In a city where headlines move markets and reputation can define growth, PRHub.ae has positioned itself as a catalyst for visibility rather than just publicity. Led by Vlada Lomova, CEO and Co-founder of PRHub.ae, the Dubai-based agency blends strategic storytelling with global media access, helping tech, B2B, and B2C brands transform ideas into newsworthy moments. From securing features in leading international publications to building executive personal brands and shaping industry narratives, PRHub operates at the intersection of communication strategy and business impact.
In this exclusive interview, Vlada Lomova offers a candid look into the evolving PR landscape, sharing how brands can cut through noise, build credibility in competitive markets, and turn strategic communication into measurable growth.
Dubai’s PR and startup ecosystem has matured quickly. What gap did you see that led you to build PRHub.ae in such a crowded market?
Dubai isn’t as crowded as people assume. It’s active, but a lot of PR still sits at the extremes: either short-term publicity pushes or very corporate communications that don’t fit startup reality. The gap I saw was a need for founder-ready communications: PR that translates a fast-moving product roadmap into a consistent narrative, protects reputation during inevitable pivots, and builds trust with investors, regulators, partners, and talent.
PRHub.ae positioning is built around that: strategic storytelling, credible media outcomes, and community-first initiatives that match the region’s culture and pace.
From your vantage point, where do startups most often misunderstand the role of PR: strategy, visibility, or long-term credibility?
Most misunderstand PR as visibility-first when the real leverage lies in strategy and credibility. Visibility is a byproduct. Startups often ask for coverage, but the stronger question is: What should the market remember about us in 12-18 months? That’s narrative discipline, aligning product truth, proof points, and thought leadership with business milestones.
PR is a trust-building system: message consistency, third-party validation, internal alignment, and repetition across cycles. Especially in Dubai, where ecosystems are international and reputations travel fast, the long game matters and credibility compounds. So, PR is about earning attention and keeping it without overpromising.
As a woman leading in the regional PR and startup ecosystem, what pressures exist that aren’t always visible from the outside?
There are the obvious pressures: being highly visible, consistently present, and balancing authority with approachability. The less visible pressure is the double performance layer: you’re expected to deliver outcomes and carry the emotional labour of the room, smoothing tension, mentoring, mediating, protecting client confidence, and often doing it quietly.
In PR specifically, there’s also a unique expectation that you represent your company publicly while absorbing private stress from timelines and reputational risk. That can become a constant background load.
I’ve learned that sustainability comes from boundaries, strong processes, and a support system, not from trying to be resilient every day. Leadership is not an endless capacity. It’s about building an operating model where the team can perform without burning out.
Recent research shows 72% of founders experience anxiety or burnout, and 87% of startup employees say work impacts their mental health. Do those numbers align with what you see among founders and teams in the UAE?
Directionally, yes. The intensity matches what we see locally, even if the exact percentages differ by sample and geography. In the UAE, you see a clear trigger: hyper-competition. The headline is consistent, and the system often rewards speed, however, all these help to drive growth.
Startup culture celebrates speed and resilience. Where do you see that tipping into sustained emotional or creative exhaustion?
Speed is powerful when it’s used intentionally. It becomes challenging when it shifts from a deliberate strategy to a constant state. At that point, teams may start operating reactively rather than strategically, responding to pressure instead of clear priorities.
Creative fatigue often appears subtly: ideas feel repetitive, campaigns become louder rather than sharper, and there’s little time for reflection. Emotionally, it can show up as decision fatigue or a sense that urgency never fully switches off.
In startups, where goals continuously evolve, the pace rarely slows on its own. That’s why deliberate pauses and structured resets are important. They protect both creativity and long-term performance.
PR thrives on momentum and constant output. How does that demand affect leaders behind the scenes, especially founders who are also the public face of their companies?
Founders often operate in dual roles, building the company while representing it externally. PR adds another layer: shaping the narrative in real time. Even positive milestones require visibility through interviews, panels, announcements, and stakeholder communication.
The challenge is that founders are expected to project clarity and confidence, even during periods of uncertainty. This expectation can be demanding over time.
That’s why PR should be structured to support founders, focusing on fewer, more strategic touchpoints, strong message discipline, and a pace that builds long-term credibility. Momentum matters, but sustainable leadership also requires space to reset.
You didn’t respond to these pressures with a wellness framework or productivity tool, but with a culturally rooted game. Why did play feel like the right intervention?
In this region, the strongest interventions are often the ones that feel social and culturally familiar. As a PR agency, we also want to make it fun while keeping it meaningful.
A game allows people to talk about stress, risk, and setbacks without stigma, because they are discussing the board rather than their personal lives. Desert Fortunes isn’t anti-productivity; it’s pro-sustainability. It’s a reset mechanism that aligns with how founders actually decompress.
What does Desert Fortunes offer that traditional corporate wellness initiatives often fail to address?
Desert Fortunes is tailored to the UAE startup journey, designed with local cultural references, and built to be shared.
It also reframes rest as a strategic choice. The “karak chai” squares are a metaphor founders instantly understand: pauses aren’t a luxury, they’re fuel. The ladders and ropes normalise the rollercoaster, wins, delays, regulation, competition, without attaching moral judgment.
And because it’s played in groups, it strengthens connections. That’s the missing layer in many wellness programs: not information, but a sense of belonging and permission to slow down.
Do you think burnout in startups is still treated as an individual weakness rather than a systemic leadership issue?
The perspective is gradually shifting. Burnout used to be framed largely as a question of personal resilience, but today there is growing awareness that it is closely connected to leadership style, workload design, and company culture.
In fast-moving startup environments, where urgency and ambition are constant, even highly capable people can feel depleted if priorities are unclear or recovery time is missing. Global data supports this broader view: BCG reports that around half of employees worldwide experience burnout, and inclusive leadership significantly reduces the risk.
Sustainable startups see wellbeing not as an individual challenge, but as a leadership responsibility.
Looking ahead, which founders and leaders will actually last in Dubai’s startup ecosystem: those who push relentlessly, or those who build space to pause and reset?
The founders who last are the ones who can scale without self-erasing. Dubai rewards ambition, but it also rewards adaptability and reputation, both of which require mental clarity over time.
A relentless push can work in short bursts, especially around launches and fundraising. But ecosystems mature, competition rises, and the game becomes one of endurance. Founders who build pause into the system, through delegation, stronger teams, clearer priorities, and genuine recovery, make better decisions and keep creativity alive.
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