At 12 years old, Rana Sabra sat by her classroom window in Lebanon, studying the billboard across the street. Every day, she wondered: Why those words? Why those colors? What makes someone stop and choose?
That curiosity never left. It became a two-decade career helping businesses turn ideas into impact across the MENA region, Europe, and the United States.
But the moment everything clicked wasn’t in a boardroom. It was sitting in a rural village, teaching underprivileged women how to sell their handmade products. Watching them realize their work had value. Seeing them build something that mattered.
That’s when Dr. Rana Sabra understood: marketing isn’t about billboards or algorithms. It’s about helping people believe their dream is possible, and showing them how to make it real.
The Work: Strategy That Fits Your Life (Not Someone Else’s Formula)
For over 20 years, Rana has worked with multinational companies, international development agencies, and entrepreneurs who refuse to treat their business like a cookie-cutter template.
She founded RIZE Global in 2012 in because she kept seeing the same problem: founders burning out trying to keep up with trends that didn’t fit their lives, their resources, or their vision.
Her approach is different. She starts with digging past the polished elevator pitch to find the fire that made you start in the first place. Because that’s what will carry you through the hard parts. That’s what makes your marketing actually work.
Social media? It’s a tool. A powerful one. But it’s one tool, not the whole toolbox. Rana builds marketing strategies around your life, your dreams, and what you actually have to work with. Not the other way around.
She holds a doctorate in Consumer Behavior from Grenoble Ecole de Management, with advanced training from Columbia University and MIT. She’s spoken on four TEDx stages across three countries including the USA, United Kingdom, and Mexico. She’s trained thousands of executives and entrepreneurs worldwide.
But here’s what matters more: she knows what it’s like to wait too long for permission that never comes.
The Lesson She Learned the Hard Way
When Rana moved to the United States, she thought she needed more credentials before she could start. More degrees. More exposure. More proof she was “ready.”
So she waited. And studied. And collected certifications.
Until she finally started, and realized she’d been ready years earlier.
Now, she helps others skip that painful detour. Start before you feel ready. Evolve as you go. Stop waiting for external validation to give you permission to build what you already know you’re capable of.
The Room She Built: The Global Business Women (GBW)
Rana created The Global Business Women because she was looking for a room that didn’t exist.
Not another networking group with surface-level small talk. Not another “empowerment” event heavy on inspiration, light on strategy.
She wanted the female version of a men’s majlis, where business happens. Where people share real numbers, real challenges, real opportunities. Where support means opening doors, not just cheering from the sidelines.
She couldn’t find it. So she built it! First in London, now in Scottsdale, Arizona.
But there’s another reason she created GBW: her daughters.
She wants them to grow up in a world where there’s already a thriving community of women who will guide them, challenge them, and support them when they’re ready to build something of their own. Because when Rana started, she didn’t have that. And she knows what a difference it would have made.
Who This Is For
You’re the right fit if:
– You have big dreams but feel overwhelmed about where to start
– You’re ready to scale but don’t want to guess your way through it, your idea matters too much
– You’re tired of marketing advice that treats you like a content creation machine
– You want strategy that works with your life, not against it
What She Believes
Every woman deserves to have it all, and shouldn’t have to choose between family and dreams.
Marketing should fit your life. Not consume it.
And the future belongs to founders who build with intention, not just volume.
The Legacy
Twenty years from now, Rana wants to be remembered as the person who helped you make your dream real when everyone else doubted you – and when you doubted yourself.
She wants women to find themselves in rooms that challenge them to go bigger and stronger. And to remember her as the one who started that room.
From Beirut to Paris to Scottsdale, Dr. Rana Sabra has spent her career proving that you don’t need permission to start. You need clarity, strategy, and someone who believes in you as much as you’re learning to believe in yourself.
Through RIZE Global and The Global Business Women, she’s building something bigger than a business: a movement of women who refuse to shrink their dreams to fit someone else’s formula.
Ready to start? Connect with her!
Do follow her on Instagram
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