Alexandra Carvalho on 10 Years of Building a Self-Funded Business in the UAE

Back in 2016, Alexandra Carvalho, founder and Creative Strategist at Alex’s House of Social, saw an opportunity to challenge the traditional format of marketing and business events in the UAE. She transformed an industrial warehouse space at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai into a vibrant networking hub filled with colorful bean bags, creative collaborations in order to make learning about social media and entrepreneurship more engaging. “A couple of years ago, I had a pretty big project with a Saudi royal, and it came from someone who attended one of those events,” she says. “I also have people who share stories about business opportunities they got from those early days.”

Fast forward to today, Alex’s House of Social’s events have evolved into what Carvalho describes as “edutainment” experiences, including concepts such as Yachtclasses and Rebel Soirées. However, she says consulting remains the core of the business through the Rebel Club umbrella, an exclusive consultancy model structured across three tiers Rebel Rise, Rebel Savage, and Fierce. “Each one is a subscription, with different hour allocations and levels of access,” she says. “Then we have premium tiers for clients who want a lot more of me; plus special projects like app building, website building, and more.”

Carvalho is also an author and designer. Her book, “It’s Good to Be a Rebel”, became a number one bestseller on Amazon US and UAE in the social media category, while her REBELS capsule clothing collection expanded from leggings into a broader Rebel With Kindness range featuring leggings, T-shirts, and caps.

As the founder of a one-woman agency that has operated for 10 years as a fully self-funded and bootstrapped business, Carvalho says she is proud the company was never financially negative, adding that her key advice for solo entrepreneurs is to understand and prepare for the seasonality of their business.

“You need to know where your slower periods are, where the pressure points are, and where things might dip,” she explains. “And then you need to think strategically: what can I build, launch, or adapt so that my entire year remains financially strong?

“That also ties into pricing and audience segmentation. For me, consulting has always been about understanding who I want to serve. I didn’t have to introduce a lower price point like Rise at 415 AED, but I chose to, because I like having accessibility within my ecosystem.

“Some people prefer to operate purely at high premium, and that’s completely valid. Everyone gets to build their business in a way that works for them, as long as it’s sustainable.”

She credits many of these results to a turning point in her business strategy following a conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led her to transform her paid online academy into a fully free educational platform. “That was a very pivotal moment, because he’s one of my biggest mentors. Being able to be on his show, talk to him, get that level of advice, and then actually execute it, changed a lot in my business. I turned the online academy into the Free Rebel Academy,” Carvalho. “So even if you cannot afford me, there’s no excuse not to access my educational content to turn your ideas into businesses and learn how to market them.”

Today, the Free Rebel Academy offers nearly 100 free classes, including audio versions across podcast platforms, and has around 9,000 enrolled students.

Giving an insight into her consulting approach with brands, Carvalho explains that her evaluation process begins with the founder rather than the business itself. She says she quickly identifies traits such as overthinking or perfectionism, which she believes can slow execution and decision-making. “When I work with you, I’m not just looking at your brand or your idea, I’m looking at you,” she says.

From there, Carvalho assesses the uniqueness of the business concept itself, particularly in crowded markets where, she argues, many companies lack what she describes as “brand soul.” According to her, a key part of the process involves defining that identity, understanding how to position it, and developing the right marketing strategy around it. She adds that successful collaborations ultimately depend on whether founders are willing to trust the process and execute the advice they are given.

When asked about the marketing formats currently in demand, Carvalho points to the rise of micro-dramas, serialized content, and increasingly cinematic-style video production, including mini movies and short-form series.

“Both of these trends are really picking up, whether it’s cinematic storytelling or these fast-paced micro-dramas coming from brands,” she says. “So the real question becomes: how much emotion and depth can you pack into 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes? Can you actually tell a story that pulls people in and keeps them coming back?”

When it comes to platforms, Carvalho highlights TikTok and YouTube Shorts as key drivers of current content trends. She also points to the growing importance of live shopping as another major area shaping digital marketing strategies. “This has already been massive in China for years, and now it’s really starting to take off in the US. I really hope we start seeing that wave grow more in the UAE as well. Because it works. I’ve been doing it on my live show, and the engagement, the connection, the conversion it’s real.

“When it comes to personal brands, there are also big opportunities emerging. We’re seeing a shift where YouTube creators and content creators are launching their own products.”

Carvalho also points to the growing importance of in-person experiences and nostalgia-driven branding, arguing that the rise of AI is increasing demand for more human, analog, and fully present interactions. “With so much AI around us, we are naturally craving more human interaction,” she says, adding that she is even considering creating a phone-free event concept focused entirely on real-world presence and connection.

Reflecting on operating through both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current wave of regional tensions, Carvalho says the two periods required different strategic pivots centered around live digital engagement. During COVID-19, she launched regular Instagram live sessions focused on marketing and business education through her “Live Class with Alex” series. More recently, however, she shifted the format away from teaching and toward giving visibility to UAE-based small businesses affected by the regional tensions. Over three weeks, she hosted 10 live shows featuring around 50 founders, with the series continuing weekly. “Now, in terms of how clients are responding today versus during COVID19, I’m seeing a very clear difference,” she says.

“Small businesses now are more fierce. They’re more agile. They’re moving faster. And most importantly, they’re collaborating more. During COVID19, I didn’t see this level of collaboration. Now, founders are really rallying for each other.

“There’s also a strong focus on giving, on asking, what can we offer? What can we create? How can we support our community? And that shift is powerful. On top of that, the level of support for small businesses right now, both within the ecosystem and externally, is incredible. Even bigger brands are more open to collaborations.”

Closing the conversation, Carvalho revealed that she is preparing to launch a second business focused on solving what she sees as a major gap in the UAE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: the lack of a centralized platform dedicated to discovering local small businesses. 

Describing the upcoming app, Instant Alex, as a space designed to increase visibility and growth opportunities for UAE-born brands, she says the concept was created to help founders operate beyond fragmented social media algorithms and costly retail models. 

“This is not just an app,” Carvalho says. “It’s the home that has been missing for UAE small businesses.”