Dubai: Diana Rustam Kyzy, 25, didn’t choose Dubai – the city chose her. It pushed her out of her comfort zone, into a career she never expected, and a life she once only dreamed of having.
The Kyrgyzstan national was 18, and just out of high school in her village of Novopokrovka, when her mother gave her the news. Kyzy said: “My mum was already working in Dubai… she bought the flight ticket without telling me and simply said: 'You’re flying.' I remember crying on the way to the airport and thinking: 'What am I doing? Where am I going? How will I manage without knowing any English?' Apart from my village, I had seen almost nothing of the world.”
Like most well-meaning mums, Kyzy’s mother had faith in her daughter. She knew she could Dubai-it – achieve excellence in record time – if she put her mind to it: “She believed I would have a better future. She dreamed that I would work in a luxury boutique like Dior or Saint Laurent, so before I came, she even had me train as a make-up artist. That’s still my little second profession.”
As for Kyzy’s expectations? They were framed through YouTube windows – before coming to Dubai, she said she watched videos to get to know the city. She remembers viewing the Dubai Mall’s dancing fountain, and the New Year’s fireworks at Burj Khalifa, with wonder. The Dubai she had heard of, and was in awe of, seemed far beyond her reach.
Only once she arrived and spent time here, did she realise the immense consideration and warmth that existed behind the scenes of luxury: “Dubai amazed me with its scale and, at the same time, with its kindness. It took me a long time to get used to it. And back then, I had no idea how many opportunities this city would give me.”
Starting from zero
Once she landed in 2019, Kyzy got to work, looking for a job. Over those first few years, she wore many different hats, working in all kinds of positions – from working in beauty salons, to taking on sales roles in different companies.
But it was her first job – folding clothes at H&M – that stands out in her memory, because it’s where she learned to speak English. Kyzy said: “It was a huge store, and nobody spoke Russian. When customers asked me something, I would run to my colleagues for help, and sometimes, I even hid from customers between the racks. It’s funny now, but at the time I had no choice: I had to start speaking. And I did.”
Before arriving in Dubai, Kyzy enrolled in a month-long English course – it didn’t help. And even though she had learned English at school, she wasn’t fluent in speaking it. So, in Dubai, she taught herself the language. She said: “I watched YouTube, listened to music, memorised words and whole sentences, and made friends online just to practice. But what truly made me speak was my first job at H&M.”
A new direction
From that first role, of folding clothes, Kyzy moved up to becoming a personal assistant for a real estate broker at For You Real Estate, in 2025. Although the role was temporary, it gave her a comprehensive education in real estate, and how the industry works in Dubai – it took her life in a whole new direction.
Kyzy said: “During that year, I learned the foundation of everything I know today. Not from books, but in practice: I was involved in real deals and had to solve problems on my own. That kind of experience is something nobody can teach you. At the same time, I realised that my vision of how to work with clients was different, and I wanted to build it my own way.”
She graduated to working as a broker herself, in the same company. She began focusing on villas, particularly ones in Al Barari – an area she had developed an expertise in – and partnered with her colleague, Daniil, to work together to land deals.
When everything stopped
However, fate threw them a curveball in early 2026.
In the early days of the recent regional tensions, “the market went quiet… many clients put their plans on hold. That was the hardest moment. I had no savings and no one to rely on financially. I also support my family, so I could only count on myself. I was on edge, and I started looking for another job to do alongside real estate.”
She said, looking back, she’s grateful nobody hired her.
Her experience in Dubai taught her “that nothing is impossible, but nothing falls into your lap either. Dubai doesn’t tolerate weakness, and it doesn’t reward people who just wait.”
So, Kyzy continued to Dubai-it, despite the challenges. She used that relatively quiet period to research, “drive through every villa community in Dubai and study each one.”
And right after that, she landed her first deal – for Dh50 million.
The deal that changed everything
“It came exactly when I had almost given up, and it gave me the faith to keep going. The first thing I did was tell my family. Everyone was so happy, because they had been worried about me and we had all been through an emotional rollercoaster together. It confirmed one simple thing for me: nothing is impossible. Only hard work and the right mindset bring results.”
Kyzy said the deal came through neither from connections, nor sheer luck. It came about because she Dubai-it by building a relationship with her client that was, at its core, “clear, honest, and respectful of their time”.
She met the villa owner through a completely different property than the one that was sold. “He was selling a villa in Jumeirah Islands, and I contacted him about it. When we presented our client to him, he trusted us enough to open the door to his villa in Al Barari as well.”
That deal was far from standard, according to Kyzy, who said the negotiation process was “long and not easy... but the moment it closed, I felt huge relief and new strength.”
The deal gave Kyzy the confidence to continue to build on her knowledge and expertise. It gave her the confirmation she needed – she was doing something right.
Kyzy said: “Today, Al Barari is my core community. I know it villa by villa, I know the owners personally, and I often know which homes will come to the market before they are listed.”
Building something to last
As she celebrates her wins, Kyzy said she looks to her own journey to stay grounded: “I remember starting with nothing, so I treat every client and every owner with respect. I always tell the truth, even when it costs me a deal, because I want relationships that last, not one-time transactions.”
Dubai plays an immense role in her growth – both professionally and personally. Kyzy said: “Dubai gave me the experience that made me who I am today. It shaped me into someone strong and determined, someone who doesn’t give up. And it gave me a home: I met all my closest friends here, and I’m very grateful for that.”
Now, Kyzy is focusing on living up to the Dubai-it standard.
She wants to keep growing in the prime villa market and wants to build a name that buyers and property owners trust. She also wants “to keep becoming the strong person this city taught me to be, and to keep supporting my family” – particularly her mother, who is now seeing her daughter live the Dubai-it dream she always knew she could.