The Icon Edit: A Dubai-based podcast for, about, and with women
Episode 25 - SAIMA Salma| Podcaster
Published: 06 August 2026 · Episode 25
In this episode we talk about
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The difference between being famous and being iconic
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Why authenticity matters more than trying too hard
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Whether personal branding can manufacture an icon
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Why female icons are judged more harshly than men
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The role of confidence, controversy and reinvention
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Why people pleasing and copying others are the least iconic things you can do
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Which celebrities are truly iconic, and which may be overrated
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Read Transcript
What do you think is the least iconic thing you can do?
I just like be like a people pleaser. So lame. I have never tried to be relatable on my social media at all. So many people are like, oh why don't you post more relatable videos? Fuck you, I don't want to be relatable to you.
If I become a billionaire, my main goal is to buy LinkedIn and shut it down because I hate it so much.
Welcome back to The Icon Edit. Today's guest is someone who usually sits on the other side of the microphone. It's Saima. She's also a podcaster. Her podcast is called Tub Time. We were just talking about why she needs a bathtub for her podcast. And she regularly speaks with founders, entrepreneurs, business leaders. But when we discussed what we're going to do this episode, Saima came up with a really fun topic, and she said, just let's explore what does iconic mean or who is iconic, what's iconic to you, to me. So instead of talking about business today...
Which I said was really boring.
Because it's really boring, we're gonna explore that. Actually yawned, like when she said that. I don't know, sent her a voice note and it was like five seconds of me yawning. She was like, what is that? I was like, that's me yawning. I love that. I'm happy. Saima, just before we start, introduce yourself in your own words a little bit.
Yeah, sure. I am a baddie. I have many, I wear many hats, kind of a jack of all trades. So I originally wanted to go into corporate. I got my MBA, and I did a concentration in business analytics. And, you know, I came from a family that was pretty strict. I grew up pretty sheltered. They wanted me to be a doctor, they wanted me to be a lawyer, and I kind of just went a different direction and I decided to do social media from a pretty early age. So while I was doing my master's, I started also pursuing my makeup certification in New York.
I started actually on YouTube doing beauty tutorials. They were really, really horrible. Don't check them out. Please don't watch them. But actually, they were so bad that a makeup academy reached out to me, and they gave me a scholarship to like, go to makeup school and finish my makeup courses. I swear. I think they saw potential in me.
But then that actually was symbolic of a new chapter in my career, where eventually after I got my certification and my brand just started evolving more and more, I started getting invited internationally to different places to do makeup and do content creation. And then more and more brands just kept reaching out to me. And then one day I got reached out to by this company called Posh VIP, and they're kind of a social experiment company based in New York City.
At that time I was in New York Fashion Week and I had just done an interview for TRESemmé with Matt Loves Hair. Shout out to Matt. It kind of coined this whole glam and sexy persona that people associated me with. So I thought of something that had never been done in New York before. In New York, everything is just really centered around like a business and partying.
Yeah, like Dubai.
But Dubai, there is like a core wellness sector. New York, it's really just hustling and party. It's literally the city that never sleeps. So I actually wanted to introduce wellness into New York while still respecting the city's entire foundation. I was one of the first to come up with the concept of having an event that blended wellness, beauty, and some business empowerment because I was studying my MBA and was inspired to share what I'd learned. It was called Glam and Gains.
The event actually turned out really well, better than I expected. We had around 25 people in attendance and so we started out with a yoga routine. And then we went into the beauty aspect. So I had a bunch of YSL makeup products that I had gifted to my guests. And I also got a tooth gem for YSL that has been here for two years.
Yeah, so the impact of that event was really big. We ended up getting a Times Square billboard, multiple magazine articles written about us. And I started getting invited internationally on trips for influencers and celebrities. One of these trips was in Thailand in May. After, I had a layover in Abu Dhabi, missed my first flight, and then wasn't allowed to fly on the Qatar Airways plane because I had an allergy to nuts, and they had nuts on board.
I didn't really see it as a choice to just suffer through it, so for my own safety I didn't go. But then I kind of took it as a sign. I was like, you know what, maybe this is a good avenue to pursue. Maybe I should stay here. I do have some family here. My uncle works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and eventually I just stayed and I'm really glad that I did.
Okay, cool that you're here. So you are kind of iconic in your own genre. You did something that was iconic somehow because it was featured on Times Square. But that's my question. Can you be even iconic on purpose? Or are people iconic by accident?
Completely by accident. I think if you try, there are a lot of try-hards and pick-mes. And then there are people who just fall into it. I think that you shouldn't rush it. If you're trying to be iconic, it's going to come off as you trying, it's gonna come off cringe and inauthentic. You just need to have a presence and a purpose, and you need to not be a copycat.
Because when you think about the word iconic, who comes to your mind? For me, it's people like Paris Hilton. Steve Jobs, he was also iconic. Marilyn Monroe, of course. But then there are people whom I really like, let's say Kim Kardashian, but she for me is not an icon because she's too mainstream.
I can understand that. To be iconic, you have to have a part of you that stands out, that reverberates. Like Steve Jobs. He was known for Apple, his design, his mindset, but he was also known for being a savage. Like he did not care. That abrasiveness, that edge made him iconic. Marilyn Monroe didn't have to try to be sexy, she just was.
Do you think that iconic people have to be liked? Because I think that the most iconic people are actually pretty controversial, right? Even Steve Jobs, or Marilyn Monroe. Also Paris Hilton, many people were like, oh my god she's so dumb. She's definitely been a point of controversy.
She's definitely been a point of controversy. In the makeup world, there are people I look up to that have their own controversies as well. Jeffree Star being one of them. He takes nothing from no one, he had to really build it. He has controversial opinions, but that is what makes him relevant.
Do you think that social media has somehow diluted the word iconic? They kind of just throw it around everywhere. It's like a fucking Croc sandal.
How important do you think is confidence when it comes to being an icon? Back then, did Paris Hilton know that she was an icon, or confident enough to know it?
I think she knew she was an icon. Some people are literally just born knowing who they are. You have to have a sense of confidence and you have to have that innate savagery. You have to have a stage presence, and that can be separate from who you are outside of that.
And you have to be a little polarizing, I feel. Because if everyone likes you, you're not iconic.
You're a lame. You have to have haters. If you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping.
Oh my god. I mean, Kanye. He's the most iconic man probably out there. Like all the things he says. One of my favorite things that I say on a daily basis is, guess we'll never know.
That's why he says, if you are a Kanye West fan, you are not a Kanye West fan, you're a fan of yourself. And I love that.
Do you think that female icons are judged differently than male ones?
100%. Britney unfortunately has been judged, scrutinized, brutalized by the media. I always say if Britney Spears pulled the same shit that Kanye did, they would have institutionalized her forever.
So yeah, a quick fire round. When it comes to icon, mystery or relatability?
Definitely mystery. I have never tried to be relatable on my social media at all.
Talent or charisma?
Charisma.
Consistency or reinvention?
Reinvention.
Loved or respected?
Respected, 100%.
Okay, last one. Who is more likely to become an icon, you or me?
I'm already there. You are iconic. I don't even want to be iconic actually. I just want peace and quiet.
Saima, it was so much fun. I think this was the funniest episode so far. Thank you so much for being here. I definitely want to do this again with you.
It was really amazing. Let's do this again, like once a quarter or so. So we will have four fun episodes.