed a specialized process that has proven very effective in the UAE. “There were very few female mechanical engineers in Dubai at the time. I sometimes had to assert myself when clients weren’t too trusting, but my work always spoke for me,” she says. She was in charge of designing power-using machines in Dubai’s high-rises, in various systems such as heating, ventilation, refrigeration, air-conditioning, plumbing, and fire safety. With her expertise, Joanah found herself being asked by peers for training in improving maintenance processes and costing for bids for facilities management projects. “It was just a side hustle before. I only asked them to pay Dh30 or Dh50 for a full-day training,” she says. Now, her specialized training courses draw professionals from the UAE and the GCC, who pay upwards of Dh2,000 for a full course. “For training, my specialty is facilities management costing and estimation. I’m the only one handling that here,” she says. Her training courses have now expanded to cover health and safety, automotive, property management, and soon, administration management. Her students have the advantage of being recommended for specialist roles at partner companies. “The last workshop you have has helped me a lot as my costings are always shortlisted. The last three tenders I got shortlisted because of the strategies I learned from the workshop,” Camilo Dignos, an engineer, wrote after completing one of Joanah’s training courses.

From soap seller to serial entrepreneur

Training isn’t the only thing that Joanah dabbles with. “When I started my business, someone said, ‘Is Joanah struggling in Dubai that she is now selling soap?’ I said to myself, ‘Just wait. When I come home, I’ll give you a dozen bars of soap,’” Joanah says with a chuckle. The feisty Filipina doesn’t dwell on detractors. “You don’t fuel negativity with negativity. Business should thrive in a positive way,” she says. Joanah Mozo is the owner of Edutech Training Services and Joanah FZ LLC. The Dubai-based serial entrepreneur started selling soap and her line of footwear during the pandemic, opening her trading company Joanah FZE LLC. She then expanded with training and consultancy firm Edutech Training Services, working with professionals and some of the big companies in the UAE. Her next venture is Kape at Kakanin, a coffee shop that will serve gourmet Philippine “healthy coffee” in Dubai. “Everyone is asking, ‘Why are you doing so many things at the same time?’ I told them, when I was working, I had three roles that I needed to fill in my 8 to 5 every day. I learned time management,” Joanah shares. No stranger to juggling roles, the long-time Dubai expat was a mechanical engineer and university professor before relocating to the emirate in 2007 to join her husband. She started as a sales agent before going into facilities management where she thrived. Though she rose up the corporate ladder, it was her high-risk pregnancy in 2019 that made her pause and think about what would enrich her life. “I told my husband I wanted to go into business. I wanted to start something for myself,” she said. Setting up her general trading business, Joanah said she learned how to sell products. “I was out of the box because I didn’t have any idea how to sell,” she says, adding that it drew her out of her shell and helped her connect with more people. It also sparked another idea: training and consultancy services. Next, she has her eyes set on the food and beverage sector. The self-confessed foodie and coffee lover says she will be introducing healthy Philippine coffee through a shop she plans to open in Dubai soon. “I discovered this healthy coffee being manufactured in the Philippines. It’s a great way to promote Philippine-made coffee while also helping our local coffee manufacturers and farmers,” she says. When asked about her secret to success, Joanah says: “I’m like coffee, 3 in 1.” She looks forward to “multiplying herself” by creating “more opportunities for the community”. ICA/Expat Media A condensed version of story also appears in the Expat Media Special Edition magazine. Reach out to Edutech Training Services on edutechtrainingservices.com
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