It’s often said that ‘mother knows best’, but for Angela Selkirk, the first time her colleagues dubbed her ‘the mother of events industry’, her reaction was less than enthusiastic. “I didn’t know how I felt about this,” she recalled, discussing the incident, which happened earlier in her career before she even had her own children. “I’m so proud of being one of the few women in a leadership position in the region, and it felt like that achievement was being minimised.”
Yet while the wording may have missed the mark initially, Selkirk later realised that the comment was not meant as an affront to her hard-earned technical expertise or operational excellence, but instead it reflected her characteristics as a leader. “I’m totally fine with that term now – in fact, it’s quite an honour,” she commented. “I understand now that it is more about how I try to foster a positive environment in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive, while still ensuring that projects are progressing as we need them to.”
Today, Selkirk is a mother in every sense of the word; away from work, she and her husband are raising two sons, who have grown up alongside her career, visiting event sites and watching their mother’s journey unfold from backstage. Professionally, she has continued to develop her leadership philosophy, becoming a mentor, advocate and trusted leader to countless colleagues throughout the industry.
Across more than 16 years in the Middle East’s live events industry, Selkirk has built a reputation for delivering some of the region’s most ambitious projects, while sticking firmly to her leadership ethos.
Whether managing complex crowd operations at Abu Dhabi’s biggest concerts for Flash Entertainment, overseeing one of Expo 2020 Dubai’s busiest zones, helping shape the future of King Salman Park, or now leading MDLBEAST’s events production, she has consistently placed people at the centre of the equation.
Now, as MDLBEAST’s newly appointed Executive Director of Events & Experiences, Selkirk finds herself at the centre of Saudi Arabia’s evolving entertainment sector.
Here, TPiMEA sits down with Selkirk to discuss her unconventional route into events, the lessons learned from some of the Middle East’s biggest projects, and why for her, “operations are built at the speed of trust”.
Photos: MDLBEAST
