#5 Léa Kiwan-Daniel Director MSc Global Luxury & Management, SKEMA Dubai BS

Video Description

🎙️ Executive Coffee Club | Dr. Léa Kiwan-Daniel In this episode of the Executive Coffee Club, Philippe welcomes Dr. Léa Kiwan-Daniel, Director of the MSc Global Luxury Management at SKEMA Business School Dubai, Associate Professor, and co-founder of LÉMI & PARTNERS, a consultancy firm specialising in digital solutions, training, and development for the luxury sector. Born in Beirut and educated in France, Léa's journey has been shaped by movement, contrast, and close observation of how people work under pressure. Trained in marketing and management sciences, she completed a PhD on robotic surgery and spent several years inside operating rooms, observing how surgeons, nurses, and machines interact when precision leaves no room for error. It was there, far from classrooms and boardrooms, that her interest in human judgment, expertise, and trust was forged. That experience still informs how she thinks about leadership, education, and luxury. Over time, Léa built a career that moves fluidly between academia and industry. She advised organizations on strategy, digital transformation, and market entry while continuing to teach, research, and publish. Her path into luxury was not accidental. The same discipline, attention to detail, emotional intelligence, and sense of experience that define medicine and advanced technology are equally central to high-end brands. Today, from Dubai, she leads a luxury program designed to stay close to reality, shaped through direct collaboration with industry partners such as LVMH. Her approach is grounded and demanding. Luxury is learned through people, not theory alone. Retail matters. Soft skills matter. Storytelling, judgment, and presence remain irreplaceable, even in an age of accelerating technology. The conversation explores Dubai’s emergence as a global hub for education and luxury, the shifting expectations of Gen Z, the move toward quieter and more experiential forms of luxury, and the growing tension between innovation and authenticity. Leah also reflects openly on confidence, imposter syndrome, and the value of building a career that connects different worlds rather than staying safely within one. A thoughtful and engaging conversation about education, luxury, and what it takes to remain relevant as industries evolve. ☕ Welcome to the Executive Coffee Club. #ExecutiveCoffeeClub #LuxuryLeadership #SKEMABusinessSchool #GlobalLuxury #DubaiEducation #LeadershipStories #FutureOfWork