Member Interview with Snehal Fernandes

We are delighted to bring you a Member Interview with Snehal Fernandes, Creative Director

Who has been your biggest influence?

I’d say it’s a trio of brilliant minds who each taught me something fundamental:

Sheryl Sandberg showed me that leadership can be both empathetic and unapologetically ambitious. Her clarity of thought, her advocacy for women in leadership, and her ability to lean in without losing her centre,that’s always stayed with me.

Es Devlin is the reason I believe in the transformative power of space. Her work taught me that environments can be storytellers. She designs emotions, not just stages, and that deeply influenced how I approach experience design.

And Paula Scher  her typography alone could raise your heartbeat. She’s the reason I fell in love with the rhythm of words in visual form. Her boldness, her wit, her way of making graphic design feel like jazz… she unlocked a kind of creative freedom I try to carry into every project.

Each of them, in their own way, has shaped how I lead, how I design, and how I show up creatively.

What is your most hated business expression?

“There are a few more edits… the client changed their mind.”

That line has ended more love stories between creatives and their work than bad briefs ever could. You’ve poured hours, energy, soul. It’s sharp. It's tight. It's the one.
And then boom, a casual email, no subject line, just: “Hey, quick thing…”

What’s the smartest business idea you’ve ever had?

Collaborating with other brands within the projects I’m already working on.

Instead of treating brand partners like last-minute add-ons, I started weaving them into the creative from day one, co-creating experiences, merging audiences, blending stories. Suddenly, your event isn’t just your stage, it’s a multi-brand ecosystem that feels bigger, smarter, and way more culturally relevant

Which leader do you admire most and why?

Emma Grede is my inspiration.

She’s isn't just a CEO, she’s a blueprint. A woman who built Good American not just as a brand, but as a bold redefinition of what inclusivity in fashion should look like. She didn’t wait for the industry to catch up, she designed it forward.

What I admire most? Her ability to balance commercial savvy with cultural impact. She moves through boardrooms and brand stories with equal ease. She’s unapologetically ambitious, razor-sharp in strategy, and yet deeply human in how she leads.

Emma represents the kind of leadership I aspire to: grounded in purpose, driven by clarity, and never afraid to disrupt with elegance.

What is on your mind the most right now as a marketing leader?

Designing with soul in an age of speed.
Earning resonance, not just reach.
Keeping the human in the loop, not out of fear, but out of deep creative respect.

Why is being part of The Marketing Society important for your career?

I’m new to Dubai; I want to learn fast, with wisdom from people who’ve already built what I’m trying to build. The Society gives me access to those conversations, senior marketers, new thinkers, boundary-pushers. 

Exposure. It’s about more than just network, it’s being seen, being challenged, being exposed to ideas that stretch my thinking and my work. I want other smart people to see what I do, and have that bar raised.

Why does marketing matter to you?

Because at its core, marketing is storytelling with purpose.

It’s the craft of taking a product, a vision, a feeling, and turning it into something people care about. It’s not just about reach or ROI or reels (though yes, we track all of that). It’s about resonance. Creating that invisible thread between brand and human that says: I see you. I understand you. This was made for you.

Tell us something that’s not on your CV

I’m secretly a closet jazz cook, an aspiring children’s book author, and a Sunday tennis philosopher.