Sheikha Hissah

In this episode, Sheikha Hissah shares vivid memories of her years at Beirut College for Women and of the Lebanon she still considers home. Encouraged by her father, HH Sheikh Saad Abdulah Salem Al-Sabah, to pursue her education in Beirut, she experienced student life without royal privilege. She rode the bus like everyone else, learned to depend on herself, and discovered the confidence that comes from earning one’s own path. Having spent nearly 14 years in Lebanon, she remembers Beirut during its golden era as a center of education, culture and openness. Her years at BCW became a defining chapter in her life and helped shape the independent and pioneering woman she would later become. She went on to break barriers in Kuwait as a diplomat and businesswoman and to champion women’s participation in business across the Arab world through the Council of Arab Businesswomen. Her message to today’s generation is simple and powerful, echoing the words of her father: money and titles may come and go, but education remains your greatest asset in life. A conversation about Beirut, resilience, women’s advancement, and the lifelong impact of an education that taught her not only what to know, but who she could become.