Most teenagers at 19 are usually figuring out university life, friendships or maybe how to survive on instant noodles without calling home for help. But for Desi Bling star Adel Sajan, life looked very different. In a chat with Kamiya Jani, Adel Sajan opened up about growing up in a business family, starting work ridiculously early and the time his father casually handed him a million-dollar challenge at just 19 years old.
Adel Started Working For Pocket Money As A Child
While giving Kamiya a tour of his massive Emirates Hills home, Adel spoke about how discipline started very young in his house.
“I remember when I was six or seven years old,” he said, “if I wanted pocket money, my dad would tell me to polish his shoes for five dirhams or wash the car for ten.”
Kamiya immediately laughed at how specific the rates were. But Adel explained that his father always believed money had to be earned, no matter how financially comfortable the family became later.
Funny enough, he now makes his own kids wash cars too when they want rewards.
Later in the conversation, Adel shared that by 13, things got more serious. During school holidays, while most kids were relaxing, he worked in the family’s building material yards in Dubai heat.
“I would literally carry four shirts,” he told Kamiya. “I’d come back looking like a tomato.”
His Dad Handed Him A Million-Dollar Buying Budget At 19
The biggest moment came when Adel turned 19.
According to him, the family already had a successful business running. Then one day, his father decided to launch a chandelier division and gave Adel a buying budget worth $1 million.
But Adel admitted he didn’t even properly notice chandeliers at that age, let alone understand how to build a whole business around them.
Still, his father sent him to China almost immediately. “And not for luxury shopping,” Adel joked during the conversation.
China Became His Real Business School
Adel explained that he was sent to a city in China known for lighting production, with thousands of lighting shops and factories everywhere.
“There were like 6,000 shops and 10,000 factories,” he said while Kamiya listened wide-eyed.
He had a translator helping him, but beyond that, he was figuring everything out alone. Factory visits, negotiations, pricing, shipping and import duties.
“Nobody explained freight costs or minimum order quantities to me before,” Adel admitted.
Kamiya pointed out that his father had basically “thrown him into the deep end”, which Adel completely agreed with.
But looking back now, he said those years gave him a massive advantage in business very early on.
“You Need To Earn Your Way”
One thing that kept coming up during the chat was how strict Adel’s father was about value for money.
Even birthday shopping had limits. “You can pick one shirt,” Adel remembered his father saying. “Not ten.”
Kamiya mentioned how parents who build businesses from scratch usually want their children to understand hard work properly instead of growing up entitled.
Adel agreed instantly. He said those lessons became the foundation for everything later in life.
Adel Later Took Over A Business Losing Millions
The pressure didn’t stop with the chandelier division.
Adel revealed that he later joined one of the family businesses that was struggling badly despite doing nearly AED 100 million in revenue annually. His father wanted to shut it down completely.
But Adel asked for two years to fix it.
Kamiya asked if it was difficult being a young boss around older employees and Adel admitted it absolutely was. “You’re 21, skinny-looking, chairman’s son,” he said. “People are obviously judging you.”
Instead of acting like the boss immediately, Adel started sitting with senior employees individually and asking for their support.
Also Read: Desi Bling’s Sana & Adel Sajan Got Married On A Cruise And Had 40+ Events!
The Business Eventually Turned Around
Over time, the company rebranded, rebuilt systems and shut weaker stores. By 2014, the losses had finally stopped. Later, the business expanded internationally and grew massively over the years.
But interestingly, Adel told Kamiya that he feels most proud about making a loss-making business profitable rather than just chasing big numbers.
For all the luxury, giant homes and business success people now associate with him, Adel kept going back to the same thing: hard work early in life changed everything.
Cover Image Courtesy: Internal
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